USS Manchester, CL-83, a 10,000-ton Cleveland class light cruiser, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. USS Manchester was named for Manchester, New Hampshire. Commissioned in October 1946, she made four deployments to the Mediterranean Sea in 1947-49. In March 1949, Manchester transferred to the Pacific fleet and cruised in the western Pacific during May-November of that year.

Soon after the outbreak of the Korean War, Manchester, by then the only one of the twenty-seven Cleveland class cruisers still on active duty following the late 1940s' reductions in Naval strength, again was sent to Asiatic waters, where she arrived in time to provide fire support for the mid-September 1950 invasion of Inchon. During the rest of 1950 and the first five months of 1951, Manchester operated along the Korean Coast, shelling enemy troops and facilities. She also participated in patrols of the Taiwan Straits in October and November 1950. Manchester made two more Korean War combat deployments, during November 1951-May 1952 and January-July 1953. These involved active blockade and bombardment duties, mainly off eastern Korea, including participation in the prolonged Seige of Wonsan.

Following the end of the Korean conflict, Manchester continued her western Pacific involvement with a pair of deployments in 1954 and 1955. In January 1956, she helped bring Korean War Unknown Servicemen to Hawaii for burial. USS Manchester decommissioned in June 1956 and was sold for scrapping in October 1960.

 

THE KIT

First thing you'll notice is that there are not that many bits and pieces to this one, and that is quite typical of Lindberg ship kits. They mold in all the really fussy bits and leave some of the larger ones for the builder to stick in. I'm not sure if it was intended to be motorized or not, but a large ballast housing is provided. I guess one could stick weight in it and seal all the prop shaft holes. It would then be able to do battle in the tub, pool or pond!

The molding of the parts is pretty consistent with 50s and 60s. Detailing is raised and though there is some flash, I didn't see any sink areas on most of the parts, which is a big help. The gun barrels are straight and not pointed at the tip as I've seen in other ship kits from this time. One could easily drill these out for additional realism. The two Seahawk floatplanes are not that well molded, but for 1/600 aren't that bad. They could stand some detailing as they have no props or wing floats. Face it, this is not a highly detailed ship and was designed more for play than for the serious modeler, but there is the basis for a decent model. Instructions are just what one would see in the 50s except that construction notes have been added in German, Spanish and French! The ballast piece is not mentioned or shown in the instructions. There are some well done hull number decals included (not shown). Unlike the box art, this Manchester was a totally post war ship and did not have to sweat kamikaze attacks!

CONCLUSIONS