by Bob Nandell
1/700 USS Fairfield and USS Muscatine (Scratchbuild)
A PAIR OF ALAMOSAS ...... the small, 2,382 ton World War II vintage Alamosa class freighters, which could attain a stately 11.5 knots with a diesel engine, were the product of numerous smaller U.S. shipyards, with many coming into service in late 1944 and through 1945. Some led short careers with the U.S. Navy. The Fairfield was commissioned in March 1945 and decommissioned in January 1946. The Muscatine, named after the Iowa Mississippi River town of Muscatine, was commissioned in April, 1945, and decommissioned in March, 1946. The Muscatine's maiden voyage from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Guam must have been most welcomed upon arrival at Guam. It's cargo was beer, Coca-Cola syrup, and a bottling machine, according to ship's history. Both models are built from paper and sheet plastic and a balsa hull-plug and balsa superstructure pieces. I based both models on photos from NAVSOURCE ONLINE of Alamosa class freighter U.S.S. Beltrami.
