USS Joseph P.Kennedy, Jr. (DD-850: Model At the Edgar Harrell Presentation

We were in the Chain of Lakes Bible Church's main sanctuary and I was a little surprised to see the a large-scale  model of a World War II destroyer on the altar.  We were told that Art Carlson had built it over a two-and-a-half year period and it appeared to be quite detailed.

Afterwards, I went up to the altar for a closer look and found it to be the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (DD-850) which would have made it a very late in the war ship.  Mr. Carlson was there and he said he did not serve on it and had just chosen it as a project.  He had used  used all sheet metal and that the ship could actually run under its own power.  He's used it to chase ducks.

And, was it ever detailed.  Actually, I'd say it was partially a floating gun platform used a lot for anti-aitcraft duty, but also had several turrets of double 5-inch guns, torpedoes and depth charges.  A real multi-task vessel.

--GreGen