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USS Washington BB56 Scale Model Fleet |
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John Marlin Associate |
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| Email address for John Marlin is marlin@uiuc.edu |
| This special model is 32-inch-long or approximately seven feet per Lego® dot. | |
| Special pieces used on the USS Washington model are: | |
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44 small stick shifts, from Lego® car model sets, that represent the 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns |
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9 space set antennas that represent the main battery 16-inch guns |
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22 torch holders from castle sets that represent the 5-inch anti-aircraft guns |
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38 turntables for turning gun mounts and other structures |
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4 car grills that are used for small radars; and one old-style railroad track for the ship's mast. |
| CLICK ON PHOTO FOR LARGER VIEW Use your BACK button to return to this page |
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| John's motivation to build the USS WASHINGTON BB56 |
During World War II -- on March 27 and 28, 1945, to be exact -- Marlin's father, Ensign John C. Marcinkoska, served on the USS Washington near Okinawa. (The family name was changed to Marlin in 1956.)
His father actually flew Corsair fighter planes from the carrier USS Essex. He had been strafing a Japanese air field on Okinawa when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and an oil line was shattered. The Corsair went down in rough seas about four or five miles from Okinawa, and Marcinkoska was adrift in a rubber life raft just 10 days after his arrival in the combat zone.
Meanwhile, in the skies above, Lt. William E. Lemos and his rear-seat man
Henry G. Offney, an aviation radioman second class, were returning to the Washington in a Kingfisher, a plane used for reconnaissance and carrying small items. The plane had pontoon floats to land at sea and was on a routine courier flight. The Kingfisher dropped down to investigate the splotch of dye-marker Marcinkoska had put in the water.
"Imagine, my dad was 20 years old, bobbing in the ocean, moving right towards the Japanese-held beach," Marlin said. "At that time, American pilots who were captured were summarily executed: So, he was kind of glad: to see one of these things drop down out of the sky."
The Kingfisher managed to land in the rough seas. They had no rescue equipment, but Lemos and Offney hauled Marcinkoska aboard with a 10-foot piece of cotton line that they happened to have for tying mailbags. Lemos managed to restart the engine, get up enough speed to bounce off the top of a wave and stay airborne to return to the Washington.
Lemos was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and his crewman received
the Air Medal for completing the rescue.
John Marlin's Dad spent 24 hours on the battleship and kind of got adopted by the crew. He then returned to the Essex.
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| For those viewers interested in constructing your own model, be sure to check out the diagrams and body plans located on the Dimensions & Diagrams Page. |
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