Dumb Fletcher question

Two aft of the bridge.
Joe Jeffers>

Although called flag bags they were more like metal trays with compartments for the numerous pennants the ship was carrying. It's not easy to describe them so I'll post a drawing to Alt.binaries.model.scale newsgroup

Joe;
There should be two of them, one on each side of the mast at the after end of the bridge deck. If you're planning to rig the ship then the signal halyards from the yardarm further up the mast should all meet at the flag bags. Each yardarm has 4 halyard, I believe. That's 4 halyards per flagbag for a total of 8. The halyard would be equally spaced over the yardarm but would be bunched together where they meet at the flag bag (this makes life easier for the signalmen that have to attach the various flags).
HTH
Paul O'Reilly

Thanks much! The pictures really helped. Now that I know where to look, I can even see them on photos of the real ship.

Thanks, that helps. So it looks like it would be best to add them before I add the photoetched railings to the bridge.
Which brings up another question: Is there a rule about when the nets and canvas covers were added to the rails? Are they likely to be present during battle?

Joe;
The flag bags would replace any deck edge railings at that point on the ship so put the flag bags in first and add railings to the remaining open spaces.
The flag bags would be present during action stations as flag messages were used even in battle. The question arises as to the presence of deck edge railings during battle. It was quite common that the railing would be removed if action was anticipated as the railings could become shrapnel in a gun battle (from hits by the enemy). However, commanders had to assess the likelihood of someone going over the side while the ship is in such a configuration, especially if battle is not joined. What I'm not sure is whether the removal of deck edge railings was common on smaller ships like destroyers when in action. I've seen photos of capital ships with their railings removed in anticipation of a gun action.
Now that I've muddied the waters, I'll leave!
Paul O'Reilly

Wow, I'd never even considered that the railings themselves might be removed. My question was about the netting on the rails. The GMM photoetched set comes with two sets of railings: one with and one without netting. And the railing for the top of the bridge comes with and without a canvas cover. It was this netting and cover I was asking about. Both of the paintings I have of Fletchers in combat show the netting and canvas covers in place, but none of the combat photos I've seen have been clear enough for me to tell.

The bridge rail cover is a canvas cheater used as a windbreak and to keep spray off the bridge crew, that would normally be in place on most Fletchers. The maindeck rails with netting was usually in place while at sea, you really need to see some pics of a DD in heavy seas to see just how needed that netting was. Some of the pics you'd swear the ship was going to sink from all the water over the decks. There's a series of photos of one DD refueling in heavy seas from a CV and I'm amazed the deck crew survived.
Joe Jeffers> Wow, I'd never even considered that the railings themselves might be

Joe;
Ron's reply below pretty much says it all. The netting on the rails on the main deck would undoubtedly be in place all the time, except when the railings themselves were removed. The canvas covers, which the USN called fog dodgersIIRC, may or may not be fitted. They wouldn't hold up to extremely heavy seas so they might be removed as heavy weather approaches. They were used to reduce the effects of spray on the bridge personnel as they often had to stand outside for long periods. The canvas dodgers were just tied onto the railing so they were easy to install and/ or remove. If you have photos with them in place then, by all means, put them on your model.
Paul

Thanks to both you and Ron for your answers. So I guess I'll use the rails with the nets and the canvas covers. Personally, I think the bridge rails look better without the covers, but I want the ship to represent as nearly as possible the Fletcher on the night of Nov 13, 1942, and based on your replies and the one picture I have of the battle (which, admittedly, is a painting not a photograph, and depicts a different ship of the same class - the O'Bannon), it seems more likely than not that the covers would have been in place.