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AA Military Research Somers Class Destroyers Reference CD Reviewed by Timothy Dike

For many years now Ron Smith founder of AA Military Research has been digging away at the National Archives. He has worked as a paid researcher finding those rare and often controversial photo's and documents that help determine the actual fit and colors of some of our favorite ships. Now Ron is compiling some of that information is this handy well organized CD-ROM. This one covers the Somers Class destroyers. The CD is set up much like their website with easy to use buttons to take you to the photo's on each ship. All the ships in the class are covered with each one accessible by clicking the buttons on the menu. The photo's, all 164 of them, are all very high resolution and are much better than anything currently on the web. Newer browers will fit the image to your screen, but you can zoom in on the images and see them in amazing detail. If you can access this review then your browser will open the CD with no problems. Also included are eight camouflage design sheets showing the colors and markings of these ships. These are CAD drawings that have been painted in the different camouflage measures and are based on the best information now available. These too are very large and can be printed out for reference when you get ready to paint your ship. The sheer volume of photo's is almost overwhelming. You can even follow the construction of the USS Somers from the keel laying to the fitting out. These ships had some interesting armament changes as the war progressed, this can be tracked through the photo's. I even found some color photo's on the CD. The Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS) entries for each ship is also presented.	click images to enlarge



Conclusions: This first CD is a must have, I was very impressed with the quality of the photo's and the ease of use. The photo's are excellent, they rival what is currently in print. The inclusion of camo drawings makes it a real bonus. Priced at $25.00 US it is a real bargain. Since we can't all afford to spend hours combing over the files in the National Archives, this is the next best thing to being there. I am anxious to see what else they can come up with. AA Military Research also wants to hear from you on what other CD's you would like to see offered. My vote is for one CD for each class of ship! You can order these via the AA-Military-Research.com website with their online paypal shopping cart. Note you don't have to be a Paypal customer to order as long as you have a credit card.