30MM Gatling Gun! - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Hatterasguy · #16 10-05-2006, 02:07 PM

Yep, they stored all the powder way below deck, under the belt of armor. They had a system that lifted it to the guns, the powder storage rooms in themselvs are massive, I almost got lost down there!

The range finding "computer" they used filled a large room, and was mostly mechanical. Really its amazing how accurite they could fire those things from a moving rolling ship. Remember when they were engaged with other ships they were not only at flank speed, but had to menuver to avoid whatever the other guy was sending there way.

diametricalbenz · #17 10-05-2006, 04:04 PM

Did any of the 4 "Iowas" ever have a ship to ship battle?

#18 10-05-2006, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diametricalbenz

Did any of the 4 "Iowas" ever have a ship to ship battle?

Hell yea

Start with Leyte Gulf

Botnst · #19 10-05-2006, 09:16 PM

My Dad was a Plankowner for the Wisconsin and a gunnery officer with the main battery. He told me that they once tried using the main as long range AA artillery. On the Wisconsin all he every did was shore bombardment, IIRC. He was on the Lexington and Hornet, birdfarms, before the Wisconsin.

Here's a picture of his battle station on the day the Hornet was sunk. He was in the 5" AA gun director.

#20 10-05-2006, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

My Dad was a Plankowner for the Wisconsin and a gunnery officer with the main battery. He told me that they once tried using the main as long range AA artillery. On the Wisconsin all he every did was shore bombardment, IIRC. He was on the Lexington and Hornet, birdfarms, before the Wisconsin.

Here's a picture of his battle station on the day the Hornet was sunk. He was in the 5" AA gun director.

Do you have any other pic's B?

Hatterasguy · #21 10-06-2006, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diametricalbenz

Did any of the 4 "Iowas" ever have a ship to ship battle?

Heck yeah!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Massachusetts_%28BB-59%29

She wears a hole in her deck from a 15in shell with pride! Not to mention all the chunks taken out of her top sides. Its amazing no one was killed. She is a very impressive ship, I spent some time aboard her in scouts when I was little, and know her top to bottom.

Truely impressive ships, very sad we don't have at least one in service today.

dynalow · #22 10-06-2006, 01:51 PM

The IOWA class battleships had, in addition to the big guns and missles, 4 Phalanx CIWS (close in weapons systems), which were radar controlled 20 mm Vulcan Gatling guns capable of variable firing rates of 3,000 or 4,500 rounds per minute. These were intended as the last, close-in defense against incoming aircraft or missiles.

Botnst · #23 10-06-2006, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MedMech

Do you have any other pic's B?

Have some scanned from formerly top-secret reports (been in the public domain for 50 years, but still kind of cool) of the Lexington's final hours in the Coral Sea. My Dad was B-Div officer (boilers). Also some seldom seen photos of the attack on Pearl Harbor. There aren't many but the files are too big for this site so I'll gmail them to you.

Anybody else want them PM your email to me.

B

mikemover · #24 10-08-2006, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MedMech

You need to see an A-10 dump its load.

I'd love to!

I shot 100 rounds thru a belt-fed M60 at a range near Reno, NV. That was a lot of fun.

I was there shooting with some of the guys from INXS (yes, that band from the TV show)... Their guitarist Tim is quite the gun enthusiast, and is a pretty good shot.

The range also had M-16s, AK47s, UZIs, a Sterling, an H&K 53 (my favorite)... lots of cool stuff.

Mike

Dee8go · #25 10-08-2006, 06:45 PM

Neato torpedo! What a job. Test firing stuff like that.

retmil46 · #26 10-08-2006, 08:02 PM

A little correction on the Iowa class battleships -

None of the 4 Iowa class were ever in a ship-to-ship shootout with another battleship.

The Massachusetts (South Dakota class) was in a ship-to-ship with an incomplete Vichy French battleship during Operation Torch (invasion of North Africa).

The South Dakota and Washington (North Carolina class) were in a ship-to-ship with a Japanese battleship during one of the night battles around Guadalcanal.

As part of the Leyte Gulf battle, most of the old Pearl Harbor battleships got their revenge one night in Surigao Strait against the southern part of the Japanese fleet.

As far as the "modern" battleships such as the Iowa class, here are the classes and names of ships -

North Carolina class - North Carolina, Washington

South Dakota class - South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, Alabama

Iowa class - Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin

There were going to be two more Iowa class, the Kentucky and Illinois, but construction was halted at the end of the war, and the incomplete hulls were eventually scrapped.

There was also going to be another class after the Iowas, the Montana class. Imagine an Iowa class battleship big enough to have four turrets and twelve 16 inch guns. They actually laid the keels for a couple of them, but it was decided by that time in the war they weren't needed.

They also built two ships of the Alaska class, the only real battlecruisers the USN ever built, the Alaska and Guam. Same basic layout as the "real" battleships, but essentially just big cruisers with nine 12 inch guns.

My friend down in TX, he was on the recommissioning crews for both the Iowa and the Wisconsin back in the 80's, rode the Wisconsin throughout the first Gulf War.

Hatterasguy · #27 10-09-2006, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retmil46

They also built two ships of the Alaska class, the only real battlecruisers the USN ever built, the Alaska and Guam. Same basic layout as the "real" battleships, but essentially just big cruisers with nine 12 inch guns.

Those always struck me as a bad idea. They have the kick of a battleship but none of the armor. So one needs to shoot and get the heck out of there, bad idea to get into a slugging match with a battleship.

As proof of this I offer only one name Hood.

retmil46 · #28 10-09-2006, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Those always struck me as a bad idea. They have the kick of a battleship but none of the armor. So one needs to shoot and get the heck out of there, bad idea to get into a slugging match with a battleship.

As proof of this I offer only one name Hood.

Yes, sad part was, they knew she had a glass jaw and planned to do an upgrade on her, but it kept getting put off for political reasons (showing the flag, pride of the fleet, etc).

But then they'd discovered that BC's couldn't really stand in the line of battle against full-fledged battleships at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, where they lost several in a single afternoon.

Original idea behind the BC's was to either be a commerce raider or hunt down commerce raiders. By concentration on just speed and armament, they were heavily armed enough to outmatch anything that was fast enough to catch them (cruisers and destroyers), and fast enough to outrun anything that could harm them (battleships). Back then top speed for a battleship was 18 to 20 knots at most.

But what do you do with a big expensive fast ship that looks like a battleship and is armed like a battleship once all the raiders are taken care of? They stuck them in the line of battle anyway to get the extra firepower, and paid the price for it.

The whole concept became outmoded when they built full-fledged battleships that could haul just as fast as the BC's, and submarines proved far more useful for the commerce destruction role.

The Alaska class BC's we built were intended for the same role, built primarily because we thought the Japanese were building a similar class of ships for commerce raiding, and we didn't want to pull battleships away from the main fleet to guard convoys and chase down raiders. The only useful role they did, due primarily to their speed and size, was to provide AAA firepower and surface escort for the carriers.