5"/25 on shore bombarment
- marcelo_malara
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5"/25 on shore bombarment
Hi guys. Look at this picture, which is captioned below. The question is, what is the reason that for shore bombardment, presumably done with HC Mark 36: 53.85 lbs. (24.43 kg), the shells need time fuzes?
USS New Mexico (BB-40) Ship's 5/25 battery prepares to fire during the bombardment of Saipan, 15 June 1944. Note time-fuze setters on the left side of each gun mount, each holding three fixed rounds of ammunition; barrels of 20mm machine guns at the extreme right; and triple 14/50 guns in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
USS New Mexico (BB-40) Ship's 5/25 battery prepares to fire during the bombardment of Saipan, 15 June 1944. Note time-fuze setters on the left side of each gun mount, each holding three fixed rounds of ammunition; barrels of 20mm machine guns at the extreme right; and triple 14/50 guns in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
Gun crews don't get enough exercise with live ammo and "clear through the barrel" practice.
- marcelo_malara
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
Sorry, I don´t understand your post. This is supposed to be a real shore bombardment.OpanaPointer wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:40 pm Gun crews don't get enough exercise with live ammo and "clear through the barrel" practice.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
I have no doubt about that. But what I meant was the crews were honing their skills while supporting the ground pounders. "Everything is an opportunity for training."marcelo_malara wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 3:22 pmSorry, I don´t understand your post. This is supposed to be a real shore bombardment.OpanaPointer wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:40 pm Gun crews don't get enough exercise with live ammo and "clear through the barrel" practice.
- marcelo_malara
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
Ah ok!OpanaPointer wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 5:15 pmI have no doubt about that. But what I meant was the crews were honing their skills while supporting the ground pounders. "Everything is an opportunity for training."marcelo_malara wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 3:22 pmSorry, I don´t understand your post. This is supposed to be a real shore bombardment.OpanaPointer wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:40 pm Gun crews don't get enough exercise with live ammo and "clear through the barrel" practice.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
I don't think the boots on the ground cared who sent the CARE packages.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
It all looks very clean and tidy at the moment, maybe first shells being loaded, with a number of others prepared for rapid fire.
good description of the gun and photo here
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-25_mk10.php
good description of the gun and photo here
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-25_mk10.php
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
You can see men with big leather gloves waiting to grab the empty casings. Don't let them rattle around on the deck.
- marcelo_malara
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
Hi guys. The question remains, were the fuzes set to detonate in the air before hitting the ground, shrapnel like?
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
I don't know, but can't imagine why they would do that. Defenders were hunkered down with overhead cover.marcelo_malara wrote: ↑Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:16 pm Hi guys. The question remains, were the fuzes set to detonate in the air before hitting the ground, shrapnel like?
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
Radar in the shell, dial a boom.marcelo_malara wrote: ↑Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:16 pm Hi guys. The question remains, were the fuzes set to detonate in the air before hitting the ground, shrapnel like?
- marcelo_malara
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
Yes, it does not make much sense, except they were illuminating shells. I remember reading (in the book "The deadly fuze") that the Allies used VT fuzes near the Rhine in 1944, the shells were pointed just above the heads of the German troops and exploded when passing overhead.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
Yes, but that wasn't an amphibious landing.marcelo_malara wrote: ↑Sun Sep 25, 2022 3:24 am Yes, it does not make much sense, except they were illuminating shells. I remember reading (in the book "The deadly fuze") that the Allies used VT fuzes near the Rhine in 1944, the shells were pointed just above the heads of the German troops and exploded when passing overhead.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
The gun crews don't care what they're shooting at or what they're shooting.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment
Hi Marcelo,
Those projectiles sitting in the fuze-setters might have been "insurance" against possible kamikaze intruders, which were prone to coming in at all sorts of odd hours, singly, severally and from any direction or height. Saipan was kind of in the middle of the Kamikaze campaign (after Leyte Gulf, before Okinawa) and those 5in/25s represented the long-range HAA defence of the ship.
Just a thought.
Byron
Those projectiles sitting in the fuze-setters might have been "insurance" against possible kamikaze intruders, which were prone to coming in at all sorts of odd hours, singly, severally and from any direction or height. Saipan was kind of in the middle of the Kamikaze campaign (after Leyte Gulf, before Okinawa) and those 5in/25s represented the long-range HAA defence of the ship.
Just a thought.
Byron