The 5 inch 38 caliber Gun for texboy by Buffalo1
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Description
It was in service with the U.S. Navy from the 1930s to the 1990s and is still around here and there with other navies. This excellent gun could be found in open pedestal mounts on aircraft carriers, destroyers, merchantmen and transports. The Fletcher class destroyers carried five guns in single turrets while other destroyers, cruisers, and battleships carried the 5"/38 (127mm) in twin turrets as the photos from the battleship USS Alabama show. It was a dual purpose gun that could be used as an anti-ship or anti-aircraft gun, and really a triple purpose gun when it came to firing against shore targets. A well trained crew could fire 22 shells a minute per barrel! There were 10 types of shell that the gun could handle.
The first photo shows the rear of the turret with hatches open. The two smaller hatches are for tossing the empty shell cases out of the turret. The second photo gives you an idea of how small the interior of the turret is. The third photo shows the optical sight "bulge" found on the side of the turret.
texboy got a chance to fire a 5 inch 38 cal. back in 1965, so these are for Paul!
Comments (11)
ronmolina
Nice shots!
erlandpil
good capture picture erland
brigadier
Yes, definitely a multi use system. Mk 37 director with Mk 25 FC radar, Mk 1A computer with Mk 6 stable element, and two 5"/38 twin mounts on a FRAM 1 Gearing class. Hard to beat for anti aircraft, surface craft, and Naval Gunfire Support. Spent many hours on that system. Trying to find some of my pics. Got the whole system on film somewhere ...
Buffalo1
Yup, the brigadier knows his stuff because he is a professional Navy man!
bmac62
This turret looks big compared to a tank turret. Been on two battleships (North Carolina and Missouri) and must admit I let the big guns steal the show. Consequently, glad to see a five-inch turret in detail. Good show. Thanks Roger.
texboy
Outstanding, lad! The one we fired was an open mount, about midships, on USS Columbus (CG-12); the Marines who usually manned the beast found it quite amusing to watch a bunch of midshipmen struggle! We also got to crew a 3"/50 twin mount on the beach at NAS Oceana; not as much fun, but slapping rounds in the rotary magazine was a challenge! Thanks for thinking of me…. :D
sandra46
GREAT SHOTS
debbielove
Nice series of shots Roger.. Good to see some more, thanks for that.. I'm sure Paul has loved to see these as well.. Good post mate! Rob
flavia49
great collage
jocko500
good thing I looked into your gallery. i missed some very good stuff here
e-brink
Very interesting to me. I always like to see old or new military equipment.
Cyve
Fantastic images ans very great shots!