He looked like the emcee from a local TV show, in the early 1970's, called FRIGHT NIGHT....emcee was on a blacked out sound stage and had only a flashlight shining upwards from under his chin....scared the HAY out of me as a kid!
My ship, USS Sphinx, ARL-24 ended up with two quad 40mm mounts, fore and aft. Six(ish) .50 cal single mounts and two crew manning Stinger Man-pads for anti-air defense. I never got to man the 40mm mounts but the .50 cal was an awesome experience. I meticulously gathered the brass and disintegrating links and reassembled. Unfortunately, that ammo can was lost during my separation/divorce.
Paul said he would like to send a couple of 5in rounds at the crotch rocket about the same time I said that to myself. Great explanation about the gun operation and crewing. I'm sure there were probably a few by the book supply personnel that complained about not getting the empty cases back after a patrol, maybe the crew saved one to shove down his complaint hole. Greetings from Texas.
Great content. You have given more clarity to the operation of this weapon. I kept having visions of a pitching boat during foul weather. Kudos to maintaining the boat in this great condition.
So this was a new-build 5/25? I had always assumed that the 5 inch guns carried by subs were converted from AA guns removed from pre-war battleships as they were upgraded to carry 5/38s. Thank you for this video!
Those 5 inch 25s could be used against ships but they had a shorter range. Between WWI and WWII the 5 inch 51s were optimized as anti-surface secondaries because the longer barrel gave longer range. The 5-inch 25s were optimized as anti-aircraft guns because the shorter barrel was easier to aim at faster-moving airplanes. The 5-inch 38 basically split the difference in barrel length to create the dual-purpose weapon.
@@hackerjohnt the 5"25s were also used to engage shore targets. A role they may actually have been better suited to than the flatter shooting, higher velocity guns. In that respect, they were similar to field artillery howitzers.
The LPD11 I was on in the mid '70's had four twin 3"50's. Two starboard, two port forward and aft. Carried a lot of 3"50 rounds aboard on all hands workparties. They came in a canister and I believe weighed 35 pounds total.
LPH-7 had 4 duel mount 3"50 when I came aboard early 70's we replaced 2 with Sparrow Missels when I was aboard mid- 70's when she was sunk she had the R2D2 thingy
Civilians and those who don't know any better seem to quote manning requirements like they are hard and fast regulations. Subs tour guides are generally unaware that during a sub gunex is the time it takes a gun crew to get out on deck, into place and start getting accurate rounds downrange, faster is better. If you want a faster rate of fire then you need more people on deck to move the rounds and the 5"/ 25 fixed rounds are heavy, approx 80lbs each, try hefting a few of these! Weather and daylight are another factor, in heavy seas its harder for the ammo handlers to keep on their feet and for the trainer and pointer to get the sights aligned long enough to make it worth while plus it's easy to have a man overboard in rough weather. Another important consideration during a gunex is how long it takes to secure the gun and get everyone below plus the normal bridge watch if you get jumped by an aircraft or outgunned by your target. The complete rounds come from the ready service locker or ammo scuttle without the metal container during a gunex to save time and so the crew doesn't trip over the discarded containers. I highly doubt anyone would catch the empty cartridge cases for recycling, remember...... time is of the essence in a gunfight!!! The man with the gloves was probably chasing the cases and pitching them over the side. Submarine firecontrol for guns was mostly Kentucky windage..... if you were lucky and had radar they were a huge help because they could under the right circumstances get a range to the target and then to the splash of the shell and correct you onto the target. Before they had radar they would crank in the estimated range on the guns elevation and set deflection using a SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess) and see where it would hit. This would get rounds on target faster than messing around messing with complicated firecontrol tables. Which hatch they used depended on sea state Paul! What ever side the barrel lock opened more than likely depended on what ever way the sub tender crews or yard birds felt like at the moment, I doubt there was a regulation way.
Of course sea state, weather and other factors affect your gun performance. As for gun manning the eight-man figure is from the Navy's gun crew training program. As for which hatch is used that's pretty simple, the bridge hatch is too far and according to our crew the after battery hatch was used ... the captains use of the gun would take into consideration the sea state... because as you point out, a man overboard is very likely in very rough weather. The ready service locker rounds were stowed naked... the rounds coming up from the magazine were in their cans until they reach the deck. There they're decanted. The Navy wanted in an ideal situation (training sessions)to recycle the brass and stowage canisters ... in combat of course they went overboard.
Weren't some boats armed with 3" guns, early in the war. Also, I believe some of the late war subs had two 5" guns, as torpedo-worthy targets dwindled. Is there a video on the 40mm coming?
Was there something to hold shells in place while they were in the passing scuttle or was it purely reliant on the person inside holding the rounds up for the deck crew to grab?
Regarding the Mk 91 TBT binoculars, were they 7x50 or 10x50? Separate question, the marking seen through the periscope; was that mil marks, or degrees? The muzzle block was called a tampion.
Who says Silversides didn't get a 5-in. 25 at the end of the war? She was among the first Gatos built and was put to work immediately and continually. In the last year of the war the old pre-war fleet sub classes were pulled out of front line service and used for training. But SS236 I believe served to the end. I have seen a few Post-war images of Silversides that seem to show a 5/25. But when mothballed the guns were removed. When she became a reservist trainer they weren't returned. When she became a memorial sub the restorers probably couldn't get a 5/25 and a 4/50 was likely available.
Question - when the footage of the gun in action is shown at ~3:05ish, the gunner seems to have his foot not on the right pedal, nor the gun captain reaching near his override trigger. What's firing the gun?
wanting to shoot at airplanes and "crotch-rocket" motorcycles with a deck gun - the submariner's equivalent to "keep your cat off my lawn!" - I gotta get over there and see you guys someday, we lost Clamagore a few years back, she was a guppy III.
Former electronic teacher was a sonarman. He said once they would take an Alka Seltzer tablet, hide it in a piece of bread and throw it to the seagulls. Once swallowed it would start to fizz, and the increased pressure would actually blow out the birds cloaca, killing the bird. He said they hated the gulls because they would poop on the deck crew.
@@philgiglio7922 I heard that story at Fleet Sonar School in 1973. We called them amphibious flying rats and if you don't keep after them they will white wash the decks.
No bore swab for the "wet rounds" coming out of this beastie? I'd think accuracy out of the initial projectiles would be essential as opposed to coming out of the barrel "crazy."
@@paulfarace9595 Probably so, which leads me to believe wet rounds going crazy were not that much of an issue. If this gun is mainly taking out junks, those vessels would not be carrying any weapons larger than a 12.7mm machine gun such as the Ho-103.
Unless the generator of the VT fuze is turning rapidly the fuze is completely inoperative. A minimum airspeed of approximately 100 mph is required to start the generator turning.
Imagine this in a tank.. 😁 5 inch would be, what, 127mm.. Hmm. There ARE some tank guns around that caliber, or slightly less. 7 tons in a 60 ton tank.. too much?
Besides being built of stainless steel and being painted ( I assume the paint helped prevent corrosion) were there any other steps taken to keep the gun from corroding or rusting? Was it covered in any grease or oil? Something else?
