40MM Anti-Aircraft Guns

40MM Anti-Aircraft Guns. U.S.S. North Carolina. , 40MM Anti-Aircraft Guns , This is a 40mm Swedish Bofors medium range, anti-aircraft gun. The Battleship began installing these guns in the fall of 1942. They replaced the Ship's (sic) inadequate 1.1-inch guns. By November 1943, there were 15 of the 40mm quadruple mounts on the Ship (sic)., Each mount had a crew of 11 men: mount captain, pointer, trainer and eight loaders. There were also seven or more men passing ammunition to the loaders. Ammunition came in a clip of four shells., All four guns were arranged to move as a single unit in elevation and train. The Pointer station had the firing-pedal. There were three (3) methods of operation and the Pointer station set the selector switch:, Automatic - guns remotely controlled by the nearby Gun Director and fired by that operator , Local - gun pointer controlled the mount's power drives and he could fire the guns , Manual - the trainer and pointer used the mount's hand wheels for train and elevation. The pointer fired the guns. , , Mark 51 Gun Director with Mark 14 Gunsight , The main problem of firing at aircraft was their high speed. If the gunner aimed and fired at the plane where he saw it, by the time the ammunition arrived the target was gone. Computerized gunsights were developed to solve the problem. , , Two men worked the Mark 51 director: , Pointer - aimed the director and after tracking, fired the gun , Range Setter - set the range to target and range rate dials, and deflection and elevation spots , , When the target was brought on the gunsight reticle and smooth tracking established, the Pointer fired the gun by depressing the safety lock with his thumb and squeezing the firing key. In order to fire remotely, the gun pointer's pedal was fully depressed. , , Statistics , Effective Range: 4,000 yards , Rate of Fire: 130-150 rounds per minute , Weight of Shell, Loaded and Fused: 2 pounds , Gun Crew per Mount: 15-20, including ammunition passers , , "Moisture was our greatest problem. It would get into the amplifier section mounted on top of the hydraulic unit and it would become inoperative. The gun mount would have to be manually trained or elevated, which was too slow to move fast enough to keep on a plane attacking the task force. It was imperative to keep all 40mm hydraulic units in operating condition. We would rig up a hair dryer to dry the amplifier but a lot of times the saltwater had already damaged it." , , Cecil Jaudon Baker., Fire Controlman 3/C , , "There was a time when four planes came out of the clouds at about 10,000 feet and one started making a dive straight for us. He kept coming and then veered off toward the aircraft carrier Wake Island. He was about to suicide into the carrier when one of our 40mm guns hit him. That was one of the closest calls I'd ever seen." , (captions) , A crew dressed in foul weather gear poses with their 400mm gun mount. , , Crew conducts a loading drill on a 40MM gun mount. Note the officer manning the Mark 51 Director in the foreground.