20mm Clipping Room

20mm Clipping Room. . One clipping room captain and four ammunition handlers (all enlisted men) manned this compartment. They supplied 20mm gun crews with the 20mm magazines from this room. They also brought back empty magazines to reload., The room contained drum magazines and crates of ammunition for the 20mm anti-aircraft guns. Each magazine contained 60 rounds of ammunition and each gun held one magazine per barrel. The guns were capable of firing 450 rounds per minute, but gun crews could not change the heavy magazines that fast. The average rate of fire was 250 to 350 per minute., Steward's Mates manned all three clipping rooms. During World War II, Steward's Mates were African-American men., Crew Memories , It was 1936 before the president opened up the Army and Navy to Negroes. The Secretary of the Navy said he would permit Negroes to come into the Navy at this time, but as mess attendants only… In mid-January 1941, I was transferred to the crew of the North Carolina. The mess attendants' duties aboard the North Carolina were to clean officers' staterooms, make their bunks, put towels in their rooms; unpack, wash, and store dishes; clean silver (the Ship had a 120-plus piece silver service); clean the wardroom; and anything else the officers asked us to do [like taking and picking up their laundry]. , , Roosevelt Flenard, Cook 2/c