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The gun crews had performed like superhumans as they at times would load and fire our 5-inch guns at near machine gun rate. It was reported that in one 15 minute period in the battle they had cycled over 1,000 rounds of 5-inch shells through the ships' guns.

This was one helluva story and triggered a lot of memories by this 1950s vet.

In boot camp (1951) we were treated to a rapid fire exercise by a destroyer gun crew on a single-barrel 5" 38 (barrel length = 5" x 38). Those guys looked like pistons working up and down as they loaded and "fired". I distinctly remember thinking how cushy the gun captain's job was, having only to hit the "spade" (firing lever) every few seconds.

Later on we went through the ammo handlers' drill, loading that 52-pound projectile in the hoist (ammo was semi-fixed - projectile separate from the case). We were warned not to put our fingers over the base as we loaded the projectile nose-first into the hoist. Sometimes it hesitated, sometimes it went up immediately and if you had your fingers over the base, they could be snipped off. It was tough handing those heavy shells by just gripping them around their sides.

One thing that struck me as how advanced we were in WWII in that, as the shell was hoisted upward, the part where the nose rested rotated and set the fuse to burst as whatever altitude the gun director fed into the machinery. This equipment was from the pre-proximity fuse days.

Years later I read about the USS Houston in action off Java in 1942 and having their 5-inchers on "automatic". I wondered what they meant, dug around, and found out that was a term used when the gun directors took control and fired the gun as soon as the round was seated rather than waiting for the gun captain. Some people who saw her in action thought she was on fire because of the rate of fire she was spitting out.

"Greatest Generation" indeed.