Posted on 09/15/2015 1:05:58 PM PDT by Red Steel
Not quite. The over ram condition was observed as soon as experienced personnel got inside the turret. The rammer console operator cannot see the gun breach or the position of the ram. His action at the console is controlled by hand signals from the gun captain (GM2 Hartwig) at the gun breach. The early portion of the investigation concentrated on the the gun, it loading and any mechanical problems that could have caused the explosion. As part of that investigation, the investigating team examined reports of gun turret explosions onboard American Cruisers and Battleships and reports of turret explosions on battleships of the Royal Navy, the Japanese Navy and the German Navy, all of which had had similar accidents. The shift in the investigation to the 2nd class gunners mate Clayton Hartwig,came several months into the investigation, when his sister asked BUPERS, why his mother had not received his life insurance. Invesitgation into that showed that he had changed the designated beneficiary from his mother to a friend of his the day before the turret explosion. That set off all sorts of bells and sirens with the investigation team.
Believe the Iowas used the Mark 8 rangekeeper as the main batter fire control computer.
The inputs were mainly electro-mechanical links. There were three or four FT's around the machinery, but there was an optical rangefinder in the gun director on top of the ship that also had a radar unit. It was hooked up via synchs and servos to the computer, and the output then went to the gun mounts in the same manner. WE had 5"38's on the Perkins.
In the computer room, there was also a big gimballed gyroscope that kept the level on the guns, again through a servo system. They would pitch and yaw with the ship's movement. We could lob our rounds accurately up to 12 miles +/-.
The toughest part was underway replenishments, alongside and hand-by-hand transfer from the supply ships. Firing the guns was just a pull of a trigger!!!
Thanks
The Montana went to the bottom at the end of the episode. There used to be a full episode online.
I am still looking
fishing grounds near Thimble Shoals Light... to this day, known by locals as “Missouri Flats”
A candidate who actually supports our military instead of millions of illegal aliens.
Got to tour the ship with my dad (Korea vet) a month ago. He got to sign his bunk and tell my kids all about his days as an officer on the ship. Got a great picture of my son and daughter with their hands on the firing keys.
Take a look at the article in post #150.
Great article, GPA.
Thanks for the link.
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