5"/25 on shore bombarment

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marcelo_malara
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5"/25 on shore bombarment

Post by marcelo_malara »

Hi guys. Look at this picture, which is captioned below. The question is, what is the reason that for shore bombardment, presumably done with HC Mark 36: 53.85 lbs. (24.43 kg), the shells need time fuzes?


USS New Mexico (BB-40) Ship's 5/25 battery prepares to fire during the bombardment of Saipan, 15 June 1944. Note time-fuze setters on the left side of each gun mount, each holding three fixed rounds of ammunition; barrels of 20mm machine guns at the extreme right; and triple 14/50 guns in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

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OpanaPointer
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

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Gun crews don't get enough exercise with live ammo and "clear through the barrel" practice.
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marcelo_malara
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

Post by marcelo_malara »

OpanaPointer wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:40 pm Gun crews don't get enough exercise with live ammo and "clear through the barrel" practice.
Sorry, I don´t understand your post. This is supposed to be a real shore bombardment.
OpanaPointer
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

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marcelo_malara wrote: Thu Sep 22, 2022 3:22 pm
OpanaPointer wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:40 pm Gun crews don't get enough exercise with live ammo and "clear through the barrel" practice.
Sorry, I don´t understand your post. This is supposed to be a real shore bombardment.
I have no doubt about that. But what I meant was the crews were honing their skills while supporting the ground pounders. "Everything is an opportunity for training."
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marcelo_malara
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

Post by marcelo_malara »

OpanaPointer wrote: Thu Sep 22, 2022 5:15 pm
marcelo_malara wrote: Thu Sep 22, 2022 3:22 pm
OpanaPointer wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:40 pm Gun crews don't get enough exercise with live ammo and "clear through the barrel" practice.
Sorry, I don´t understand your post. This is supposed to be a real shore bombardment.
I have no doubt about that. But what I meant was the crews were honing their skills while supporting the ground pounders. "Everything is an opportunity for training."
Ah ok!
OpanaPointer
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

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I don't think the boots on the ground cared who sent the CARE packages. :cool:
Fatboy Coxy
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

Post by Fatboy Coxy »

It all looks very clean and tidy at the moment, maybe first shells being loaded, with a number of others prepared for rapid fire.

good description of the gun and photo here
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-25_mk10.php
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Fatboy Coxy

Currently writing https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/ ... if.521982/
OpanaPointer
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

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You can see men with big leather gloves waiting to grab the empty casings. Don't let them rattle around on the deck.
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marcelo_malara
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

Post by marcelo_malara »

Hi guys. The question remains, were the fuzes set to detonate in the air before hitting the ground, shrapnel like?
Steve Crandell
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

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marcelo_malara wrote: Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:16 pm Hi guys. The question remains, were the fuzes set to detonate in the air before hitting the ground, shrapnel like?
I don't know, but can't imagine why they would do that. Defenders were hunkered down with overhead cover.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

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marcelo_malara wrote: Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:16 pm Hi guys. The question remains, were the fuzes set to detonate in the air before hitting the ground, shrapnel like?
Radar in the shell, dial a boom.
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marcelo_malara
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

Post by marcelo_malara »

Yes, it does not make much sense, except they were illuminating shells. I remember reading (in the book "The deadly fuze") that the Allies used VT fuzes near the Rhine in 1944, the shells were pointed just above the heads of the German troops and exploded when passing overhead.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

Post by Steve Crandell »

marcelo_malara wrote: Sun Sep 25, 2022 3:24 am Yes, it does not make much sense, except they were illuminating shells. I remember reading (in the book "The deadly fuze") that the Allies used VT fuzes near the Rhine in 1944, the shells were pointed just above the heads of the German troops and exploded when passing overhead.
Yes, but that wasn't an amphibious landing.
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

Post by OpanaPointer »

The gun crews don't care what they're shooting at or what they're shooting.
Byron Angel
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Re: 5"/25 on shore bombarment

Post by Byron Angel »

Hi Marcelo,
Those projectiles sitting in the fuze-setters might have been "insurance" against possible kamikaze intruders, which were prone to coming in at all sorts of odd hours, singly, severally and from any direction or height. Saipan was kind of in the middle of the Kamikaze campaign (after Leyte Gulf, before Okinawa) and those 5in/25s represented the long-range HAA defence of the ship.

Just a thought.

Byron
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