Naval Gun droop.

[capnsensible]

Yeah some people get all the fun jobs. Once I'd moved onwards and downwards, my job changed to dealing with torpedos and the tubes to fire them from. The diameter is 21 inches. Depending on the class of submarine there are 5or 6 that need routine maintenance and inspection. The guys who build them up at Barrow are a breed apart.
I was in the crew of a submarine on its contractors sea trials. Part of this involved going to a test depth. And me. The spooky one was the tube in the middle that had a small downward angle. Going to the far end was easy but coming back was no place for the squirmy. Especially knowing that your door out would be shut at the first sign of a leak. But it paid well and I was young!

 

[Poignard]

Yeah some people get all the fun jobs. Once I'd moved onwards and downwards, my job changed to dealing with torpedos and the tubes to fire them from. The diameter is 21 inches. Depending on the class of submarine there are 5or 6 that need routine maintenance and inspection. The guys who build them up at Barrow are a breed apart.
I was in the crew of a submarine on its contractors sea trials. Part of this involved going to a test depth. And me. The spooky one was the tube in the middle that had a small downward angle. Going to the far end was easy but coming back was no place for the squirmy. Especially knowing that your door out would be shut at the first sign of a leak. But it paid well and I was young!

GAPSUs, DPSUs and TGCUs etc

 

[capnsensible]

GAPSUs, DPSUs and TGCUs etc

I hate FLA's. ?

 

[JumbleDuck]

I was in the crew of a submarine on its contractors sea trials. Part of this involved going to a test depth. And me. The spooky one was the tube in the middle that had a small downward angle. Going to the far end was easy but coming back was no place for the squirmy. Especially knowing that your door out would be shut at the first sign of a leak. But it paid well and I was young!

Someone I know went on the contractor's sea trials for one of the Polaris submarines, having been involved with the design of the vertical pointy things which go bang. It was a rather nerve-wracking experience because of Cammell-Laird's atrocious build standards. The attention to detail which led to the Thetis sinking clearly lived on, he says ...

 

[Achosenman]

Thanks for the speedy answer. I will have to tell my daughter she was right. I know I will never hear the last of it. Fascinating stuff though. In the RAF i never came across anything bigger than the old Aden guns .303 I think (or a bit bigger). These were superseded by missiles very soon after I joined up.

Ummm, if you mean the Aden Cannon that was carried on the Hawker Hunter etc back in the day, it was 30mm not .303 (7.7mm) A tad more than a "bit" bigger.

 

[HinewaisMan]

If you're interested in this sort of stuff, 19th-20th Century naval history, ships, battles and the mechanics etc, I'd well recomend a naval historian chap who goes under the name Drachinifel.

His YouTube channel is Drachinifel

 

[Neeves]

Ummm, if you mean the Aden Cannon that was carried on the Hawker Hunter etc back in the day, it was 30mm not .303 (7.7mm) A tad more than a "bit" bigger.

And were not entirely replaced by missiles as were used on the Harrier. When fired they reduced airspeed, but I cannot recall by how much. I fired one and have one of the cartridges. I use it as a pencil/pen holder (showing my age). I'm not quite sure what the grandchildren will use if for.

Jonathan

 

[Achosenman]

And were not entirely replaced by missiles as were used on the Harrier. When fired they reduced airspeed, but I cannot recall by how much. I fired one and have one of the cartridges. I use it as a pencil/pen holder (showing my age). I'm not quite sure what the grandchildren will use if for.

Jonathan

Firing a cannon is sooo {sic} much fun it should be illegal I heard the Vietnam war was the lesson that missiles don't make a gun redundant...even today with BVR and all the other stuff in the toybox. Having a 20mm onboard must be a comfort when all the wizzbangs have gone or don't work. ?

I recently watched an in depth walk round of an A10. Apparently when they fire the GAU-8, the autopilot automatically stabilises the pipper on the target point the moment they press the trigger. Both engine igniters fire up to stop a flameout from the gasses and the inboard slats I thought were high lift devises, are actually used to redirect the gasses away from the engines when firing. There's so much more to this stuff than meets the eye. How did you compensate for the IAS loss?

 

[fisherman]

You might find
AIM STRAIGHT: A BIOGRAPHY OF ADMIRAL SIR PERCY SCOTT.: Amazon.co.uk: Padfield, Peter.: Books
interesting. Percy Scott developed the 'dotter' and improved naval gunnery no end.

 

[fisherman]

From my Wonder Book of The Navy (1920s, I think):

I believe this was usually a job for the smallest cadet - even by the malnourished standard of those days, 16" across the shoulders would have been pretty puny. I wonder if they had a tool or brush for cleaning the rifling or if they just acted like a large test-tube brush.

You should see how they cleaned the heads!

 

[fisherman]

I hope CS Forester was as forensic in his research as is rumoured. He gives an account of a bomb ketch, a small ship with a huge mortar fixed midships in action. OIC named Mound. The ship is anchored, with a warp aft to a capstan from the anchor cable, so the ship can be veered. Silk bags of different colours for different propellant charges (still used for Howitzers in Iraq I understand), an observer ship away to the side signals the shot fall. The target was a ship inside the harbour being blockaded. After several shells were observed, it was 'another pawl if you please bosun' to slightly veer the ship while the gunner loaded one red one green and cut the yellow bag and half emptied it. The shot burst amongst the rigging of the target bringing it down.
Early mortars had the shell fuse ignited manually before the propellant, misfires were a disaster, so someone had the bright idea to load the shell fuse inwards so it was ignited by the propellant....if it went off.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Firing a cannon is sooo {sic} much fun it should be illegal I heard the Vietnam war was the lesson that missiles don't make a gun redundant...even today with BVR and all the other stuff in the toybox. Having a 20mm onboard must be a comfort when all the wizzbangs have gone or don't work. ?

I recently watched an in depth walk round of an A10. Apparently when they fire the GAU-8, the autopilot automatically stabilises the pipper on the target point the moment they press the trigger. Both engine igniters fire up to stop a flameout from the gasses and the inboard slats I thought were high lift devises, are actually used to redirect the gasses away from the engines when firing. There's so much more to this stuff than meets the eye. How did you compensate for the IAS loss?

Different kind of cannon, but I visited the USS Constellation in Baltimore Harbour,, and was co-opted in to help fire a (small) muzzle loader Civil War vintage cannon. It was fun! But it gave an insight into the need for careful drill when firing in action at speed - we did it very slowly with constant reminders to keep hands and feet out of the way of the various tackles, and of course, it was a reduced, blank charge, so the recoil wasn't anything like it would have been in action.

 

[fisherman]

I looked into building a cannon and getting into re-enactment work without having to be down amongst the hoi polloi at 'push of pike'. Irons bros of Wadebridge at the time, 1988, could cast the barrel, I was going to make the wheels and carriage. It would have to be proved, fired double shotted and filled with water, at Woolwich. If over 2in bore you need a firearms licence, under that it's a shotgun. My mate up the road makes them now with a thick walled tube encased in GRP, painted black. They look very effective. I believe he fires them as well.
About Mainmast

Whilst waiting for the AA to rescue me in Godstone I was reading about the Carronade, or ship smasher, a short large bore cannon, named after the Carron foundry in Falkirk. I looked across at the phone box (no mobile then, 1988) to see in the casting, down the side, 'Carron Foundry, Falkirk'.

 

[fisherman]

Dammit, here's a wiki page about the bomb ketch that includes the Hornblower reference
Bomb vessel - Wikipedia

 

[Blue Sunray]

I hope CS Forester was as forensic in his research as is rumoured. He gives an account of a bomb ketch, a small ship with a huge mortar fixed midships in action. OIC named Mound. The ship is anchored, with a warp aft to a capstan from the anchor cable, so the ship can be veered. Silk bags of different colours for different propellant charges (still used for Howitzers in Iraq I understand), an observer ship away to the side signals the shot fall. The target was a ship inside the harbour being blockaded. After several shells were observed, it was 'another pawl if you please bosun' to slightly veer the ship while the gunner loaded one red one green and cut the yellow bag and half emptied it. The shot burst amongst the rigging of the target bringing it down.
Early mortars had the shell fuse ignited manually before the propellant, misfires were a disaster, so someone had the bright idea to load the shell fuse inwards so it was ignited by the propellant....if it went off.

Not just howitzers or Iraq. You can see the charge bags being checked by the Gun No1 in this clip:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1329730958073815042

 

[Poignard]

I hope CS Forester was as forensic in his research as is rumoured. He gives an account of a bomb ketch, a small ship with a huge mortar fixed midships in action. OIC named Mound. The ship is anchored, with a warp aft to a capstan from the anchor cable, so the ship can be veered. Silk bags of different colours for different propellant charges (still used for Howitzers in Iraq I understand), an observer ship away to the side signals the shot fall. The target was a ship inside the harbour being blockaded. After several shells were observed, it was 'another pawl if you please bosun' to slightly veer the ship while the gunner loaded one red one green and cut the yellow bag and half emptied it. The shot burst amongst the rigging of the target bringing it down.
Early mortars had the shell fuse ignited manually before the propellant, misfires were a disaster, so someone had the bright idea to load the shell fuse inwards so it was ignited by the propellant....if it went off.

There used to be a model of a bomb ketch on display in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

 

[dombuckley]

Clip from "Sink the Bismarck": first minute or so shows a 15" gun turret loading (filmed aboard Vanguard)

 

[Whitlock]

I looked into building a cannon and getting into re-enactment work without having to be down amongst the hoi polloi at 'push of pike'. Irons bros of Wadebridge at the time, 1988, could cast the barrel, I was going to make the wheels and carriage. It would have to be proved, fired double shotted and filled with water, at Woolwich. If over 2in bore you need a firearms licence, under that it's a shotgun. My mate up the road makes them now with a thick walled tube encased in GRP, painted black. They look very effective. I believe he fires them as well.
About Mainmast

Whilst waiting for the AA to rescue me in Godstone I was reading about the Carronade, or ship smasher, a short large bore cannon, named after the Carron foundry in Falkirk. I looked across at the phone box (no mobile then, 1988) to see in the casting, down the side, 'Carron Foundry, Falkirk'.

Apparently, the Carronade worked best if you could get behind the stern of the enemy ship and fire it through the captain's windows. An admiral's windows would be even better. If done properly, the shot would sweep through the length of the cleared gun decks taking out most or all of the gun crews.

 

[Poignard]

I hope CS Forester was as forensic in his research as is rumoured. He gives an account of a bomb ketch, a small ship with a huge mortar fixed midships in action. OIC named Mound. The ship is anchored, with a warp aft to a capstan from the anchor cable, so the ship can be veered. Silk bags of different colours for different propellant charges (still used for Howitzers in Iraq I understand), an observer ship away to the side signals the shot fall. The target was a ship inside the harbour being blockaded. After several shells were observed, it was 'another pawl if you please bosun' to slightly veer the ship while the gunner loaded one red one green and cut the yellow bag and half emptied it. The shot burst amongst the rigging of the target bringing it down.
Early mortars had the shell fuse ignited manually before the propellant, misfires were a disaster, so someone had the bright idea to load the shell fuse inwards so it was ignited by the propellant....if it went off.

Category:HMS Granado (ship, 1742) - Wikimedia Commons

 

[coveman]

Clip from "Sink the Bismarck": first minute or so shows a 15" gun turret loading (filmed aboard Vanguard)

My godfather, sadly no longer with us, was an officer on HMS King George V during WW2. I remember him telling me a few stories about his experiences. He gave me a photo of the ship with a few details - 10, 14 inch guns which would unleash a full salvo broadside of 16,000 pounds. Apparently she could reload and fire like this every 30 seconds, and even in those days it was managed by a "fire control table" which was a very basic "computer.
Must have been hell on the receiving end!