Name This...(287)

[Brady]

???

[Tankerace]

US Naval Gun Breach, My guess os 14"/50 Mk 7 as deployed on New Mexico and Tennessee class battleships.

[mlees]

Looks like one of the old dryers in the laundromat I use.

[tsimmonds]

It's an interrupted screw (I hate it when that happens!).

[mlees]

Yup, but a 14inch cannon is something to be proud of, and show off to all your friends!

[Tankerace]

I remember, my grandad showed me a home movie they made on the Mississippi (his tugboat). They took one of those oldstyle movie cameras, put it in the muzzle, and let it slide all the way down to the breach where someone caught it.

He also told me of a time (he just told me last Saturday, in fact) that they saw a bunch of sharks one time, and they harpooned it, and hoisted it up with the stern crane. Said it was 14 feet long! Don't know if its true, but that's what he said.

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

US Naval Gun Breach, My guess os 14"/50 Mk 7 as deployed on New Mexico and Tennessee class battleships.

Well, this guy has a USN tat on his forearm. Somehow, i get the impression that he is looking at this thing as a specimen though - like he hadn't seen it's like before, although i'm not sure how that squares with the no shirt. Could this be from a captured (i.e. IJN) ship?

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

US Naval Gun Breach, My guess os 14"/50 Mk 7 as deployed on New Mexico and Tennessee class battleships.

Well, this guy has a USN tat on his forearm. Somehow, i get the impression that he is looking at this thing as a specimen though - like he hadn't seen it's like before, although i'm not sure how that squares with the no shirt. Could this be from a captured (i.e. IJN) ship?

I revise my guess - looking at the size of this thing compared to the guys forearm - the actual breach size does not seem to be much different than the size of his forearm (wrist to elbow) - in fact it looks somewhat smaller.

Measuring the size of my own forearm = c. 1 foot. So, maybe, despite my initial impression, this is smaller than 14". Maybe 8", or possibly 12" (Alaska Class cruiser?)

[mikemike]

I´d guess this is not a British gun. The breech blocks on British guns swung to the side, like an opening door, once they were retracted from the bore. At least they did on the 15-inchers. I guess that would rule out Japanese guns, too. The Japanese 14-inchers were copies of a British (Vickers) design. I´ve seen a breech block that drops like this in that movie where a ship´s cook defeats a gang of terrorists who have captured the Iowa-class battleship he´s serving on. I don´t know the original name of the movie, it was called "Alarmstufe Rot" (Red Alert) in Germany. He fired one of the 16-inchers at the terrorists´ sub, sinking it, of course. The breech of that gun worked just like the one in the photo, IIRC.

[rkr]

ORIGINAL: mikemike

I´d guess this is not a British gun. The breech blocks on British guns swung to the side, like an opening door, once they were retracted from the bore. At least they did on the 15-inchers. I guess that would rule out Japanese guns, too. The Japanese 14-inchers were copies of a British (Vickers) design. I´ve seen a breech block that drops like this in that movie where a ship´s cook defeats a gang of terrorists who have captured the Iowa-class battleship he´s serving on. I don´t know the original name of the movie, it was called "Alarmstufe Rot" (Red Alert) in Germany. He fired one of the 16-inchers at the terrorists´ sub, sinking it, of course. The breech of that gun worked just like the one in the photo, IIRC.

Oh yes, Under siege with Steven Segal. The ship was Iowa and Erika Eleniak presented herself topless. Very nice and the movie was worth watching too...

[Tankerace]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

US Naval Gun Breach, My guess os 14"/50 Mk 7 as deployed on New Mexico and Tennessee class battleships.

Well, this guy has a USN tat on his forearm. Somehow, i get the impression that he is looking at this thing as a specimen though - like he hadn't seen it's like before, although i'm not sure how that squares with the no shirt. Could this be from a captured (i.e. IJN) ship?

I revise my guess - looking at the size of this thing compared to the guys forearm - the actual breach size does not seem to be much different than the size of his forearm (wrist to elbow) - in fact it looks somewhat smaller.

Measuring the size of my own forearm = c. 1 foot. So, maybe, despite my initial impression, this is smaller than 14". Maybe 8", or possibly 12" (Alaska Class cruiser?)

Actually, last night as I was thinking about this last night, it may very well be an 8"/55 or 12"/50 gun. But remember, its not the circumference that you measure, its the diameter.

[mlees]

With a breech block swinging down like that, and intended to be operated manually, it shouldn't be more than 75-90 pounds max. I don't remember. In "Under Siege", was the breech block hydraulic?

[Tankerace]

It was, but that was a 16" gun.... Its been 5 years since I have seen a 14" gun breach (USS Texas).

So, we'll say this.

Its larger than 5", but smaller than 16"

So, 6, 8, 12, 14. Those are our gun choices.

[mlees]

OK. With a manual breech loader like that, I am gonna guess the shell and powder was loaded by hand. (A little bit of an assumption here, but I don't see a loader tray or rammer in frame. They could be on some swing in/swing out set up, but I dunno.)

A 6 inch shell weighs roughly 90 lbs, and was considered the largest calibre (I think) that would be convenient to require manual loading and not tire out the gunners. (This helps keep up a high rate of fire.) An 8inch should have a loading tray or rammer. Then again, that looks a lot bigger than 5 or 6 inches. Sigh. I can't make up my mind.

I agree on the Mrs. Eliniak rating, by the way...

[Tankerace]

Well, the loading tray isn't in the picture... After the breach was opened, then it would be lowered. But the guy is in the way.

[Gudgeon]

I believe most of the interior scenes for Under Siege were filmed on the USS Alabama in Mobile Bay.

[mlees]

Even so, the Alabama has 16inch guns also. The breech loading equipment for a 16/45 and 16/50, or whatever, should look the same to a neophyte like me...

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: mlees

OK. With a manual breech loader like that, I am gonna guess the shell and powder was loaded by hand. (A little bit of an assumption here, but I don't see a loader tray or rammer in frame. They could be on some swing in/swing out set up, but I dunno.)

A 6 inch shell weighs roughly 90 lbs, and was considered the largest calibre (I think) that would be convenient to require manual loading and not tire out the gunners. (This helps keep up a high rate of fire.) An 8inch should have a loading tray or rammer. Then again, that looks a lot bigger than 5 or 6 inches. Sigh. I can't make up my mind.

I agree on the Mrs. Eliniak rating, by the way...

This thing clearly looks bigger than 6". Any possibility that it is 10" as in a Coastal Defence battery?

My guess is still 8" or 12". If I had to guess, i'd say 12" from Alaska class. Brady already showed us one color picture from the Alaska! Maybe he has more[:D]

[Tankerace]

It could also (if a 12") be from the Arkansas...

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

It could also (if a 12") be from the Arkansas...

Good thought!