Where History Comes Alive BATTLESHIP NORTH CAROLINA

Aerial by Jim Brogan who flew over Scccuuuttttttlllebbbuuutttttt the Battleship in November 2009 April 2010 Past, Present and Future The Battleship NORTH CARO­ “hidden” ship is best done in International. (The event is LINA turns 69 on April 9th, the the winter when the steel hull sold out.) day of her commissioning in keeps the interior cool. Over in the Promotions De­ Firepower Program 1941. While her keel was On June 12 we will host our partment they are working on laid in October 1937 and she first Firepower Tour focusing a new design for the Battle­ Saturday, June 12th was launched in June 1940, on the guns and fire control ship’s website and a new bro­ it’s the commissioning date systems. Guests will enjoy in­ chure. We are also develop­ (Register by June 4th) that officially marked her depth presentations, lunch ing a visitor’s hand­out for our 10AM—5PM date into service in the U.S. and camaraderie and take Battleship guests. A documen­ Navy. She was beautiful and home an informative CD­Rom. tary film is in the works and Learn about and explore glamorous and they nick­ Details on the right. don’t forget to visit us on the Battleship’s 16-inch, named her the “Showboat.” The Programs Dept. is busy Facebook and Twitter! 5-inch, 40mm, and 20mm 69 years later she’s still look­ with rentals and planning the Along with other changes on guns, the fire control sys- ing good. Nolan Painting Easter Egg Hunt and the May the horizon we will have a tem (plot and FC tower) Company is painting her ex­ Fantail Film Festival. new format for Scuttlebutt that and combat information terior in Measure 32 camou­ The Easter Egg Hunt will fea­ is better designed for elec­ center flage again. When that is tronic transmission. completed, the anchor skid ture games, the fabled Easter Small group sizes plates can be re­installed on egg hunt, plus small petting Meanwhile, in this expanded the bow and new tour route zoo, pony rides, refreshments edition we asked for articles Lunch included for purchase, and Buddy the from our many knowledge­ signs will replace weather $95/$85 Friends member worn ones. Battleship Bunny! able volunteers who study many aspects of BB55. They Volunteers and the living his­ This May’s Film Festival focus Call 910-251-5797 is on blockbuster hits. On Fri­ are the corps for our histori­ tory crew continue to refur­ cal­related programming for For inquiries & registra- bish areas, such as the Bridge day evenings you can watch a movie on the fantail for $2 adults and children. They tion. Program limited to and Sick Bay. Even the brass study gunnery, engineering, 50 participants, ages 16 plates throughout the tour a person. This year we are showing the classics King daily life, ship’s history, and and older route are shiny now. (see more to help bring this ship to page 10) Kong and Wizard of Oz along with favorites Willy life. They also work on various The Visitor Center is being Wonka & the Chocolate Fac­ restoration projects. Each spruced up too. A new awn­ tory and Raiders of the Lost month our volunteers give at ing will be installed at the Ark. See page 9 for details. least 250 hours. In 2009, they entrance to make it more wel­ logged a whopping 3,663 coming. We are refurbishing The Battleship’s rental facili­ donated hours! the lobby to look more excit­ ties are available for meet­ ings, weddings, receptions, Another group of volunteers is ing and impressive. The Main­ the Board of the Friends of the tenance Dept. is almost fin­ birthday parties, and more. Spaces are the fantail, ma­ Battleship. Eleven people have ished renovating the visitor generously offered their time center exterior restrooms. rine compartment, mess decks and even the whole ship! At and talent to serve on this The Museum Department pre­ night various groups conduct board which will meet in the sented many programs this paranormal investigations. On near future. Stay tuned for past winter: three Hidden April 9th “Ghost Hunting with updates! Battleship tours, the new Dustin Pari” will be on the After 69 years the Battleship Power Plant Program, and we Battleship. He is on Ghost NORTH CAROLINA is in good hosted a special group from Hunters and Ghost Hunters stead. GE/Hitachi. Exploring the Scuttlebutt April 2010 Interesting Facts from Engineering

As I was reading through the hand wheel controlled a series at 133 RPM for 22.5 minutes. “Main­Propulsion Turbines and of throttle valves through a ­ Half power was 4000 SHP Gears and Associated Con­ hydraulic control system. This is per turbine at 100 RPM for 1 denser Equipment” technical equivalent to the power steer­ hr and 15 min. manual, I jotted down some ing system on your car; there­ ­ The limiting factor was the interesting specifications and fore the hand wheel is easy to High Pressure (HP) turbine 1st realized that others may think turn. The astern throttle hand stage shell temperature which so too, so let’s start from the wheel is directly attached could not exceed 900F. beginning. mechanically to the single, Have you wondered why The Battleship’s turbines, re­ astern, globe valve. The main there are 13 sets of moving duction gears and condensers steam pressure is on top of a blades on the HP turbine, but were designed by General large valve poppet which only 12 stages? That’s be­ Electric (GE) but only the made it very difficult to open cause a “stage” is defined as equipment in Machinery therefore it requires a larger a pressure drop which only Space #4 was made by GE. wheel to get more leverage. happens in a nozzle. The 1st The propulsion equipment in It was so difficult to open that stage is the HP turbine is a machinery spaces 1, 2, and 3 if you look to the left and Curtis stage. This stage consists were built by the New York above the throttles in Machin­ of a nozzle and a stationary, Navy Yard. Our sister ship’s ery Space #4, you will see a redirection blade between (USS WASHINGTON) only GE small valve hand wheel. This two sets of moving blades. engine was in her Machinery Each of the follow­ Space #3 and was the mirror ing stages has a image of the BB55 main en­ nozzle diaphragm gine. preceding a single I have done a little research moving blade. into why GE didn’t make the Did you know that equipment for all four machin­ there is a sentinel ery spaces or let the shipyard valve on the cross­ to make all four and have not over piping be­ found anything conclusive. tween the HP and LP The only thing that I found was (Low Pressure) tur­ a theory from a mechanical bines that sounded engineer that was related to at 65PSIG (pound­ reliability. The theory is that if force per square one manufacturer made all inch gauge)? This the engines and something in is the bypass around the was an audible alarm to the the manufacturing process astern poppet valve. This throttle man that there was caused a failure, then this valve had to be opened first excess pressure in the cross­ failure could happen to all the to help equalize pressure over piping. It’s interesting engines. If one engine is made above and below the valve that this valve was plumbed to by another manufacturer, then which reduced the force re­ the bilge like a relief valve the worst case scenario is that quired to lift the valve from its where they were normally three engines fail and there is seat. open to the atmosphere where still one engine to get you they could be heard. Astern turbine operations back to port. If you have an­ Well, that’s some of the inter­ other theory of the actual When operating the astern esting facts I found on the first answer to this question, please turbines: two pages of the technical let me know. ­ Superheated steam had to manual. I will write more in the Next, let’s look at the throttles. be secured and the tempera­ future if I find anything of It never looked correct: the ture dropped to 675F within interest in the remaining 66 ahead throttle is the smaller four minutes. pages. ­ Max power was 8000 shaft handle and the larger is the Kirk Binning astern throttle. The ahead horsepower (SHP) per turbine,

Page 2 Scuttlebutt April 2010

Keeping Secrets Throughout history the armies deciphered messages. On cure communications. of nations in conflict have tried BB55 this machine was located The strip­cipher was an im­ to protect their tactical and in the Code Room next to Ra­ provement because it allowed strategic plans from the en­ dio Central on first platform. for more opportunities to vary emy. This was never truer than (An example on loan from the the codes in use. The device during World War II when the National Cryptological Mu­ was metal with channels and opposing military organiza­ seum is on display.) The ECM came with a set of paper al­ tions had sophisticated eaves­ Mark II was operated solely phabet strips. The channels dropping and monitoring ca­ by officers. allowed the operator to pabilities to try to unravel the The second device that was change the specific code per secret codes of their enemy. available to BB55 was the line in use at any one time. During World War II the Ger­ "strip­cipher" device (CSP­ The paper strips could be mans had an extremely well 845). changed hourly, daily, weekly organized and pervasive com­ or per Operational munications monitoring capa­ Plan (OP) as neces­ bility. They were successful, to sary. some degree, in breaking There were 30­ some of the Allied Codes such channels for use with as the weather forecast and the alphabet strips merchant shipping codes. and only 25 of these These were extremely benefi­ were used on any cial for the Luftwaffe’s recon­ OP. Once the strips naissance planes and espe­ were placed in the cially for the German subma­ channels the only rine service. operation necessary The Japanese also had an was to slide the strips eaves­dropping and monitor­ horizontally along ing service but it wasn't as the channel until an sophisticated as the Germans. English word ap­ On the Allied side, the Polish, peared vertically. British, Russians and Americans The strip­cipher was a manual BB55 received hundreds of were extremely diligent in device that was less sophisti­ Morse Code enciphered mes­ monitoring Axis communica­ cated than the ECM Mark II sages daily in 5­letter groups tions and exploiting them and was operated by the by a Radioman listening to a which eventually helped to Radio Supervisor, an enlisted Fleet Broadcast frequency. shorten the war. man, in Radio Central. Typi­ Most of these messages were cally, messages for decipher deciphered by the ECM in the The United States used several by the strip­cipher device very successful and secure adjoining Code Room and were time perishable and less only three or four messages a methods of communicating critical than those for auto­ tactical and strategic informa­ day were deciphered using matic decipherment by the the strip­cipher device. tion throughout their armed ECM Mark II. forces. The Navy used two of There is no indication that dur­ these systems almost exclu­ The strip­cipher device was an ing World War II either of sively in ship­to­shore and evolutionary improvement these systems were ever ex­ ship­to­ship secure communica­ over its predecessor the cylin­ ploited by the Axis powers. tions. The first, and drical cipher. (In the movie The ECM Mark II was retired most sophisticated device, DaVinci Code they used a in 1959 from use because it was known as the ECM Mark II cylindrical cipher to try to was "just too slow.” determine the code.) The cylin­ (CSP­889) which was an elec­ Cort Barnes tro­mechanical machine that drical cipher was used in automatically enciphered and World War I for tactical se­

Page 3 Scuttlebutt April 2010 Fire Control Computers

The USS NORTH CAROLINA, Vertical (gyroscope) in Plot. state of the art as the high commissioned in 1941, was a Numerous complex variables speed digital microprocessors modern battleship due in part involving range, speed, and of today’s computers had not to the computers that aided in ballistics were fed into the been invented. Specific infor­ the targeting and firing of the Mark 8 computer which calcu­ mation was sent to each com­ ship’s weapons. Many people lated the firing solution to put puter electrically, mechani­ are amazed when you tell the round on target. The com­ cally and manually by turning them that in the early 1940s puter was able to update this knobs, cranks and dials. Gen­ there were computers on the information quickly as the guns eral Electric provided the ship. fired at a rate of one round switchboards that tied the Located on the First Platform every 30 seconds. components together. are two Mark 8 Rangekeep­ The Mark 1A Computers lo­ The Mark 1A computers ers in Main Battery Plot and cated in Secondary Battery weighed nearly 3000 pounds the four Mark1A Computers in Plot (5­inch guns) were not each and needed many elec­ Secondary Battery Plot. They only used for providing tar­ trical cables to operate. Ship were made by the Ford Instru­ geting information for ship to designers had to take these ment Company. ship or ship to shore bom­ factors into account and built The Mark 8 Rangekeeper was bardment but also for target­ full­scale wooden mock­ups of used to compute the firing ing enemy aircraft as part of main and secondary battery solutions for the ship’s massive the ship’s formidable air de­ plots in a warehouse. Space 16 inch/45 caliber main bat­ fense capabilities. was tight for the switchboards teries. These guns were de­ and computers and the many The primary difference be­ men needed to operate them. signed for use in ship to ship tween the Mark 8 and the engagements. However, after Mark 1A was that in addition Main and Secondary Plot are the Pearl Harbor attack and to range, bearing and speed located three levels below the the United States entry in the men needed to factor in main deck in order to protect WWII the battleship’s role that the target was generally them from enemy bombs or shifted. With the advent of not on the same horizontal torpedoes. They are within the airpower and aircraft carriers, plane as the ship. The target ship’s armored citadel and most of the major sea battles (enemy aircraft) was moving were designed so they could in the Pacific theater were at a much higher rate of be sealed airtight for up to fought by combatants who speed and course changes 10 hours. Plot was one of the never saw each other. The came much more rapidly. few spaces on the ship that battleship’s role became to Therefore, calculating the was “air conditioned,” (cooled, protect the carriers and pro­ point in space where the tar­ purified and re­circulated air) vide gunfire support for the get was at any given moment although the air conditioning invasion forces on their island was much more complicated was to keep the equipment hopping campaign across the and required more calcula­ cool and not intended for the Pacific. tions than that of an enemy crew’s comfort. The Mark 8 Rangekeeper was ship or land mass. The Mark It is interesting to note that on an integral part in providing 1A computer was linked elec­ the Iowa class battleships accurate targeting information trically with the Mark 37 Fire these very same model com­ to the 16­inch guns. The Mark Control Director as well a puters were used to fire 16 8 received information from a Stable Element (gyroscope). inch guns during Operation number of sources: Spot 1 and Both the Mark 8 and the Mark Desert Storm (8/1990­ 2 Fire Control Directors, ra­ 1A were mechanical analog 3/1991), a testament to their dar, visual information from computers. They did their re­ design and durability. the ship’s lookouts, the ship’s spective calculations using Frank Glossl pitometer and gyroscopes. It cams, gears, multipliers and was also linked to a Stable component solvers. They were

Computer Mark 1 & Mods. Adjustment Procedure, 1944

Page 4 Scuttlebutt April 2010

A “Second” Pearl Harbor—The West Loch Disaster On Sunday, 21 May 1944 Loch, Pearl Harbor, where we plosion blossomed out of LST­ our ship, USS NORTH CARO­ later learned 29 LSTs were 353. Apparently the blast LINA [BB55], was in Dry Dock loading in preparation for the originated near the bow of #4 for repair to our rudders. Tinian­Saipan Operation. We LST­963, where Army troops Other preparations were could barely make out what had been unloading mortar being made on board for our was going on, but subse­ ammunition. Red hot fragments next operation, the taking of quently learned that six LSTs showered the clustered LSTs, Tinian and Saipan Islands. A and three LCTs had been de­ igniting gasoline drums lined shipmate, Joe Klineburger stroyed by fire and exploding up on the exposed forecastles. and I came topside to get a ammunition with a loss of 559 In minutes, the explosions be­ little air and we assumed our men killed or injured. gan to rip the invasion fleet usual position on the 36­inch Joe and I had to return to our apart. Fires began to blaze searchlight #1. We had been duties and did not learn of the from stem to stern. The explo­ there only a few minute when extent of this catastrophe until sions continued, damaging there was terrific BOOOM much later. On 24 May our more than 20 buildings shore­ and shortly the concussion ship was underway and side at the West Loch facility. wave struck us. We knew this headed for Majuro, Marshall For 24 hours fires raged was something big. We be­ Islands. No news of this event aboard the stricken ships. gan to look around and saw was released to the public Dead were 163 men and 396 all the signalmen on the Sig­ until several months later. were wounded. Investigations nal Bridge, up on their toes could not pinpoint the cause. using long glasses and binocu­ Charles M Paty RM2c – CR During the explosions and lars, trying to see what was Division USS North Carolina fires, firefighters had pre­ happening. vented further loss of ships Editors Note: 29 LSTs were that would have delayed the Lesser explosions continued in nestled together in six berths rapid succession followed by invasion of Saipan. As it was, at West Loch Pearl Harbor only a day was lost in the dark clouds of black smoke preparing for an attack on rising from the direction West departure of the invasion Saipan. At 3:08 p.m., an ex­ fleet.

The Legacy Continued A print of the Ship of the Line NORTH CAROLINA (1820­1867) now hangs in the officers’ wardroom on the submarine NORTH CARO­ LINA. Space is premium on a subma­ rine so a white board was placed on the back side of the frame. They can flip the entire picture around and use the white board during training! “Everyone who has seen the picture thinks it is a fabulous addition,” wrote CDR W.E. Schlauder, USN, Commanding Officer of USS NORTH CAROLINA (SSN 777). We “thank the Battleship for your kind dona­ tion.” Note: Funds from the Friends of the Battleship purchased the original 1827 watercolor painting in our collections.

Page 5 Scuttlebutt April 2010 In Their Own Words: Secondary Battery Plot

Secondary Battery Plot was quickly change set ups in re­ could be set with one half of the computing station for the sponse to battle damage, the battle stations manned. 5­inch, 38 caliber dual pur­ equipment failures or visibility Thus one half of the crew pose gun battery. These guns problems. Being fast on the could be released for rest or were used against air and switchboard was an important meals while the others main­ surface targets and in shore skill and a competitive one. tained reduced around the We used to have bombardment against shore We used to have switchboard clock fire. switchboard races installations, troops and vehi­ races during quiet times. We The ship’s crew...had precious cles. Visual or radar ranges, would make up and call out little locker space available to during quiet times. bearings and elevations to the dummy set ups clocking the them. Our plotting room crew We would make up targets were received in Plot. operator’s response by stop had a tremendous advantage Gun lead angle and elevation watch. The results were posted as under the deck and call out dummy were calculated at the com­ and, although gambling was plates...were wireways with officially illegal, it is suspected set ups clocking the puters and transmitted to the plenty of extra unused space. [gun] battery ensuring, hope­ that certain monetary or edi­ Under those deck plates was operator’s response fully, that the projectile and ble possessions changed hands all manner of contraband such target would meet at the pre­ during competition. by stop watch. The as hobby materials, cookies dicted point. Because of the high speed from home, snacks brought results were posted…. The fire control switchboard in and short advance notice of aboard when possible, left­ Plot conveyed complete flexi­ air or submarine attacks we over treats from the mess hall, bility in electrical connections normally operated at sea in and anything else that would between the four gun directors Condition Three. This meant not survive the periodic locker which tracked the targets, the that one third of our secon­ inspection in the living com­ four computers which solved dary battery battle stations partments. I later learned that the fire control problem, and were kept manned around the some enterprising sailors the ten gun mounts which were clock. Our crews stood four found a recipe and produced “aimed” by the computer solu­ hours on watch (in the battery) hard cider under those deck tions. The switchboard opera­ and eight hours off (for sleep plates after the battle for tor could connect any director or regular duties) on a repeti­ Okinawa. to any computer to any gun tive cycle. When under attack Capt. Tracy Wilder, USN (Ret.) mount or combination of we went to Condition One in then Ensign Wilder, 1944­ mounts by throwing the rotary which all battle stations were 1945. switches to the desired set up. manned. For lengthy periods This allowed the ship to of combat, Condition Two

In Their Own Words: Secondary Battery Plot After each enemy air attack computers. The cameras had a the ship was required to sub­ remote control to a photogra­ mit a Battle Report in consid­ pher in the plotting room who erable detail. In all the excite­ took the pictures during air ment of battle people’s attacks. The system worked memories of what happened fairly well except on occasions varied considerably and it when the photographer, in the was difficult to put together excitement of the attack, an accurate Battle Report so would forget to the take the we came up with the idea of pictures. taking pictures of the com­ Capt. James puters during air attacks in M. Mason, order to assist us in recon­ USN (Ret.) structing the attacks for the then Lt. (jg) reports. We mounted a 35mm Mason. Note the watch sitting on top camera over each of the four

Page 6 Scuttlebutt April 2010

Light Anti-Aircraft Weapons

The Battleship is an impres­ to take a 14 inch shell. The eventual mission which was to sive anti­aircraft weapon but aircraft and weapons were be part of a screen, throw­ it didn’t start out that way. unlikely to do serious damage ing up a curtain of anti­ The NORTH CAROLINA was to a maneuvering capital ship, aircraft fire and protecting originally fitted with twelve but there was a danger that nearby aircraft carriers. (12) 50 caliber Browning ma­ strafing attacks could injure/ Rate of fire and muzzle veloc­ chine guns which lacked range damage unprotected person­ ity values are important be­ and firepower. They were nel and equipment on deck. cause as we consider various mounted on the main deck, The original thought was that weapons, it appears that the two on each side of Turret II the light anti­aircraft weapons Navy felt they had to have and four on each side of Tur­ would make it difficult for certain numbers to defend ret III. Heavier firepower was these lightly armed attackers against aircraft. provided by four quad 1.10 to operate near the ship. Muzzle velocity is important inch mounts where the current As the attacking aircraft be­ 40mm mounts are below Spot because it determines target came more capable (faster, lead angles and is a compo­ 1 and Spot 2, so the ship carrying bigger bombs and started with 28 light anti­ nent in determining the effec­ more accurate) upgrading the tive range of the weapon. The aircraft barrels and ended ship's defensive weapons took with 108 barrels (60 x 40mm Navy wanted a muzzle veloc­ on new importance. But the ity around 2800 feet per sec­ and 48 x 20mm) by the end Navy still lacked the fire con­ of the war. ond (fps). The slower the bul­ trol, weapons, and ammunition let, the more you have to lead First I would like to give credit to reach out and destroy en­ the target. If the bullet travels to the website emy aircraft before they got one mile in three seconds www.navweaps.com and the to the ship. (40mm) against a 240 mph book US Naval Weapons by The Navy had figured out that aircraft, the lead is almost Norman Friedman, Conway level bombing from high alti­ 1100 feet and you’ll need a Maritime Press, 1983, for tude didn’t constitute a serious computing gun sight. If you’re most of the information in this threat. Level deliveries weren’t shooting a laser at the speed article. Of course, this work very accurate. The time­of­fall of light, you can pretty much would not have been possible of the bomb was such that a aim directly at the target and without the assistance and maneuvering ship could avoid that’s why Captain Kirk (Star resources of BB55 Museum the weapon as long as there Trek) shot lasers. Services. weren’t many attackers. The Navy seemed to be look­ Theory and Doctrine of Light The biggest threat was ing for a rate of fire of about Anti-Aircraft Artillery thought to be dive bombers. 500 rounds per minute (rpm) To figure out why the design­ Dive bomb deliveries were from a light anti­aircraft ers originally equipped the more accurate and the time mount or single weapon. As ship with such a meager anti­ from weapon release to im­ the bullets got bigger, the aircraft suite, one has to un­ pact was much shorter. The rate of fire for each barrel derstand the theory behind Navy determined the time decreased. You can compen­ the design. Between the wars, between the ship’s detection sate by adding more barrels aircraft weren’t that capable. of the attacker and bomb to increase the number of They weren’t that fast, didn’t release could be as little as rounds per minute going down carry very big bombs 30 seconds. Before radar, the range to the target. That’s (compared to a shell from ship couldn’t detect and target why the Battleship had Quad another ship) and weren’t that the attackers far enough out 1.1s and then Quad 40s. The accurate in delivering the to prevent the attack, but they Bofors fired at 160 rpm so weapons. As a reference, think could harass the pilots enough with four barrels they of our Kingfisher. It carried to spoil their aim and make achieved 640 rpm if the load­ two 100 lb bombs, two 30 cal them miss a maneuvering ship. ers kept up. machine guns, and cruised at The mission was to harass 119 mph. It was not much of a bombers attacking the NORTH threat against a ship designed CAROLINA rather than the (Continued on page 8)

Page 7 Scuttlebutt April 2010 Light Anti-Aircraft Weapons continued

Proximity fuses and radar would have a dramatic impact on anti­aircraft weapons, but in 1940 these advances weren’t available so the only solution was to put up a lot of bullets as fast as possible. [The Battleship was designed and built in the 1930s.] The trade­offs were bullet density against the size of the bullet. The probability of a hit is bet­ ter if you shoot a lot of bullets. The probability of a kill (given a hit) is better if your projec­ tile is bigger. This was an im­ portant consideration in the anti­kamikaze campaign when the Navy realized that the 20mm and 40mm projectiles couldn’t stop an aircraft com­ ing directly at the ship. The Navy gunners could hit them with the 20mm and 40mms but they needed a three­inch shell or larger to stop them in their tracks. Enough theory. The best weapons available to the Navy in 1940 were the Browning 50 caliber water whole evolution occurred shot with a 1.7 oz slug. cooled machine gun, devel­ pretty quickly and by the time The Browning 50 calibers oped near the end of WWI the complete belt was ex­ were replaced by the Oer­ and the Quad 1.10 devel­ pended, there was no time to likon 20mm in much greater oped in the early 1930s. load another belt of ammuni­ numbers. The Oerlikon threw a Fired at several planes tion except to be ready to tracer/high explosive self engage a different target. crossing the bow from port The Browning 50 Caliber destructing projectile that was The weapon was water 2.5 times the size of the to starboard. No planes Machine Gun cooled because they weren’t Browning projectile at ap­ The Browning Machine Gun came in on the starboard firing in bursts which would proximately the same rate of fired a 1.7 ounce solid bullet allow an air­cooled barrel to fire and muzzle velocity. The bow. Fired about 200 at a rate of about 500 rpm, a cool down. Interestingly, the Oerlikon’s effective range was rounds. There were no muzzle velocity of 2900 fps air­cooled version of this also slightly greater (about a and an effective range of less casualties or jams. weapon is the current light mile), but the big benefit was than a mile. DC Langdon, Coxswain, anti­boat weapon used by the increase in effective fire­ The Browning was water many navies. If you just fire power from the bigger pro­ Gunner on Number 5 cooled and fired rounds from 10­15 round bursts, the lighter jectile. Browning 50 Caliber a 100 round belt. The Navy air­cooled version provides a Stay tuned, next issue we’ll doctrine was to squeeze the 8/24/1942 lot of firepower. It just wasn’t talk more about the Quad 1.1 trigger and walk the bullets a very good anti­aircraft mounts and the Oerlikon into the target. A 100 round weapon. Without a self de­ 20mms. belt lasted about 14 seconds. structing charge, the attacking The weapon’s effective range pilot was not too distracted Ken Rittenmeyer was less than a mile, so this unless the ship got a lucky kill

Page 8

Calendar of Spring and Summer Events

Battleship Easter Egg Hunt April 2nd (Good Friday) 9:30 am, 11:30 am, 2:00 pm Join us for a fun­filled Easter Egg Hunt in Battleship Park. Children will have loads of fun in Battleship Park with a traditional Easter egg hunt, candy, games, pony rides, petting zoo., and the Buddy the Battleship Bunny! This wonderful holiday activity is only $5 per child. Recommended for ages 2 to 9. Please bring your own basket. Pre­registration is required: 910­251­5797.

Battleship Alive! May 8th; 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Watch and interact with World War II living history interpreters as they bring the Ship to life by re­enacting daily duties & drills. Free with Battleship admission.

Fabulous Fantail Film Festival Every Friday night in May (May 7th, 14th, 21st, & 28th) 8:30 pm Enjoy watching movies on the fantail of the Battleship underneath the stars. Tickets are $2 a person and go on sale at 7:30 pm. Chairs are provided but camp chairs & blankets are welcome. Popcorn & drinks will be on sale. NEW! Buy dinner on May 21st and 28th when our new sponsor, Chick Fill A, will be here! Other movie sponsors are Time Warner Cable and Pepsi.

May 7th – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) May 14th – King Kong (1933) May 21st – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder, 1971) May 28th – The Wizard of Oz (1939)

USS NORTH CAROLINA Battleship Association Annual Crew Reunion May 5th – 8th The crew of the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA and their families return for their annual reunion.

On Memorial Day the Battleship switches to summer hours: 8 AM—8 PM; last ticket sold at 7 PM

45th Annual Memorial Day Observance May 31st; 5:45 pm Remember those who gave their lives in service by honoring veterans at the Battleship’s traditional Memorial Day Observance featur­ ing a military guest speaker, an all­service Color Guard, a 21­gun salute by a Marine Corps Honor Guard , a military band, Taps, and a memorial wreath cast onto the waters. FREE.

Museum Ships Weekend—Azalea Coast Amateur Radio Club June 5th – 6th; 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Battleship NORTH CAROLINA will be one of 63 ships world wide participating in this annual event. The radio club will operate voice and Morse code stations using original equipment when possible. QSL with a SASE to P.O. Box 4044, Wilmington, NC 28406. Con­ tact is Allan Pellnat at [email protected].

Firepower Program June 12th (register by June 4th); 10AM—5PM An engaging, in depth program with presentation and exploration for adult learners covers the workings of the ship’s guns and fire control system that enabled the ship to find and hit targets. Tickets are $95 or $85 for Friends members and active military. Please call 910­251­5797 to register or for more information.

Battleship 101 June 19th; July 17th; August 21st 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Ship volunteers stationed throughout the ship engage visitors in specific subjects and areas including: gunnery, radar, sickbay, galley, engineering, and daily shipboard life. Free with Battleship admission. Where History Comes Alive

B A T T L E S H I P N O R T H C A R O L I N A

Keeping BB55 Ship Shape

George Burn removing paint from parts of the steering wheel located on the bridge. Brass is revealed below layers of paint (below left) In 1941, the steering apparatus (below center) was hidden by censors. Newly painted and pol­ ished engine room tele­ graph (below). Bill Barnes cleaning brass fixtures (below) and plates along the tour route. See the difference right.

“…a complete silver plat­ ing facility was trans­ ferred from the ware­ house (at Pearl) to the base of Sky One (5­inch director). The equipment included vats, silver bars, acid and other equipment needed for silver plating. This turned out to be a brass polisher’s dream from heaven. It also ex­ plains why all of the round brass switches on the elec­ trical switchboards, the firing keys on the stable elements in Secondary and Main Plot and many other brass fittings around the ship are silver plated.”

Business Office: Director: Capt. Terry Bragg, USN (Ret.) Maintenance Director: Roger Miller; Comptroller: Elizabeth Rollinson Candy Edwards, Kim Mintz Maintenance: Robert Hall, Terry Kuhn, Steve Lewis, Phil Southworth, Gary Pietak, Jason Boyd Museum: Kim Sincox, Mary Ames Booker Programs: Danielle Wallace, Shelly Robinson, Christine Jamet, Julia Yannetti Promotions: Heather Loftin Ship’s Store: Leesa McFarlane, Cathy Shipman, Devin Buie, Tara Banks, Sabrina Porter, Joy Lynch, Joanna Zazzali Night Watchmen: Danny Bradshaw, Bill Parr, Brian Gibson

Battleship NORTH CAROLINA, PO Box 480, Wilmington, NC 28402; 910­251­5797; www.battleshipnc.com