ПУАЗО
Фотография прибора управления зенитным огнем Мк.33 на авианосце USS Ranger CV-4 в ноябре 1942-го года во время операции Торч. Глядя на условия работы народа на нем не удивляет почему Мк.33 во флоте не любили - сидеть на верху надстройки на морозе это еще то удовольствие.
Мк.33 был первым механизированным ПУАЗО американского флота и сначала работал простив самолетов со скоростью в 275 узлов (509км/ч), потом его довели до 320 узлов (592км/ч) и против пикировщиков до 400 узлов (740км/ч). Он был построен вокруг 12 футового дальномера и был электро-механическим. Получив решение он электрически передавал команду "выстрел" 5" зенитным орудиям. Экипаж состоял из 10-12-ти человек - Pointer и Trainer наводили прибор на цель в горизонтальной и вертикальной оси, Leveller и Cross-Leveler стабилизировали систему в случае отказа гироскопов (очевидно это случалось достаточно часто что там сидели два человека на всякий случай), Rangekeeper Operator (ответственный за дистанцию до цели) и его помощник были с правой стороны прибора, а два других матроса ответственные за следование за целью и подсветку прибора были слева. Главным в приборе был естественно Rangefinder Operator (дальномерщик) который именно и сводил стерео-картинки на дальномере. Всем этим командовал командир дальномера (на фото он в наушниках и прикольных очках).
Из коллекции NHHC.
Очень сильно кликабельно
Под катом воспоминания командира дальномера с эсминца USS Maury (DD-401) найденные тут (по английски).
Russell Sydnor Crenshaw, Jr.
Captain, U.S. Navy. Retired
Crenshaw began service on USS Maury on "23rd of March, 1941." USS Maury had an AA armament of 4 x 5"/38 with Mk 33 DCT and "four .50 Cal. Machineguns".
Description of the MK 33 FC system:
"My "Battle Station" was in the Mk-33 Director as Assistant Rangekeeper Operator to Chief Firecontrolman Wilson while I learned my duties. A "Director" is like a "master" gun, without a barrel, to which the firing guns are "slaved". It's telescopic optics follow the target, its rangekeeper calculates the corrections and off-sets for the guns, and its gyroscopic "Stable Element" compensates for the roll and pitch of the ship. The heart of the Mk-33 was the Mk-10 Rangekeeper, a 5 ft. cube jammed with shafts, gears, cams and switches, which continuously solves the three-dimensional, ever-changing problem presented by a moving target. The director transmits the resulting firing "Orders" to the guns electrically through a system of "Synchros". The guns could be shifted to "Automatic" and could follow the director's orders without further action by the Pointer, Trainer, or Sightsetter. An essential key to accurate firing is Range-to-the-Target, which was measured by a stabilized "Stereo" Rangefinder mounted in the front of the director. The inputs and outputs of the rangekeeper were presented symbolically on the face of the rangekeeper where the operator could make adjustments and corrections as required. A good rangekeeper operator could produce a "Solution" on a moving target, air or surface, in about 30 seconds.
The Mk-33 was really a small "house" which pivotted on a pedestal on top of the Pilothouse. Its top sloped gently forward and the Rangefinder, looking like a 12 ft section of large pipe, was mounted horizontally across the front. The house was about 10 feet cube and at General Quarters almost a dozen operators were crammed inside around the central Rangekeeper and complex optical system. The Pointer and Trainer kept the Director pointed at the Target through telescopic sights. The Leveller and Cross-Leveler were "standing by" to stabilize the system +using horizon telescopes should the Stable Element fail. The Rangekeeper Operator and his Assistant were on the right side of the central box and two other operators, handling "Follow-ups" and "Illumination Control", were on the left side. The "Prima Donna" of the Director Crew was the Rangefinder Operator, sitting front-center, who had to be able to "see" sterioptically to measure ranges, and who, through his powerfully magnified "Eyes", ten feet apart, had the best view of the target. The Control Officer stood in the right, after corner of the director, with his head out a small hatch in the top, from where he commanded the director and all of the 5"/38 guns."
Technical and practical assistance/advice from the RN:
The Battle of Britain was in full swing and additionally the Royal Navy had begun to get into action. There was a brisk Destroyer battle off the southern Norweigen Coast in which the British took severe damage. The Loss of the Carrier ILLUSTRIOUS in the Mediterranean emphasized the danger of fire even if a warship is built of steel. A British team, led by Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten himself, arrived in Pearl to look our ships over and advise us on steps to take to minimize damage. Soon orders went out for all ships in the Fleet to "Strip Ship"!
Limitations of the Mk 33, or straight and level as she goes:
From the "Sham battles" we had with our own carrier planes it became clear that in war we would be subjected to attacks which broke very quickly, seldom with any warning. When an incoming plane was sighted we would struggle to get our director's sights on target, measure the rapidly closing range, adjust the Mk-10 to a solution, and simulate opening fire before the attacker could complete his attack. Frequently we'd still be "slewing" the director to get on target when he roared overhead, attack completed. We held tracking drills at every opportunity to improve our ability to acquire targets quickly, but we had no mechanism to point out the target to the men on the director's telescopes- the control officer had to coax them on by voice. I became seriously concerned that we couldn't handle incoming dive or strafing attacks.
There was knob on the front of the Mk-10 labeled "Dive Attack", which was to be pulled out in case of such an attack and by which "Dive Speed" could be set into the rangekeeper. When I dug into the schematic to see what this did, I discovered that it only decreased 'Target Range" at the rate set in, but did nothing about the "Lead Angles" in either elevation or bearing. Our fancy Mk-10 Rangekeeper couldn't calculate a solution for a dive attack! It could calculate correctly only for horizontal, or nearly horizontal flight! With the help of the firecontrolmen, I worked out a system to eliminate any errors from previous settings and provide an estimated lead angle which should be effective for an attacker coming straight in at us. I showed this to Ed Miller, the "Gun Boss", to get his permission to use it, but got "chewed out" for getting into things that weren't the province of a junior gunnery officer!
First AA action:
"Dive Bombers!" a Lookout shouted. Two Jap Fighters were screaming down. The Captain ordered "All Engines Ahead, Emergency!" "Left Full Rudder!" One of the aft .50 Calibers opened up and its tracers pointed out the target. "Air Action Starboard, Dive Attack!" Armstrong pointed to the diving planes and Copeland slewed Right. The ship shuddered into a hard left turn. I had to grab the safety bar on the Rangekeeper to keep from falling out the open Director door. All four machineguns were rattling, but we couldn't get the Director scopes on target. I heard the roar of the Jap's engine, then the whistle of his bomb. It hit with a "Crump" about 50 yards to Starboard, drenching the torpedo gang. We got off a couple of shots at the second plane and his bomb missed even farther.
As the attackers pulled out, we got a good look at them. Aichi 97 Fighters; small, low wing monoplanes, with fixed landing gear, similar to U.S. Army P-36s. Big red "Meatballs" glared from their wingtips. They climbed out of range and circled to dive again. We got the Director on one of them. Armstrong ordered, "Dive Bomber Setup!" I locked out "Generated Sight Elevation and Deflection" and cranked in my Pre-computed lead angles for a bomber diving down our throats. I set the Fuse Time at 4 Seconds, ready to shift to 2 Seconds if the attack got through the first Barrage. The Jap started his dive and we opened fire. A couple of black bursts blossomed in front of him as he bore down. He pulled out of his dive and headed away. "Dive Bomber to Port!" His partner pressed in from the opposite side, but the Captain had on Full Rudder. We heeled into a hard turn to the Right as we tried to slew the Director to the new threat. The crew of Mount Four on the Fantail had to leap to safety as the huge wake swept the deck. The attacking Jap let go both of his bombs and Geysers rose close aboard to Port. This time there was a sharp "Crack" and the center of the plume was black. It felt like the ship had been hit with a huge hammer, but the engines kept throbbing.
CHESTER had released all ships to maneuver independently, and we were twisting and turning at high speed. We kept struggling to get the Director on the Japs as the ship heeled and spun. Even when we could get the crosshairs on one of them for a moment, it was impossible to get a "Solution" as they jinked about the sky. The Jap Fighters were operating in pairs. As soon as we opened fire on one, the other would dive in to bomb. Our .50 Calibers sent up steady streams of fire, but we got off only a few 5". Attacks were pressed in on us about a half dozen times, but none of the later bombs were as close as the first ones. As soon as we got a couple of bursts near the attackers, they lost their enthusiasm.
Straight and level:
After about a half an hour of attacking, the Jap Fighters disappeared. BALCH and MAURY resumed position on CHESTER's Bows and we zigzagged Eastward at 25 knots. It was a clear tropical morning with a gentle breeze ruffling the surface of the long swells. We were beginning to believe we could make our "Getaway" with no trouble when a formation of eight twin-engine bombers, not seen since they took off, started a run on our formation. It was a perfect "Baker" run of horizontal bombers, the easiest target of all! Moore called out the Target Angle and measured the Range. Chief Wilson, using "Rate Control" to compare "Generated" values with the measured values, soon had a "Solution": Course 125, Speed 110 knots, altitude 7,700 ft, range 12,500 and closing. We opened fire at 10,000 yards in Continuous Fire, each crew loading and firing as fast as it could. At the end of the 30 Second Time of Flight, we listened for Moore's Spots. "No Bursts", "No Bursts", he shouted in desperation. We continued for nearly 100 rounds. We were shooting Service Ammunition with the new Mechanical Time Fuse and it was supposed to be a great improvement over our target ammunition of peacetime. But there were few black bursts at the target! Easy target, steady "Solution", a Gunnery Practice set-up, but no results! Something was seriously wrong!
Moore shouted, "They're falling like snow!" "What's falling?" "Bombs, and we didn't get any bursts!"
I also learned one reason for so few bursts during the attack of the horizontal Bombers. The ammunition passers, mostly the new volunteers from the states, were trying so hard to keep the gun firing at its maximum rate that some of them started "saving time" by handing the projectiles directly to the shellman instead of tilting them into the Fuzesetters. They had maintained a great rate of fire, but the Fuzes weren't set!
24th of August 1942:
We all had plenty of warning and got to our GQ stations well before the battle worked our way. There had been some changes in the director crew: Chief Wilson and Moore had been transferred to "New Construction," Canaday was our GQ rangefinder operator, and Copeland and I handled the rangekeeper. Radar reports started when the enemy was still some 60 mile distant. Dog fights raged and we could hear the chatter between pilots over the Bridge circuits. Many enemy planes were reported shot down, but there were plenty of planes left when they streaked down out of the sun!
Warren Armstrong, standing on the control officer's platform with his head out of his hatch, tried to coach the Mk-33 around to the diving planes. Jaworski and Serwitz would slew the director frantically by eye with their handwheels until, with Canaday's advice, they thought they were "On Target", then would drop down to try to catch the plunging planes in their optics. It was an impossible task! At the Rangekeeper, Copeland and I watched Warren's feet and lower torso expectantly as he squirmed about, hoping he'd get the director "Locked on" to something so we could shoot. The attack was coming in from high over our section of the screen. The enemy planes were passing over our heads as they bore in on ENTERPRISE. We'd whirl the Director to try to get our sights on a Jap, but it takes a big arc of train to make even a small change near the zenith. They'd be over the top and out the other side before we could settle on them. Jaworski on the Pointer's scope reported "On Target" a couple of times, but he couldn't follow the fast motion as the attackers dove in. We never got a shot off!
October 25th 1942 and barrage fire:
The TBS warned, "CONDITION VERY RED! ATTACK IMMINENT!"
The silence was deafening! A few fragments of chatter between F4F pilots in dog fights, but no usable ranges or bearings on the incoming attacks. Suddenly a stream of Aichi 99 "VAL" dive bombers came screaming down at the ENTERPRISE. I gave the command "ACTION PORT, COMMENCE FIRING" without waiting to select an individual target- I wanted to get our firepower up there, no time to wait for niceties. The 20s added to the roar. Some bombers were hit and burst into flame, some dove into the water, but three bombs found their target and the Big-E's flight deck was afire! We didn't get a clean shot at an individual plane throughout the attack. We just put up a "Zone Barrage with fuzes set at 6 Seconds, which we soon shortened to 4 seconds and finally to 2. My helmet was blown off as the Captain turned away from the attack- Mt 52 was blasting away against her Port stops. It wasn't clear that we hit any of the attackers, but we put 140 rounds of 5" up there to discourage them.
success at last:
I shifted the Director to the closest plane. "Locked on" shouted Canaday on the Rangefinder-the FD radar was out of commission. "Solution" from Copeland on the Rangekeeper. "Commence Firing, Continuous Fire". Nothing happened! The crews of Mounts 51 and 52 were not yet back to their stations and Mounts 53 and 54 couldn't bear. The forward 20s came alive with a steady "Rat-tat-tat". A stream of 20s sawed the wing off the incoming torpedo plane a short 500 yds off our Port Bow. It smeared into the water with a huge wall of spray. I slewed the director to the next group of torpedo planes about 5000 yds out. Serwitz picked the closest of the group and Canaday Locked On. This time Mounts 51 and 52 were ready and roared out in unison, blinding me with smoke and debris. As they picked up the firing tempo another torpedo plane skimmed by just to Starboard- I thought he was going to hit the yardarm. I ducked into my hatch to avoid any stray bullets, so I don't know what happened to him. Canaday, intent on his target, shouted, "Splash one Jap!" Jaworski confirmed a direct hit with the incoming plane breaking up. We shifted to the next plane and continued to fire.
The last Kate of the first group skimmed by our Port side, slightly higher than the Director. I could clearly see the Pilot a few hundred feet away. His Rear Gunner was pointing his machinegun at us but did not seem to be firing. The Jap released his tor:pedo and it splashed into the water by our stern. An instant later the plane itself crashed in a big sheet of flame as our After 20s cut it to pieces.
More 20mm kills:
This time the attack came in from low clouds on the opposite side of the formation. We had to hold fire to make sure we wouldn't hit any of our own ships, but we got a few shots in on enemy planes trying to get away after attacking. One dive bomber passed a short distance ahead and tried to climb out over the screen. Our forward 20s joined in with streams of tracers from other ships and the plane rolled over and crashed into the water. A moment later the after 20s got a good shot at a bomber climbing out after attacking SOUTH DAKOTA and at about 1500 yards cut his tail off.
As the range closes, we trained the director to the bearing of the closest attacker, got good "Pips" on the FD radar scopes and started tracking. Our target was coming straight in at about 150 knots. The convoy commander had signaled "Guns Free", so, at 8,000 yds, I ordered "Commence Firing." All four 5" mounts blasted out in unison and, immediately, blinding explosions appeared just a few hundred yards from the gun muzzles. The Radar continued to function and stayed "Locked On", so we continued to fire as the range closed. At a thousand yards the 20mms opened up. Their tracers led to a black shadow roaring directly towards us- a twin-engined BETTY with her bomb bay doors open! She was heading directly for me personally! Some 500 yds out her torpedo dropped and sliced into the water. If that torpedo hit, I was going to be blown vertically out of the director-the hatch coaming would rip my arms off. I braced my arms against the inside of the opening so I would be blown clear. The plane itself skimmed over the forecastle lower than the level of my eye. I could looked down into the cockpit and saw the two pilots in the green glare of their instruments. The big plane was burning and it smeared into the water a few hundred yards to starboard in a tremendous sheet of spray. Nothing more happened, so the torpedo must have passed under us. It had been dropped too close to arm and come up to running depth!
Another BETTY approached from the port bow. We "locked on" by radar and got a good solution. As we opened fire, she dropped her fish and tried to climb out, but was caught in the combined fire of our 5" and 20s. The converging streams of 20 mm tracers were punctuated by flashes of 5" bursts as the BETTY became a ball of fire, lighting up the whole area.
There had been many flaming crashes around the formation, but no ships were hit. Captain Sims figured that we had been attacked by about fifteen BETTYs and that, in addition to the two that we'd knocked down, at least another half dozen planes were destroyed. The attack lasted only a few minutes, but we were tracked and harassed by search planes most of the night. Finally a friendly "Black Cat" PBY from Cactus appeared overhead and escorted us until dawn.
Problems with the 5"/38 weapon system:
our training schedule took on more importance and the tempo picked up. As Assistant Gunnery Officer, I attended the Gunnery Officer's School held on DIXIE once a week and heard the Squadron Gunnery Officers expound on the arcane art. One could read all about the technical details of our guns and firecontrol in the manuals, but hearing how to handle the equipment from the best in the fleet brought it all to reality. Automatic Gun Drives were still new in the Fleet and were plagued with reliability problems.
The Gunners mates were cleaning and checking the guns now that they'd cooled down. The Bore Gauge just rattled in the muzzle of Mount Four! The barrel was enlarged. It measured a quarter-inch over size! Further inspection showed that the spiral grooves of the rifling contained a lot of copper from the Rotating Bands near the Breech, but nothing where the barrel had expanded. Maybe a projectile had exploded while still in the bore!
Not long afterwards a Jap Patrol vessel, a converted fisherman of perhaps 150 Tons, was sighted and MAURY was sent out to sink her. We tried to open fire at 2,500 yds, but Mount Two had rammer trouble, Mounts One and Four were out of commission, so we only had Mount Three in action.
The Yard replaced the barrel of Mount 51 and inspected it carefully. They'd had similar problems with a number of 5"/25 barrels from the Battleships during the Pearl Harbor attack, but our two failures were the first they'd seen in 5"/38s. They felt sure the problem was caused by copper from the Rotating Bands building up until a projectile jammed, but they didn't know why it built up. Both types of guns had been in service for years and there had never been any trouble before the war. The Ordnance Shop built us a special tool to ream out the grooves after firing, and we all hoped for the best. Some time later tests demonstrated that if a 5" gun was fired nearly continuously at a rapid rate, when the gun got really hot, after about 100 rounds, copper would build up and cause the gun to fail. The Bureau of Ordnance found adding lead foil to the powder charge would eliminate the coppering, so all ships were issued little packets of lead foil to be placed between the powder cartridge and the projectile. Replacement ammo was delivered with the lead already included.
More bore problems and early VT fuse experiences:
After we secured from General Quarters, once again we discovered that one of our 5" guns had enlarged-the bore of Mount 53 was about 6" instead of 5" in diameter at the muzzle. Many of the VT Fuzes, which were molded in a transparent green plastic, had broken off when rotated out of the fuzesetters by the loaders. When this had been noticed, the particular round had been discarded, but maybe the men had missed some. We surmised that one of the VT fuses had cracked in loading, broke off during ramming, jammed the projectile upon firing, and the gun had expanded to relieve the pressure.
Our report to Pistol Pete on his revolutionary VT fuse was that we believed it helped shoot down one BETTY for sure, but there was plenty of evidence that it was too fragile and no doubt that a large number had gone off prematurely. We now had a "blown up" gun for our trouble and we were heading into "Indian Country" with only three 5" guns.
Fuzesetter problems:
We'd been having trouble with the automatic Fuzesetters on our two after 5" Mounts. Almost every day at sea, one or the other would be out of commission and Copeland would have to open up the controller and reconnect the tiny linkage to the Fine Pilot Piston. MAURY had a significant vibration peak at about 18 knots and we had been steaming in that range much of the time. When the Fantail shook, the Loader's Platform on the open mounts shook even more and you could hardly read the dials on the Fuzesetter. After hours of steady shaking, the linkage would shake loose and our Fuzesetter had to be shifted to the less accurate manual mode. There was no way we could avoid steaming at the critical speed, we had to find a solution to the vibration.
As we studied the mechanism and mulled over possible solutions, I noticed several large bolts holding the Loading Platform to the Gun Pedestal. Modification of BuOrd equipment by shipboard personnel was a "Capital Crime", but if we could brace the Loading Platform more rigidly, perhaps we could reduce the vibration. We could use the existing bolt holes for our braces and not have to do anything to the BuOrd parts! We got busy with measurements and sketches and within a few hours the Tender's machine shop had produced two sets of sturdy steel braces with the necessary bolts to install them. When we returned to sea, the Fuzesetters no longer vibrated and we had no more trouble with the linkage. This was my first contribution to better ordnance and it gave me a great deal of personal satisfaction.
Мк.33 был первым механизированным ПУАЗО американского флота и сначала работал простив самолетов со скоростью в 275 узлов (509км/ч), потом его довели до 320 узлов (592км/ч) и против пикировщиков до 400 узлов (740км/ч). Он был построен вокруг 12 футового дальномера и был электро-механическим. Получив решение он электрически передавал команду "выстрел" 5" зенитным орудиям. Экипаж состоял из 10-12-ти человек - Pointer и Trainer наводили прибор на цель в горизонтальной и вертикальной оси, Leveller и Cross-Leveler стабилизировали систему в случае отказа гироскопов (очевидно это случалось достаточно часто что там сидели два человека на всякий случай), Rangekeeper Operator (ответственный за дистанцию до цели) и его помощник были с правой стороны прибора, а два других матроса ответственные за следование за целью и подсветку прибора были слева. Главным в приборе был естественно Rangefinder Operator (дальномерщик) который именно и сводил стерео-картинки на дальномере. Всем этим командовал командир дальномера (на фото он в наушниках и прикольных очках).
Из коллекции NHHC.
Очень сильно кликабельно
Под катом воспоминания командира дальномера с эсминца USS Maury (DD-401) найденные тут (по английски).
Russell Sydnor Crenshaw, Jr.
Captain, U.S. Navy. Retired
Crenshaw began service on USS Maury on "23rd of March, 1941." USS Maury had an AA armament of 4 x 5"/38 with Mk 33 DCT and "four .50 Cal. Machineguns".
Description of the MK 33 FC system:
"My "Battle Station" was in the Mk-33 Director as Assistant Rangekeeper Operator to Chief Firecontrolman Wilson while I learned my duties. A "Director" is like a "master" gun, without a barrel, to which the firing guns are "slaved". It's telescopic optics follow the target, its rangekeeper calculates the corrections and off-sets for the guns, and its gyroscopic "Stable Element" compensates for the roll and pitch of the ship. The heart of the Mk-33 was the Mk-10 Rangekeeper, a 5 ft. cube jammed with shafts, gears, cams and switches, which continuously solves the three-dimensional, ever-changing problem presented by a moving target. The director transmits the resulting firing "Orders" to the guns electrically through a system of "Synchros". The guns could be shifted to "Automatic" and could follow the director's orders without further action by the Pointer, Trainer, or Sightsetter. An essential key to accurate firing is Range-to-the-Target, which was measured by a stabilized "Stereo" Rangefinder mounted in the front of the director. The inputs and outputs of the rangekeeper were presented symbolically on the face of the rangekeeper where the operator could make adjustments and corrections as required. A good rangekeeper operator could produce a "Solution" on a moving target, air or surface, in about 30 seconds.
The Mk-33 was really a small "house" which pivotted on a pedestal on top of the Pilothouse. Its top sloped gently forward and the Rangefinder, looking like a 12 ft section of large pipe, was mounted horizontally across the front. The house was about 10 feet cube and at General Quarters almost a dozen operators were crammed inside around the central Rangekeeper and complex optical system. The Pointer and Trainer kept the Director pointed at the Target through telescopic sights. The Leveller and Cross-Leveler were "standing by" to stabilize the system +using horizon telescopes should the Stable Element fail. The Rangekeeper Operator and his Assistant were on the right side of the central box and two other operators, handling "Follow-ups" and "Illumination Control", were on the left side. The "Prima Donna" of the Director Crew was the Rangefinder Operator, sitting front-center, who had to be able to "see" sterioptically to measure ranges, and who, through his powerfully magnified "Eyes", ten feet apart, had the best view of the target. The Control Officer stood in the right, after corner of the director, with his head out a small hatch in the top, from where he commanded the director and all of the 5"/38 guns."
Technical and practical assistance/advice from the RN:
The Battle of Britain was in full swing and additionally the Royal Navy had begun to get into action. There was a brisk Destroyer battle off the southern Norweigen Coast in which the British took severe damage. The Loss of the Carrier ILLUSTRIOUS in the Mediterranean emphasized the danger of fire even if a warship is built of steel. A British team, led by Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten himself, arrived in Pearl to look our ships over and advise us on steps to take to minimize damage. Soon orders went out for all ships in the Fleet to "Strip Ship"!
Limitations of the Mk 33, or straight and level as she goes:
From the "Sham battles" we had with our own carrier planes it became clear that in war we would be subjected to attacks which broke very quickly, seldom with any warning. When an incoming plane was sighted we would struggle to get our director's sights on target, measure the rapidly closing range, adjust the Mk-10 to a solution, and simulate opening fire before the attacker could complete his attack. Frequently we'd still be "slewing" the director to get on target when he roared overhead, attack completed. We held tracking drills at every opportunity to improve our ability to acquire targets quickly, but we had no mechanism to point out the target to the men on the director's telescopes- the control officer had to coax them on by voice. I became seriously concerned that we couldn't handle incoming dive or strafing attacks.
There was knob on the front of the Mk-10 labeled "Dive Attack", which was to be pulled out in case of such an attack and by which "Dive Speed" could be set into the rangekeeper. When I dug into the schematic to see what this did, I discovered that it only decreased 'Target Range" at the rate set in, but did nothing about the "Lead Angles" in either elevation or bearing. Our fancy Mk-10 Rangekeeper couldn't calculate a solution for a dive attack! It could calculate correctly only for horizontal, or nearly horizontal flight! With the help of the firecontrolmen, I worked out a system to eliminate any errors from previous settings and provide an estimated lead angle which should be effective for an attacker coming straight in at us. I showed this to Ed Miller, the "Gun Boss", to get his permission to use it, but got "chewed out" for getting into things that weren't the province of a junior gunnery officer!
First AA action:
"Dive Bombers!" a Lookout shouted. Two Jap Fighters were screaming down. The Captain ordered "All Engines Ahead, Emergency!" "Left Full Rudder!" One of the aft .50 Calibers opened up and its tracers pointed out the target. "Air Action Starboard, Dive Attack!" Armstrong pointed to the diving planes and Copeland slewed Right. The ship shuddered into a hard left turn. I had to grab the safety bar on the Rangekeeper to keep from falling out the open Director door. All four machineguns were rattling, but we couldn't get the Director scopes on target. I heard the roar of the Jap's engine, then the whistle of his bomb. It hit with a "Crump" about 50 yards to Starboard, drenching the torpedo gang. We got off a couple of shots at the second plane and his bomb missed even farther.
As the attackers pulled out, we got a good look at them. Aichi 97 Fighters; small, low wing monoplanes, with fixed landing gear, similar to U.S. Army P-36s. Big red "Meatballs" glared from their wingtips. They climbed out of range and circled to dive again. We got the Director on one of them. Armstrong ordered, "Dive Bomber Setup!" I locked out "Generated Sight Elevation and Deflection" and cranked in my Pre-computed lead angles for a bomber diving down our throats. I set the Fuse Time at 4 Seconds, ready to shift to 2 Seconds if the attack got through the first Barrage. The Jap started his dive and we opened fire. A couple of black bursts blossomed in front of him as he bore down. He pulled out of his dive and headed away. "Dive Bomber to Port!" His partner pressed in from the opposite side, but the Captain had on Full Rudder. We heeled into a hard turn to the Right as we tried to slew the Director to the new threat. The crew of Mount Four on the Fantail had to leap to safety as the huge wake swept the deck. The attacking Jap let go both of his bombs and Geysers rose close aboard to Port. This time there was a sharp "Crack" and the center of the plume was black. It felt like the ship had been hit with a huge hammer, but the engines kept throbbing.
CHESTER had released all ships to maneuver independently, and we were twisting and turning at high speed. We kept struggling to get the Director on the Japs as the ship heeled and spun. Even when we could get the crosshairs on one of them for a moment, it was impossible to get a "Solution" as they jinked about the sky. The Jap Fighters were operating in pairs. As soon as we opened fire on one, the other would dive in to bomb. Our .50 Calibers sent up steady streams of fire, but we got off only a few 5". Attacks were pressed in on us about a half dozen times, but none of the later bombs were as close as the first ones. As soon as we got a couple of bursts near the attackers, they lost their enthusiasm.
Straight and level:
After about a half an hour of attacking, the Jap Fighters disappeared. BALCH and MAURY resumed position on CHESTER's Bows and we zigzagged Eastward at 25 knots. It was a clear tropical morning with a gentle breeze ruffling the surface of the long swells. We were beginning to believe we could make our "Getaway" with no trouble when a formation of eight twin-engine bombers, not seen since they took off, started a run on our formation. It was a perfect "Baker" run of horizontal bombers, the easiest target of all! Moore called out the Target Angle and measured the Range. Chief Wilson, using "Rate Control" to compare "Generated" values with the measured values, soon had a "Solution": Course 125, Speed 110 knots, altitude 7,700 ft, range 12,500 and closing. We opened fire at 10,000 yards in Continuous Fire, each crew loading and firing as fast as it could. At the end of the 30 Second Time of Flight, we listened for Moore's Spots. "No Bursts", "No Bursts", he shouted in desperation. We continued for nearly 100 rounds. We were shooting Service Ammunition with the new Mechanical Time Fuse and it was supposed to be a great improvement over our target ammunition of peacetime. But there were few black bursts at the target! Easy target, steady "Solution", a Gunnery Practice set-up, but no results! Something was seriously wrong!
Moore shouted, "They're falling like snow!" "What's falling?" "Bombs, and we didn't get any bursts!"
I also learned one reason for so few bursts during the attack of the horizontal Bombers. The ammunition passers, mostly the new volunteers from the states, were trying so hard to keep the gun firing at its maximum rate that some of them started "saving time" by handing the projectiles directly to the shellman instead of tilting them into the Fuzesetters. They had maintained a great rate of fire, but the Fuzes weren't set!
24th of August 1942:
We all had plenty of warning and got to our GQ stations well before the battle worked our way. There had been some changes in the director crew: Chief Wilson and Moore had been transferred to "New Construction," Canaday was our GQ rangefinder operator, and Copeland and I handled the rangekeeper. Radar reports started when the enemy was still some 60 mile distant. Dog fights raged and we could hear the chatter between pilots over the Bridge circuits. Many enemy planes were reported shot down, but there were plenty of planes left when they streaked down out of the sun!
Warren Armstrong, standing on the control officer's platform with his head out of his hatch, tried to coach the Mk-33 around to the diving planes. Jaworski and Serwitz would slew the director frantically by eye with their handwheels until, with Canaday's advice, they thought they were "On Target", then would drop down to try to catch the plunging planes in their optics. It was an impossible task! At the Rangekeeper, Copeland and I watched Warren's feet and lower torso expectantly as he squirmed about, hoping he'd get the director "Locked on" to something so we could shoot. The attack was coming in from high over our section of the screen. The enemy planes were passing over our heads as they bore in on ENTERPRISE. We'd whirl the Director to try to get our sights on a Jap, but it takes a big arc of train to make even a small change near the zenith. They'd be over the top and out the other side before we could settle on them. Jaworski on the Pointer's scope reported "On Target" a couple of times, but he couldn't follow the fast motion as the attackers dove in. We never got a shot off!
October 25th 1942 and barrage fire:
The TBS warned, "CONDITION VERY RED! ATTACK IMMINENT!"
The silence was deafening! A few fragments of chatter between F4F pilots in dog fights, but no usable ranges or bearings on the incoming attacks. Suddenly a stream of Aichi 99 "VAL" dive bombers came screaming down at the ENTERPRISE. I gave the command "ACTION PORT, COMMENCE FIRING" without waiting to select an individual target- I wanted to get our firepower up there, no time to wait for niceties. The 20s added to the roar. Some bombers were hit and burst into flame, some dove into the water, but three bombs found their target and the Big-E's flight deck was afire! We didn't get a clean shot at an individual plane throughout the attack. We just put up a "Zone Barrage with fuzes set at 6 Seconds, which we soon shortened to 4 seconds and finally to 2. My helmet was blown off as the Captain turned away from the attack- Mt 52 was blasting away against her Port stops. It wasn't clear that we hit any of the attackers, but we put 140 rounds of 5" up there to discourage them.
success at last:
I shifted the Director to the closest plane. "Locked on" shouted Canaday on the Rangefinder-the FD radar was out of commission. "Solution" from Copeland on the Rangekeeper. "Commence Firing, Continuous Fire". Nothing happened! The crews of Mounts 51 and 52 were not yet back to their stations and Mounts 53 and 54 couldn't bear. The forward 20s came alive with a steady "Rat-tat-tat". A stream of 20s sawed the wing off the incoming torpedo plane a short 500 yds off our Port Bow. It smeared into the water with a huge wall of spray. I slewed the director to the next group of torpedo planes about 5000 yds out. Serwitz picked the closest of the group and Canaday Locked On. This time Mounts 51 and 52 were ready and roared out in unison, blinding me with smoke and debris. As they picked up the firing tempo another torpedo plane skimmed by just to Starboard- I thought he was going to hit the yardarm. I ducked into my hatch to avoid any stray bullets, so I don't know what happened to him. Canaday, intent on his target, shouted, "Splash one Jap!" Jaworski confirmed a direct hit with the incoming plane breaking up. We shifted to the next plane and continued to fire.
The last Kate of the first group skimmed by our Port side, slightly higher than the Director. I could clearly see the Pilot a few hundred feet away. His Rear Gunner was pointing his machinegun at us but did not seem to be firing. The Jap released his tor:pedo and it splashed into the water by our stern. An instant later the plane itself crashed in a big sheet of flame as our After 20s cut it to pieces.
More 20mm kills:
This time the attack came in from low clouds on the opposite side of the formation. We had to hold fire to make sure we wouldn't hit any of our own ships, but we got a few shots in on enemy planes trying to get away after attacking. One dive bomber passed a short distance ahead and tried to climb out over the screen. Our forward 20s joined in with streams of tracers from other ships and the plane rolled over and crashed into the water. A moment later the after 20s got a good shot at a bomber climbing out after attacking SOUTH DAKOTA and at about 1500 yards cut his tail off.
As the range closes, we trained the director to the bearing of the closest attacker, got good "Pips" on the FD radar scopes and started tracking. Our target was coming straight in at about 150 knots. The convoy commander had signaled "Guns Free", so, at 8,000 yds, I ordered "Commence Firing." All four 5" mounts blasted out in unison and, immediately, blinding explosions appeared just a few hundred yards from the gun muzzles. The Radar continued to function and stayed "Locked On", so we continued to fire as the range closed. At a thousand yards the 20mms opened up. Their tracers led to a black shadow roaring directly towards us- a twin-engined BETTY with her bomb bay doors open! She was heading directly for me personally! Some 500 yds out her torpedo dropped and sliced into the water. If that torpedo hit, I was going to be blown vertically out of the director-the hatch coaming would rip my arms off. I braced my arms against the inside of the opening so I would be blown clear. The plane itself skimmed over the forecastle lower than the level of my eye. I could looked down into the cockpit and saw the two pilots in the green glare of their instruments. The big plane was burning and it smeared into the water a few hundred yards to starboard in a tremendous sheet of spray. Nothing more happened, so the torpedo must have passed under us. It had been dropped too close to arm and come up to running depth!
Another BETTY approached from the port bow. We "locked on" by radar and got a good solution. As we opened fire, she dropped her fish and tried to climb out, but was caught in the combined fire of our 5" and 20s. The converging streams of 20 mm tracers were punctuated by flashes of 5" bursts as the BETTY became a ball of fire, lighting up the whole area.
There had been many flaming crashes around the formation, but no ships were hit. Captain Sims figured that we had been attacked by about fifteen BETTYs and that, in addition to the two that we'd knocked down, at least another half dozen planes were destroyed. The attack lasted only a few minutes, but we were tracked and harassed by search planes most of the night. Finally a friendly "Black Cat" PBY from Cactus appeared overhead and escorted us until dawn.
Problems with the 5"/38 weapon system:
our training schedule took on more importance and the tempo picked up. As Assistant Gunnery Officer, I attended the Gunnery Officer's School held on DIXIE once a week and heard the Squadron Gunnery Officers expound on the arcane art. One could read all about the technical details of our guns and firecontrol in the manuals, but hearing how to handle the equipment from the best in the fleet brought it all to reality. Automatic Gun Drives were still new in the Fleet and were plagued with reliability problems.
The Gunners mates were cleaning and checking the guns now that they'd cooled down. The Bore Gauge just rattled in the muzzle of Mount Four! The barrel was enlarged. It measured a quarter-inch over size! Further inspection showed that the spiral grooves of the rifling contained a lot of copper from the Rotating Bands near the Breech, but nothing where the barrel had expanded. Maybe a projectile had exploded while still in the bore!
Not long afterwards a Jap Patrol vessel, a converted fisherman of perhaps 150 Tons, was sighted and MAURY was sent out to sink her. We tried to open fire at 2,500 yds, but Mount Two had rammer trouble, Mounts One and Four were out of commission, so we only had Mount Three in action.
The Yard replaced the barrel of Mount 51 and inspected it carefully. They'd had similar problems with a number of 5"/25 barrels from the Battleships during the Pearl Harbor attack, but our two failures were the first they'd seen in 5"/38s. They felt sure the problem was caused by copper from the Rotating Bands building up until a projectile jammed, but they didn't know why it built up. Both types of guns had been in service for years and there had never been any trouble before the war. The Ordnance Shop built us a special tool to ream out the grooves after firing, and we all hoped for the best. Some time later tests demonstrated that if a 5" gun was fired nearly continuously at a rapid rate, when the gun got really hot, after about 100 rounds, copper would build up and cause the gun to fail. The Bureau of Ordnance found adding lead foil to the powder charge would eliminate the coppering, so all ships were issued little packets of lead foil to be placed between the powder cartridge and the projectile. Replacement ammo was delivered with the lead already included.
More bore problems and early VT fuse experiences:
After we secured from General Quarters, once again we discovered that one of our 5" guns had enlarged-the bore of Mount 53 was about 6" instead of 5" in diameter at the muzzle. Many of the VT Fuzes, which were molded in a transparent green plastic, had broken off when rotated out of the fuzesetters by the loaders. When this had been noticed, the particular round had been discarded, but maybe the men had missed some. We surmised that one of the VT fuses had cracked in loading, broke off during ramming, jammed the projectile upon firing, and the gun had expanded to relieve the pressure.
Our report to Pistol Pete on his revolutionary VT fuse was that we believed it helped shoot down one BETTY for sure, but there was plenty of evidence that it was too fragile and no doubt that a large number had gone off prematurely. We now had a "blown up" gun for our trouble and we were heading into "Indian Country" with only three 5" guns.
Fuzesetter problems:
We'd been having trouble with the automatic Fuzesetters on our two after 5" Mounts. Almost every day at sea, one or the other would be out of commission and Copeland would have to open up the controller and reconnect the tiny linkage to the Fine Pilot Piston. MAURY had a significant vibration peak at about 18 knots and we had been steaming in that range much of the time. When the Fantail shook, the Loader's Platform on the open mounts shook even more and you could hardly read the dials on the Fuzesetter. After hours of steady shaking, the linkage would shake loose and our Fuzesetter had to be shifted to the less accurate manual mode. There was no way we could avoid steaming at the critical speed, we had to find a solution to the vibration.
As we studied the mechanism and mulled over possible solutions, I noticed several large bolts holding the Loading Platform to the Gun Pedestal. Modification of BuOrd equipment by shipboard personnel was a "Capital Crime", but if we could brace the Loading Platform more rigidly, perhaps we could reduce the vibration. We could use the existing bolt holes for our braces and not have to do anything to the BuOrd parts! We got busy with measurements and sketches and within a few hours the Tender's machine shop had produced two sets of sturdy steel braces with the necessary bolts to install them. When we returned to sea, the Fuzesetters no longer vibrated and we had no more trouble with the linkage. This was my first contribution to better ordnance and it gave me a great deal of personal satisfaction.