Range of Naval Gunfire

[Rustyt1953]

This has been a very interesting thread and I've learned from it. I just want to add this fun fact about my stomping grounds:

"The milling machine business of the Cincinnati Screw & Tap Co. was formed into Cincinnati Milling Machine Co. in 1889 by Fred Holz, who subsequently sold out to Frederick A. Geier in 1905. The business was successful. In the mid-1920s they acquired the patents for centerless grinding and then worked with the Timken Company to perfect the technology. The resulting machinery allows Timken to produce automotive bearings that were both lower cost and higher precision than their predecessors.

Frederick A. Geier died in 1934, and although Geier's son, Frederick V. Geier, was felt by some to be too young, he took charge and ran the company for the next quarter century. The younger Geier had a college education, considerable experience as a machinist, and had served in the military during World War I when he fixed production problems with 75 mm cannon. During a trip to Germany in the early 1930s Geier realized that another war was inevitable and upon his return he aggressively expanded his company's production capabilities (by 1939 they were the largest in the US), and when he realized that the then-future Allies would not be able to machine the barrels of big naval guns, he tooled up his factory to do just that. During the Second World War, all of the country's largest guns were machined by Cincinnati Milling Machine Co."

 

[rwsmith]

Near hits.....

A straddle is not a hit. It means roughly the same number of shells short and long. A bracket means the the same thing but left and right.

Near hits can be very damaging. I was told the equipment was proven for warships with a steel platform where the equipment was mounted. A huge hammer swung and hit the bottom of the platform which shattered anything that couldn't take the blast.

 

[BigBill]

The Bullard machine tool company had pits in the floor for quenching cannon barrels. They were covered up with oak planks.

 

[Golddollar]

During a trip to Germany in the early 1930s Geier realized that another war was inevitable and upon his return he aggressively expanded his company's production capabilities (by 1939 they were the largest in the US), and when he realized that the then-future Allies would not be able to machine the barrels of big naval guns, he tooled up his factory to do just that. During the Second World War, all of the country's largest guns were machined by Cincinnati Milling Machine Co."

While the workers were being nourished on Empress Chili, no doubt.

 

[El Biblioitecario]

"The Norden bombsight is another WWII era device that is jaw dropping in its precision and complexity."

It was another mechanical computer which took into account airspeed, wind speed, altitude, etc., and even the type of bomb being dropped. However it produced nowhere near the accuracy on target as legend has described it. During WWII the Norden bombsight was treated as ultra top secret, but in fact the Germans already possessed drawings of it, obtained by a Nazi spy working at the plant. Most of the bombings of German targets was simply mass random bombings from a large number of aircraft. A flight leader would drop his bombs on target as best as he could aim on it (sometimes guided by flares dropped from pathfinder aircraft if it was a night mission), and all the other planes in the flight would drop their bombs at the same time without aiming for the most part. The bombing process was very inefficient but ultimately somewhat effective.

The Norden bombsight was highly effective during training in the clear blue skies of the southwestern US. European weather and German air defense measures tended to degrade its performance. As mentioned, many bombardiers were replaced by 'toggeliers' who simply dropped when the lead bombardier dropped. I assume those fellows were EM.

The attached Norden bombsight is on display at Wendover Army Airfield. I was disappointed to see no armed guard.

 

[usmc2427765]

All I can ad to this is when we called for Naval gunfire support , we wanted the firstest with the mostest.