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Twin 4" Gun crew inaction

N

Nutty

GCM
Below is a picture of the twin 4" gun crew on Loch Killisport in action. Note the shell casing being discharged from the starboard or nearer breech.
The man with his back to us I believe was the POGI. The chap on the right holding a shell was "George Humble" a Boom Defence Technician(2) BT2. The fair haired guy furthest away is "Doc Halliday" a TAS(W) who was also employed on the squid deck from where this pic was taken. I cannot remember the other names. All circa 1963


[align=center][
22September20054.jpg



Nutty
 
Brings back memories, one of my less pleasnat tasks as a mid was turret officer on one of those, clinging to a little platform on the outside of the blast shield (great place to be) peering through a cartwheel sight tryint to make sure the gunnery officer was not pointing the gun where he shouldn't be.

Bloody loud they were.

Peter
 
Where are their fluffy ear muffs guys? 8O No one seems to be wearing any? :? And should they be handling live munitions without special armour on? :( ...And lifting gear to protect their backs from being strained. :roll: Ooooh the HSE would have apoplexy if they spotted that photo! :wink: :lol:
 
Always_a_Civvy said:
Where are their fluffy ear muffs guys? 8O No one seems to be wearing any? :? And should they be handling live munitions without special armour on? :( ...And lifting gear to protect their backs from being strained. :roll: Ooooh the HSE would have apoplexy if they spotted that photo! :wink: :lol:
Click to expand...

My father was a tiff (spit) on the weapons side (I think his old-school designation was OA). He joined in 1950 as an apprentice and was let loose on the fleet around 1954. Until he became a Polaris sun-dodger around 1966, he worked on a variety of ships on the main weapons system of the time, ie guns. Now aged 72 he's showing the signs of the more relaxed H&S environment that then prevailed - to say he's hard of hearing is an understatement, but the most significant scar is on his left hand; the breech block of a 4" ish gun can be rather unforgiving when a middle finger is trapped - it took it off at the knuckle. Incidentally, being a sun-dodger didn't help too much on the personal health either - his optician reckoned that having been confined to a small tube for a couople of months at a time prematurely aged his eyes (due to their lack of use for long distances) requiring him to wear glasses earlier than he otherwise would.
 
Nutty said:
Below is a picture of the twin 4" gun crew on Loch Killisport in action. Note the shell casing being discharged from the starboard or nearer breech.
The man with his back to us I believe was the POGI. The chap on the right holding a shell was "George Humble" a Boom Defence Technician(2) BT2. The fair haired guy furthest away is "Doc Halliday" a TAS(W) who was also employed on the squid deck from where this pic was taken. I cannot remember the other names. All circa 1963


[align=center]
22September20054-copy-copy-copy.jpg


Nutty
Click to expand...

When the Mermaid was converted in 73/74 they fitted her with a twin 4'' from the mothball fleet...turned out to be the most accurate gun in the fleet...pissed all over the 4.5's .
 
Nutty said:
Below is a picture of the twin 4" gun crew on Loch Killisport in action. Note the shell casing being discharged from the starboard or nearer breech.
The man with his back to us I believe was the POGI. The chap on the right holding a shell was "George Humble" a Boom Defence Technician(2) BT2. The fair haired guy furthest away is "Doc Halliday" a TAS(W) who was also employed on the squid deck from where this pic was taken. I cannot remember the other names. All circa 1963


[align=center][
22September20054.jpg




Nutty
Click to expand...

The picture is back

Nutty
 
FlagWagger said:
Always_a_Civvy said:
Where are their fluffy ear muffs guys? 8O No one seems to be wearing any? :? And should they be handling live munitions without special armour on? :( ...And lifting gear to protect their backs from being strained. :roll: Ooooh the HSE would have apoplexy if they spotted that photo! :wink: :lol:
Click to expand...

My father was a tiff (spit) on the weapons side (I think his old-school designation was OA). He joined in 1950 as an apprentice and was let loose on the fleet around 1954. Until he became a Polaris sun-dodger around 1966, he worked on a variety of ships on the main weapons system of the time, ie guns. Now aged 72 he's showing the signs of the more relaxed H&S environment that then prevailed - to say he's hard of hearing is an understatement, but the most significant scar is on his left hand; the breech block of a 4" ish gun can be rather unforgiving when a middle finger is trapped - it took it off at the knuckle. Incidentally, being a sun-dodger didn't help too much on the personal health either - his optician reckoned that having been confined to a small tube for a couople of months at a time prematurely aged his eyes (due to their lack of use for long distances) requiring him to wear glasses earlier than he otherwise would.
Click to expand...

Missing finger tops was quite common amongst 4" gun crews, the GI that tought us 4" drill at Dartmouth had lost the middle and 4th finger tops, claimed it made the 'half a tot' sign much easier, and sometimes more effective.

For submariners it was the top of the index finger that had a tendency to get lopped, trying to align periscopes with the pin brackets to secure them in the up position for maintenance or for the part three officer to go down the well to recover the parralell ruler.

Peter
 

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