Battleship Texas, Shooting the 14" Guns The Old School Way. скачать в хорошем качестве

Battleship Texas, Shooting the 14" Guns The Old School Way.

Beginning in 1926 when Texas was modernized, the big 14" guns were aimed by the pointer and trainer in the turret using information shown on needle matching equipment fed from Main Battery Plotting Room. The guns were also remotely fired from that location. While they aimed the gun, they never saw their target or even fired it. Before 1926, the pointers and trainers had to see their target through periscopic sights that peeked out of the gun port in the frontal armor just below the barrel. Once on target, pointer could locally fire his gun from his position. At close ranges, 10,000 yards and less, a good pointer's aim was consistently deadly. In fact, the guns were used in this fashion on D-Day when Texas steamed within 3,000 yards of the beach and fired six high capacity shells to obliterate enemy mortar and machine gun positions at exit D-1. Every shot hit and saved the lives of hundreds of soldiers. Some of the gunners were the stuff that legends were made of. In 1914, gun pointer William Ruf set a world record with EIGHT consecutive hits on target at a range of 12 miles, or 21,000 yards!