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40 Millimeter Quadruple Mount
This gun is a medium range anti-aircraft weapon. Most of the crew worked to keep the ammunition flowing to meet the high rate of fire. There were four shells in each clip used in these guns. If the shells failed to make direct hits, self-destructive fuses destroyed them at about 4,000 yards range.
"There were a few 20mm (guns) on it (NORTH CAROLINA). The biggest improvement was the 40mm (guns). We started out with 1.1’s (inches) and they were very difficult to keep firing. They were a very inferior weapon. Later, we had the 40mm put on, and that was a big improvement in the anti-aircraft guns. - Rear Admiral John E. Kirkpatrick, USNR (Ret)
"There was a time when we had four planes that came out of the clouds at about 10 thousand feet and one started making a dive straight down for the NORTH CAROLINA. He kept coming down and then veered off towards the converted aircraft carrier WAKE ISLAND, so we thought, ‘Oh, he’s not coming for us he’s going for the carrier.’ Then he swerves for us again and he’s getting closer and we realize he is coming for us! All the guns that could were firing at him but none of the guns on the main deck could turn that far so it wasn’t too good. Then at the last second, he turned and started going right for the WAKE ISLAND and right as he was about to suicide into the carrier one of the 40mm from the NORTH CAROLINA hit him and he just disintegrated. That was one of the closest calls I’ve ever seen." - Robert L. Palomaris |
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© 1999 The Battleship USS North Carolina
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