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Vintage artillery returns to Battleship New Jersey
Four-barreled anti-aircraft gun that was used in World War II is back after 50-year absence

Carol Comegno
Cherry Hill Courier-Post USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

CAMDEN – A World War II gun mount that once shot down Japanese aircraft over the Pacific has come home to the Battleship New Jersey after a 50-year absence – restored and ready to fire.
The four-barreled anti-aircraft gun, called a Quadruple 40 Bofors Mount, was lifted recently to the main deck of the ship, now a museum on the Camden waterfront, by a giant crane aboard a Weeks Marine barge that delivered it on the Delaware River.

The gun was hoisted onto one of the spots on the port side where one used to be mounted until all 20 of the outdated weapons were removed in 1967 during the ship’s modernization for the Vietnam War.

This particular weapon had been deteriorating on static display outside the commandant’s quarters at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard until the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial rescued it this year. The Mahan Collection Foundation museum in Basking Ridge agreed to restore the gun free of charge.
“It was in such bad shape from being on display outside as a naval armament that I didn’t think we could save it,” said Philip Rowan, battleship museum CEO.
“Gary Mahan and his crew of machinists did an outstanding and detailed job of refurbishing it, even refabricating some of its metal parts that were missing or too badly damaged. We’re just ecstatic because it looks outstanding and we want visitors to be able to touch history and work the gun.”

By climbing up removable steps added to either side of the gun mount and then using hand cranks, visitors can slowly rotate the 23,000-pound weapon horizontally on its turntable and also elevate or lower its four barrels.

Museum officials have decided the gun will be fired on board for the first time in 50 years at a ceremony on Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7.

That date this year also marks the 75th anniversary of the battleship’s launching from the former Philadelphia Navy Yard, where it was built in 1942 less than a year after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, forcing the U.S. into World War II. It became the Navy’s most decorated battleship after fighting in three major wars and the Beirut Crisis.
Instead of live ammunition, naval salute rounds — shell casings of the same size and type but filled only with a small amount of gunpowder — will be fired from the Quad 40.
Aimed at Philadelphia, the gun will fire over the Delaware River, emitting only the booming sound and smoke of the 40-mm cannons manufactured by Chrysler Corp.

During World War II, the Quad 40s were very effective in shooting down Japanese planes, including the kamikaze, whose suicide missions were to crash into Allied ships and sink them, said battleship New Jersey volunteer Richard Thrash.
Rowan said the museum hopes to get a 20-millimeter gun that will be located adjacent to the new gun, which is near the 16-inch Gun Turret 3 and a five-inch gun turret. That 16-inch turret does not fire though its sister Turret 2 can be loaded from the powder room level up to the gun.
“Our goal has been to create a working anti-aircraft weaponry display on the port side for visitors,” Rowan said.

The Mahan Collection Foundation machinists testfired the guns after spending several months on restoration that founder Gary Mahan called “quite a challenge.”
Among those on board watching the gun’s homecoming was ship volunteer and former staff employee Paul Niessner of Pennsauken. It was Niessner who brought the gun’s existence at the Navy yard to the attention of museum officials.

Niessner, also a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, worked at the shipyard as a marine mechanic in 1967 and removed this gun and four of the other Quad 40 gun mounts from the ship’s port side.
He said he later helped build the foundation where the gun was mounted at the Navy yard. It stayed there for the past 50 years until the museum received permission to remove it this summer.
As the gun touched down onto the deck, Niessner was the first to place his hand on it.
“I wanted to be there to do that because I was one of the last to touch it when it came off the ship, so I wanted to be the first to touch it when it came home,” said the 74-year-old veteran, who is wheelchair bound while recovering from an illness.

One thing missing from the gun display is the round steel gun tub wall that that once helped shield sailors during World War II and captured empty shell casings.
The gun tubs were cut off flush with the deck 50 years ago, leaving circular tracks of embedded steel that remain on most of the wooden and steel decks where the Quad 40s were located.

Donations allowed the nonprofit museum to hire the barge and crane to deliver the gun to the deck.
The museum also is expecting delivery in December of two original 16-inch gun turret rifle barrels from the New Jersey that were replaced in later years and stored at a naval facility in Chesapeake, Virginia.
The Navy agreed to donate the barrels – each 68 feet long and weighing 120 tons – provided the museum pays to transport the barrels, which Rowan said will be delivered by rail via Norfolk Southern.
Rowan said one barrel will be displayed temporarily in the museum’s parking area until a permanent location is determined.
The museum will display the other gun barrel on the Marine Parade Grounds at South Broad Street and Intrepid Avenue at the former Navy yard, now the Navy business center operated by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation.
The museum is seeking donations to help defray costs associated with moving the two gun barrels.
To donate, visit battleshipnewjersey.org/40 Carol Comegno: @carolcomegno; 856-486-2473; ccomegno@gannettnj.com


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Posts: 8318 | Location: 18 miles long, 6 Miles at Sea | Registered: January 22, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Nice. Great to see that the history of these incredible ships is in good hands.

RMD




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Posts: 20303 | Location: L.A. - Lower Alabama | Registered: April 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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What I wouldn't give to be the one to crank off a few shots out of one of those.


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Posts: 8347 | Registered: July 21, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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What surprised me when I took my first tour of the NJ BB62, was that the Marines had a gun turret on the port side of the ship. IIRC, it was a 5" dual turret. I don't remember if the Marines also manned one on the starboard side.


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Posts: 4011 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: December 06, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by rtquig:
What surprised me when I took my first tour of the NJ BB62, was that the Marines had a gun turret on the port side of the ship. IIRC, it was a 5" dual turret. I don't remember if the Marines also manned one on the starboard side.


The MARDET manned Mount 55 on the IOWA. As just the topside staff to run the two guns (gun room and upper handling room) took ~27 men, they only manned one mount. Always the fastest shooting of all the 5” mounts.

FYI, 5” were in “mounts”, 16” is in “turrets”. A mount rotates on the base, just the top portion the guns are in moves. A turret includes the three gun rooms and turret officer’s station (the part you see above deck), and then the shell decks attached to it - which all rotate together inside the barbette. If you tip a battleship upside down, the mounts stay attached, but the turrets will slide out...



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Posts: 8295 | Location: in the red zone of the blue state, CT | Registered: October 15, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by feersum dreadnaught:
quote:
Originally posted by rtquig:
What surprised me when I took my first tour of the NJ BB62, was that the Marines had a gun turret on the port side of the ship. IIRC, it was a 5" dual turret. I don't remember if the Marines also manned one on the starboard side.


The MARDET manned Mount 55 on the IOWA. As just the topside staff to run the two guns (gun room and upper handling room) took ~27 men, they only manned one mount. Always the fastest shooting of all the 5” mounts.

FYI, 5” were in “mounts”, 16” is in “turrets”. A mount rotates on the base, just the top portion the guns are in moves. A turret includes the three gun rooms and turret officer’s station (the part you see above deck), and then the shell decks attached to it - which all rotate together inside the barbette. If you tip a battleship upside down, the mounts stay attached, but the turrets will slide out...



Thanks for the information. I didn't know the difference between mounts and turrets.


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Posts: 4011 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: December 06, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by XinTX:
What I wouldn't give to be the one to crank off a few shots out of one of those.


Enter the Drawing they are shooting it off 12/7 in commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attack 75th anniversary!

Welcome to Camden! Big Grin


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Posts: 8318 | Location: 18 miles long, 6 Miles at Sea | Registered: January 22, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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