.38 Cal. 5" shell / case

[B.A.R.gunner]

I picked this up not that long ago for $25, which i thought was pretty reasonable. I picked the one that had the original cork spacer and the little detail paperwork. Looks like it was manufactured in 44, and fired in 52 if im reading it right. Anyways, my question is.. what exactly is the purpose of the carrying case for this shell? and what type of ordnance would the shell have had in it?

[dave peifer]

that would be the shipping/packing container,as for projectile,a variety........practice,ap,hc,etc.......dave

[B.A.R.gunner]

so every single shell would have one of these?

[dave peifer]

yes.......to my knowlege

[B.A.R.gunner]

hmmm thats interesting :think:

[sigsaye]

hmmm thats interesting :think:

OK, you have the powder can for a 5 inch 38 cal shell. The ammunition for those guns was "Seperate" meaning that the propellant (powder) was seperate from the "Projectile". The outer can was to protect the powder can from damage during shipping and stowage in the magazines. The powder can was removed from the casing in the magazine and reused. The powder for the 5" .38 weighed 34 pounds. They look just like the metal cartridge case of a rifle round. They had the powder charge and then were packed with cotton. That stuff got all over the ship when you shot those guns and I got a chunk blowen back in my eye once. It was covered with burned cordite and went up under my eye lid. Waited three hours with it in there before we secured gun stations to go to sick bay to get it out (another story).

 

The Projectiles were the "bullets" They could be High Explosive (HE), fragmentation (FRAG), Verriable Timed Fragmentation (VT Frag or Flak). White Phosporus (Willie Peter), or Rocket Assisted Projectile (RAP) which is just a shell with a rocket motor on it to through it a bit farther. There may have been more, don't remember off hand. The projectiles weighed 54 pounds (Average, RAPs a bit more). There were also solid shots for practise. the projectiles had nose caps over where the fuse would be screwed in and the fuses were in metal ammo boxes. On destroyers loading and un loading ammunition was an all hands evolution. You carried each powder can and each projectile seperately on or off the ship, one at a time. We would spend days at Seal Beach Californin or Yorktown Virginia loading ammo. Always dreaded and hated it.

 

Any way, there you are.

 

Steve Hesson

[Jack's Son]

....Any way, there you are.

Steve Hesson

Steve......I can't imagine a better answer then your's. Life's encyclopedia !

[dave peifer]

steve.........great info.........thanks..........dave :thumbsup:

[Redleg13a]

I have a book on the Iowa class battleships and there was a statement from a former crew member talking about the concussion from the 5"/38's. He said the 16" guns weren't bad, kind of like a shove, but "the five inchers, damn them, they hit you like a plank."

[sigsaye]

I have a book on the Iowa class battleships and there was a statement from a former crew member talking about the concussion from the 5"/38's. He said the 16" guns weren't bad, kind of like a shove, but "the five inchers, damn them, they hit you like a plank."

I can confirm that. I served on a Frigate (USS Bradley, FF-1041, formerly DE-1041). She had 2 of these. The forward one, MT-51 (Mount 5 inch #1) still had a ring and bead sight and gun captains hood from the days it was installed on a Fletcher Class DD in WW2. Inside the mount, it was nothing really, noise, smoke and heat. I was a loader in that mount for a short time. Up on the bridge, when the gun was fireing to the side, the concussion was brutal. My SM1 at the time who was an sweetheart was sitting at the deck in the shack when the mount fired. A storage box that was mounted over the desk infront of him came loose, flew back and hit him square between the eyes. Blood every where. It was great. He was the phone talker as he didn't have to do anything but sit on his brains in the shade. He refused to wear the talker helmet (which sucked and I took it off as much as I could too). If he had been wearing it, the only damage would have been chipped paint on the helmet. As it were, he got bloodied up a bit and made the gun shoot worth while for the rest of us. Oh yeah, he wore a bandage for a week like he had been seriously wounded in battle or something, not just slacking off hiding out in the shade.

 

But, yeah, if you could you got some ship between you and the muzzel. Even from behind, it smacked you. And LOUD!!!

 

Steve Hesson