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To: SampleMan
Enjoyed your #28 and #32. Hope to see your material again.

Speaking of the large Naval rifles of the late 1920s I once spent some time with an internet copy of the Iowa class main turret manual. Most interesting.

After Surigao Strait Oldendorf was said to be nearly shot out when Kurita showed up. Reloading the inside the casement turret projectile magazines must have taken about five backbreaking days. The Battle of Samar was one lucky day for us, whew.

One must keep in mind Hoel, Roberts, and Johnston.

47 posted on 09/12/2006 2:06:34 PM PDT by Iris7 (Dare to be pigheaded! Stubborn! "Tolerance" is not a virtue!)
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To: Iris7
One must keep in mind Hoel, Roberts, and Johnston.

Indeed.

Destroyers were also big players with the sinking of the Hiei at Guadalcanal. Historical accounts tend to simply mention that the Hiei was sunk by aircraft the next day, but it wasn't. During the previous night, US Destroyers put perhaps hundreds of 5" rounds into the Battleship from point blank range and a torpedo. It was crippled to 5 knots, and a large number of the crew were killed or wounded. A few hits were scored by aircraft from Henderson field, but it was the Japanses who scuttled the ship due to the damage done by the US Destroyers.

48 posted on 09/12/2006 3:42:00 PM PDT by SampleMan
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