Thread: ORP Garland
View Single Post
 
Old 04-21-2012, 03:51 PM
NimitzFan's Avatar
NimitzFan NimitzFan is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: North of Houston
Posts: 239
Total Downloaded: 24.89 MB
These are for holding ready-use shells - but a very specific kind that was safe to store this way.

The British 120mm from this period fired separate ammunition - a shell was entirely separate from the powder can. File:Australian naval gunners with 4.7 inch ammunition 1944 AWM 016472.jpeg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia These angle brackets held the shells used for ready-use and thereby simplified ammo supply by only requiring powder hoists.

But, nearly always the shells stored this was were for a kind of ammo called "Semi-Armor Piercing" which was developed after the end of WW1 and was a base-fused shell that was not armed until it was fired. Hence it was relatively safe to store this way. A picture of the round can be found at File:4.7 inch SAP Mk II A shell diagrams 1933.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have seen a number of pictures with the brackets filled with shells, but I can't put my fingers on any right now. Even in wartime, if in port, they were always empty so you can safely leave them that way on a display model. (Which really looks terrific by the way!)
__________________
Building - JSC - 1/250 SMS Emden
Reply With Quote