As this is being written, a US Coast Guard cutter is trying to sink a 150-foot derelict fishing boat off Alaska.
The rusting hulk is abandoned and was scheduled for scrap when it was washed away from its anchorage off Japan last year when the big tsunami hit. It has been making its lonely and unmanned voyage across the North Pacific ever since.
Boy are the gunners on the cutter going to have fun. I once was a gunner’s mate on U.S. Navy destroyer, but we had 5-inch cannons, while this little cutter has the equivalent of at 1-inch machinegun – a 25mm automatic cannon similar to the one carried in the turret of a Bradley armored fighting vehicle.
I actually feel a bit sorry for the Coasties. This is not going to be a cake walk. Granted the old fishing boat isn’t going anywhere fast, but if you have ever tried to hit anything from the rolling, yawing, pitching deck of a ship in open waters, you have a idea how difficult the task really is.
When I was first introduced in the Guard to the artillery fire control problem … I realize how much easier it was – no pitch, yaw or roll to compensate for.
I remember the few times I got to aim Mount 52 on the Meredith (DD-890). It really is a matter of timing, as you tried to make sure the gun was on target.
Secondly, while at 25mm gun will do a lot of damage, since it fires exploding rounds rather than the solid shot of a .50-caliber bullet that used to be carried on the 110 foot cutter, you are talking about a pretty good sized vessel here. It probably going to take quite a few rounds downrange to put enough holes in the boat to cause it to sink.
I guess that just means more practice for the gunners … gee, I wonder if they will have to do an under way replenishment for ammunition … maybe, like us on the Merry-D, they will get to do it in the middle of the night, which was our usual time.
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