Canons used in "Guns Of Navarone"?
JCarew
>If I remember correctly then in the book the guns were 11". Not quite
>battleship calibre perhaps, but quite enough to deal with the cruisers
>or destroyers that might attempt to come in range. I have the feeling
>that shore batteries much larger than this were quite rare anywhere in
>the world.
Not here in the Southern California area during WWII
Coastal Defense Guns defending LA during WW II
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 12:23:59 -0700
From the "Fort MacArthur Museum Association" website
at http://www.ftmac.org/index.htm
Coastal Defense guns defending the Los Angeles Area
during WW II:
Note: A lot of these were set up during WWI when
LA was a lot smaller which means some of them wound
up pointing in the wrong direction for the defense
of portions of the Southern California area(jc)
Twenty-four 155 mm mobile guns were used in the Los
Angeles area for beach defenses during WW II. These
guns were moved by truck and could be rapidly set up
on simple concrete circles which were built at 13
locations between Santa Barbara and Costa Mesa. The
guns had a range of 10 miles.
(for any "Dieppe" type incursion,jc)
Two 16" guns were emplaced in Battery #127 (later
named Battery Paul D. Bunker), a massive concrete
casemate battery built at White Point during World
War II. The 16" guns could deliver a 2400 pound shell
26 miles out to sea, past Catalina Island. A similar
emplacement, Battery #128, was built at Bolsa Chica
near Huntington Beach(See Note,jc), but it was not
armed.
Note:This emplacement is still there(1999) you can
see it as you drive south down Highway 1, the Pacific
Coast Highway, from Los Angeles(jc)
Six modern 6" guns were emplaced in three new dual gun
batteries during the World War II years. Battery #242
(later named Battery Harry C. Barnes)was built at Point
Vicente, Battery #241 was built on the Upper Reservation
and Battery #242 (later named Battery Harry J. Harrison)
was built at Bolsa Chica. The 6"guns had a range of
about 15 miles.
Sixteen modern 90 mm guns in four Anti-Motor Torpedo
Boat (AMTB) batteries at the "Gaffey Bulge" on the Fort
MacArthur Upper Reservation, at the "Navy Field" on the
Fort MacArthur Lower Reservation, at the tip of Terminal
Island, and at Bluff Park in Long Beach.
Four 14" rifled guns were emplaced in Batteries Osgood,
Farley, Leary and Merriam on the Fort MacArthur Upper
Reservation during the years 1915 to 1917. The 14"
guns delivered a 1560 pound shell 14 miles out to sea.
Protected by walls of 20 foot reinforced concrete and
earth, the guns were mounted on ingenious disappearing
carriages which appeared over their parapets only
long enough to fire. Underground concrete rooms
next to the gun emplacements protected the ammunition.
Eight 12" rifled mortars were emplaced in Batteries
Barlow and Saxton during 1915 to 1917 on the Fort
MacArthur Upper Reservation. They were designed to
deliver their 700 pound shells in high arcs to land
on the lightly armored decks of approaching enemy
ships to a maximum range of 11 miles.
Four 3" rapid fire guns were emplaced in Battery
Lodor in 1919 at the tip of Terminal Island. This
battery was built for defense against attack by
small fast torpedo boats.
Two 14" railway guns were stationed on the Fort
MacArthur Lower Reservation by 1929. These guns
were mounted on special carriages that could be
moved by rail to prepared firing positions. They
could fire their 1400 pound projectiles a distance
of 27 miles.
Additional observation and radar posts were installed
on the seaward side of Santa Catalina Island after PH
BTW they were still installing new coastal defense
guns up through 1945
Jim Carew
>Sadly I have no idea of the accuracy or lack of in depicting these
>pieces of artillery in the film.
>Jeff wrote:
>>I searched the web with yahoo and all I found was refrences to the
>>movie and book. I'd say it's fiction but I may be wrong. What's not
>>fiction is the 380mm main guns on the DKM Bismarck. In inches that
>>comes out to 14.96".
robert arndt
the colossal 40.6cm!!!
Check out the book "German Artillery of World War II" by Ian Hogg
ISBN: 1-85367-261-0
Rob