Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "USS Midway - Guide 193" video.

  1. The 5"/54 Mark 16 guns on the Midway class were never considered really satisfactory weapons. The had power controls for the turret and shell handling, but final loading was by hand. At 70 pounds per projectile and another 13 pounds per cartridge case, crew fatigue set in rapidly, reducing rate of fire to below the former 5"/38 gun. The sponsoon mountings were also a problem, as heavy seas moved the mounts around enough to cause some worrisome cracks. The long barrels also overlapped the 40mm quads mounted below them on the same sponsoon causing blast interference and, in some cases, damage to the mounts and the men in them if they didn't get out before the 5"/54's were fired. The Navy was willing to accept these issues as a war emergency measure, but the end of the war brought a rapid landing on the 40mm guns and gradual removal of the 5"/54 guns. With each mount and gun weighing about 35 tons, and poorly positioned weight at that, they had to go to make up for the weight of other systems added during the carrier's long lives.
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