Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 167" video.

  1. wrt the question about USN alternatives to the Oerlikon and Bofors guns: the US Army had two 37mm guns, the lightweight, low velocity, M4, which was used in aircraft, such as the P-39 that Drac mentions, and the high velocity M1, which was used as a ground based AA gun. Comparing the M1 to the Bofors, the Bofors fired a heavier shell with greater range and ceiling, which would make the Bofors the winner in a head to head competition. The Bofors clips being gravity fed also simplified loading as the clips needed to be pushed into the M1 by the man loading the gun so that the feed pawls would grab it. The M1 also had an awkward cooling system, using a water chest. M1 firing had to be stopped every 60 rounds while water was flushed through the gun to cool it. The M1 was later developed into the M9, where the rigid clips were replaced by a disintegrating metal link belt, like the Vickers used, and redesigned for both left and right side feed versions. If the Bofors had not existed, the M9 would probably have been developed sooner, a more effective cooling system developed, and the gun could probably be adopted to any style mount that was developed for the Vickers, as they were both side fed, metal link belt, guns.
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