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Originally Posted by Andy in West Oz  14-inch disappearing gun batteries
What's a disappearing gun battery? Concealed when not in use? |
According to the US Army R.O.T.C. Manual, Coast Artillery Basic, 1942, the 14inch Coastal Artillery gun was basicly a WWI era railroad gun with one of two basic mounts. It ws either a mobile, or semi-mobie rail mount, which employes a detachable locamotive when moved; or it can be deployed in a "fixed carriage" mount. The fixed mount is such that it, too, can be swiveled arounded a fixed base-plate in what seems to be a 360-degree arc (probably less). And in this fixed mount, the gun must be raised into firing position, and lower into service/loading position.
I know from other studies that the US Army Officer Corps divides officers into professional "tracks". Before and during WWII this tracks included Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineering, Aviation, Medical, Quartermaster, Judge Advocate, Sgnal Corp, Chemical, Chaplain, Ordinace, and COASTAL ARTILLERY.
The Coastal Artillery Corp is a specialized profesional branch which dealt with the specialized big guns meant to be the bulwark of the national defence throughout the nation's history, from the Revolution up to and through WWII, when the development of Aircraft made the 12-mile range of the coastal guns a no longer practical deterent.
I once had a brief interview of a WWII veteran who was assigned to Coastal Artillery somewhere along the Pacific Coast. The imagry I retain from his remarks was that the weapons were old, in dis-repair, and the morale of the men and officers both were fairly low. He very distinctly recalled that it was a standing order that no requests for transfer would be entertained. From that I was lead to understand that already the professional officers were seeing their career being terminated as redundant.
And from what I could recall of a book by Homer Lea, the areas along the Pacific Coast which were defended by Coastal Artillery were North-west region, the San Francisco Region, and the Los Angeles-San Diego Region.