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My uncle was on the Wisconsin and operated the big guns during the first Gulf war. I never really had context as a kid for how large that ship is, and was just
by Loughla 2y ago
My uncle was on the Wisconsin and operated the big guns during the first Gulf war.
I never really had context as a kid for how large that ship is, and was just astounded by the distances they would shell.
- pmcf 2y agoThis was right before the gulf war so I may have met him! Assuming he was a gunners mate, that crew had a lot of moments of touching history. Besides mechanical computers, it’s a really dangerous place since they had to handle massive bags of flash powder. My ship was near the USS Iowa when turret two went up. A sobering experience when you think how much risk the turret crews are in just by doing their jobs.
- teachrdan 2y agoFor those like me who didn't get this reference: "On 19 April 1989, an explosion occurred within the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) during a fleet exercise in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico.[1] The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iowa_turret_explosion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iowa_turret_explosion
- lazyant 2y agothanks, I ended up reading the whole thing. If you watched a movie about this you'd think the writers went too far.