Quad 40s

Quad 40 from above.

These 40 mm anti air guns were manufactured in neutral Switzerland. They are one of very few weapons systems used by both sides in World War II.

Well behind the quad 40, an adult is standing on a square patch of concrete, a break in the wooden deck of the ship. This is the remnant of an 8 inch gun hit, taken during the invasion of Vichy French North Africa. The shell penetrated into a marine sleeping area and detonated. The room was unoccupied at the time. There were no casualties, and no loss of fighting capability. The Jean Bart suffered far worse in the same battle.

From the rear

The Business end.

The aft turret, turret three, is in the rear. Sky Four and Spot Two can be seen to the left.

An electric motor that aimed the mount when under director control.

A Quad 40 Crew in training.

I am reminded of the drill team, back in my high school band days. This is a training photo. I suspect things were less organized in a real action. The man in the center top position is the gun captain, coordinating the crew. On the far right is one of the pointers. There is another, mostly cut off on the left side of the picture. One can control elevation of the guns, the other azimuth. Either can fire the guns. Normally, they do not aim the guns. The guns are aimed and moved electronically, controlled by a Mk 51 or Mk 52 director. (See the Light Stuff page.) The other eight men in the picture are responsible for loading the gun and passing ammunition. The gun tub splinter shields surrounding the quad 40s were filled with storage racks for ready rounds.

The above picture might begin to explain how the crew size grew to 2,400. There were up to 18 quad 40 mounts on board. Each one had 8 guys passing ammunition, 2 guys standing by in case the electronics broke down, one guy supervising, and another operating the gun director. While the bigger guns didn't fire as many rounds per minute, the 2,700 pound shells had to be hauled to the guns. Multiply 3 rounds per minutes by 9 barrels, and that is a lot of elbow grease. This is hard to fix in a modernization program. The huge crews required to operate a battleship is a primary reason the paper pushers try to retire them every time peace breaks out.