6-Inch/47-Caliber Mark 16 Triple Gun Turret (Buffalo, New York)

 military, gun, place with historical importance, United States Navy

Displayed aboard the USS Little Rock (CG-4) is the last remaining example of a 6-Inch/47-Caliber Mark 16 Triple Gun Turret worldwide. USS Little Rock, as with her sisters in the Cleveland Class of Light Cruisers, once shipped four of these mounts in superfiring pairs fore and aft of her superstructure. Following her conversion to a Guided Missile Cruiser, the Little Rock retained only her #1 Turret for use as a shore bombardment and anti-surface weapon.

Developed by the US Navy in 1932, the first of these new-technology gun mounts were mounted aboard the ships of the Brooklyn Class of Light Cruisers in 1937 as well as the subsequent St. Louis, Cleveland and Fargo Classes of Light Cruisers through 1945. Designed primarily for anti-surface and shore bombardment roles, the rifles of each triple turret were capable of hurling a then state-of-the-art “super-heavy” 130lb AP shell over 26,000 yards, or approximately 15 miles, at speeds of up to 2,665 feet per second. When completed, each turret weighed between 154 and 173 tons depending on their age, had up to five inches of armor plating around their houses and required a crew of three officers and fifty-two enlisted to operate. With an individual-turret magazine containing roughly 200 shells feeding a conveyer-belt system of powder and shell hoists, well trained crews could achieve a fire rate of up to 10 rounds per minute from each gun, or thirty rounds per minute from each turret. When combined with the other turrets aboard, it was possible (but not likely) for a single ship to send up to 120 six-inch rounds downrange per minute. Each rifle could elevate up to 11 degrees per second up to 60 degrees and the turret could train at 10 degrees per second around a 150-degree radius, and under normal circumstances a rifle would require replacement after firing 750-1,050 rounds.

While originally installed in sets of five on the Brooklyn and St. Louis Class vessels to match the broadside capability of their Japanese counterparts, the later Cleveland and Fargo Classes opted to land the fifth turret in favor of an increased number of secondary armament, namely the twin 5-inch/38 Caliber dual purpose and Quad 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft mounts. This alteration proved vital in the Pacific Theatre of World War Two, where anti-aircraft armament would prove the difference between being kamikazed or not. Nevertheless, these weapon systems saw extensive service in all theatres of the Second World War, shelling shore targets across the world, engaging in numerous sea battles in the Pacific against Japanese Battleships, Cruisers and Destroyers and in the Mediterranean and Atlantic theatres against German and Italian surface craft.

Following the Second World War the majority of the vessels mounting the 6-Inch/47-Caliber Mark 16 Triple Gun Turret were decommissioned from service, though several ships saw action in the Korean and Vietnam Wars in the shore bombardment role, with the last members of the US Navy carrying the gun system decommissioning in the late 1970’s. Several former USN vessels in service with South American Nations continued to operate vessels with the triple 6-inch turret into the 1990’s, with Chilean Navy’s O’Higgins (CL-40), formerly the USS Brooklyn (CL-40), decommissioning and being sold for scrap in 1992. After the O’Higgins sank while under tow for scrapping in the mid-Pacific in November 1992, the 6-Inch/47-Caliber Mark 16 Triple Gun Turret aboard USS Little Rock became the last of its kind worldwide.

Today, the turret housing is open for tours and has been restored to its service appearance.



www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_6-47_mk16.htm