PetrOs wrote:
After a lot of picture analyse I came to suggestion, that the Lex had solid bulwarks on all 1.1 and 5" gun platforms, and the passageway from the rear 5" to 1.1 platforms has railings as in october 41.
Could anyone suggest what was exactly on the corner AA platforms except 1.1 guns? The plans from July show 0.50 MGs there, 2 on each platform. Were these still there, or were some directors, etc placed instead? The platforms also had a collapsible section in july, was it collapsible after 1.1 installation? Solid bulwarks would probably forbid that...
I do have a question about the collapsible section of the corner platforms. I have not seen any evidence that prior to the installation of the 3"/1.1" tubs that any portion of these platforms folded. Are you referring to the rounded extensions for the 1.1" tubs"
As far as I can make out, the 4 corner 1.1's were not actually installed on the original .50 cal mg platforms. Half of each platform was removed - the front half of the forward platforms and the after half of the after platforms. The 3"/1.1" platforms/tubs were then installed in their places. If you look closely, the deck areas beneath the 1.1" mounts were slightly lower than the adjacent .50 cal platforms. New supporting structure was installed beneath the new tubs. The after tubs had lattice type structures and the supports under the forward tubs were solid. I have not found any good photos showing the frontal aspect of the forward supports so I can't say exactly what the shape was. I do have photos of the after side of the starboard support. There was a rounded projection from the side of each of the 4 1.1" platforms and I presume this is the portion that folded up. The 5" mounts had similar folding extensions outboard of them. On the Yorktown class's 5" tubs, the folding projection portion could still be folded when the need arose because the solid splinter screens over the extensions were bolted on rather than welded. Presumably screens on the extensions of the corner platform tubs on Lexington were similarly bolted on as probably were the screens on the extending tubs for her 5" mounts.
As for what was mounted there, since half of each original .50 cal platform was removed, the guns on the removed sections were relocated atop the 8" gun turrets. That left 2 .50 cal mg's still in place on each corner platform at the time of her loss. The Pearl Harbor NY departure reports do not list added directors for any of the 1.1's during her March-April '42 refit. Pearl was pretty good about listing those directors if they installed any, so I would have to believe that none were on board Lex at the time of her loss. (So the Trumpy kit got that feature wrong - easily corrected.) Also, no mention is made of any equipment or guns installed to replace the corner .50's supporting the idea that those .50's were still there.
So when lost, the Lexington should have been carrying 20 .50 cal mg's; two on each corner platform and twelve on the funnel gallery. The photos indicate that 5", 1.1" and 20MM mounts had steel splinter screens. However, the .50's appear to have only been protected by splinter mats.