[quote="Rick E Davis"]It is interesting, but during the mid-1930s (starting in about 1936) photos of USS LEXINGTON (CV-2) show NO MG's atop her 82 and 83 turrets. While USS SARATOGA (CV-3) appears to have a pair of 50-cal MGs atop those turrets starting in about 1934.
USS LEXINGTON (CV-2) in April 1934. I don't know what type of mount this is, but if I have to guess, it is an experimental multiple MG mount?
Hey Rick, The Army and Navy departments started experiments with Light A/A weapons in the late 1920s, that included the Colt (Browning) water-cooled .50-caliber machine guns. Not only were a single-mounted .50 were used, but also twin-,triple-, qual- and six-barrel mounted units were involved. And later prior to the war, twin-50s with a 37-mm cannon on a trolley were developed, along with a quad-.50s unit mounted on half tracks for A/A defense for ground troops, as well as the quad-1.1 'Chicago Piano' that we've seen on early WW2 vessels, including the Lex and Sara. The Navy plan to add Light A/A weaponry to the two carriers during their late-years construction periods, by adding circular pivotal platforms upon the heavy gun mounts of Numbers 2 & 3. The Lexington received the platforms while she was in Drydock #3 at South Boston, before sailing on her maiden voyage, and the Saratoga had its installed at the Philly naval yard before its maiden trip to Newport. The "twin-mounted, single-pedestal" .50-caliber weapons were not installed until both the Lex and Sara reached the West Coast, with Lex receiving hers during the ship's first visit to Naval Yard Puget Sound in late 1928. The Sara didn't have the weapons installed until the ship's second visit to Puget Sound in late '29, but neither carrier received a six-barrel A/A mount that been reportly installed. The Navy also were reportly to install some of these twin-barreled weaponry on some of it cruisers during the early '30s, but have only personally researched the Lexingtons' usage of the A/A batteries. The carriers carried the weapons until late '33, when Sara visited NYPS and had her forward A/A on No. 2 removed and replaced with the 'box' platform with two single a pedestals mounted .50s as seen in the photos You posted, but retained the aft single pedestal twin-mounted .50s until the ship's visit at Bremerton in late '35, when it was removed. During the carriers' East Coast Cruise in mid-34 to Hampton Roads and New York City, photographs show these A/A units in place during that time period. The Lexington kept her 'twin-barrel, single-pedestal' .50s units until a refit visit to NYPS in late '35, where they were removed, and the new A/A platforms were added to the ship, the 5th level deck on the funnel and the quarter-hull positions, where single pedestaled .50s were to be added. Not all positions had .50s mounted at this time, some of the quarter deck areas only had two MGs in place when the ship left the shipyard, but were added later when the weapons became available. Later the Lex would received the same box-deck platforms upon its 8-inch mounts as the Sara had, prior to the war. There are several photographs of the "twin-mounted" .50s that were on the Lex and Sara during the weapons' usage. One photo of an overhead view of the single pedestal A/A unit is in the new Squadron At Sea 'USS Saratoga' by David Doyle on page 72. The photo is quoted as the unit being 'dismounted', but is actually fully assembled, with the two water-cooled MG barrels in place, with ammo drums attached to the .50s, the sighting bar mounted at the end of the barrels, as well as the small seats used by the two gunners, and the foot petals used for turning and aiming of the weapons mount. There are also photos of the weapon used during a Fleet Battle exercise capturing a firing exercise by the gunners with a Chief directing the operation standing behind the gunners on the No. 2 turret, with the .50-caliber ammo box that was installed on the aft top part of the turret.
HTH! Michael, VA
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