https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/wwii-anti-aircraft-guns-granger.jpg

shamelessly stolen from another thread.  A classic photo that never fails to impress.  But I just noticed there is nobody sitting in the gun siting seats.  Are they just practicing?  The adjacent larger guns are not active.  But there appears to be a smaller gun in the background firing.  Or are the AA guns set at a certain position to create a flak curtain thus don't need someone actively aiming?  I don't think the 40mm are aimed via a remote fire control, but maybe they are??

Fired by director, radar controlled

Don't believe the leftoids and their media lackeys: America still has plenty of fine people.

Very cool picture, OP.

Huh.  I never noticed the pointer and trainer were not in their seats. That makes sense, though, since they were controlled by the Mk 51 director. Each mount had its own director so I guess they worked like the Mk 37 directors for the 5"/38's. The directors actually controlled the aiming and firing. I just didn't realize the Mk51's worked the same way. Cool!

awesome

My father in law did that in WW2.  Two Purple Hearts and a permanent disability from a kamikaze.  

Would there have been any form of armor issued in that time period for the 40mm guys? If yes, then that would strongly suggest a training photo.

No body armor but I thought sailors wore kapok life jackets when at General Quarters.

I'm thinking that's a carrier. That's a 5"/38 open mount in the background. Looks like a catch behind that to catch people being blown off the flight deck.

From USS Cassin Young

Each 40mm Mount has a corresponding Mark 51 Gun director above them.



The Mk 51 range keeper is used  to aim the 40mm AA gun more accurately. It did this via a gun sight coupled to an air driven gyroscope that would determine the lead and lag of aiming by how fast you were turning the gun director in order to track your target.


The 40mm guns had two 440 volt AC current motors on it to rotate the gun platform and to raise and lower the gun barrels as needed to aim the gun. Add a firing trigger to the right hand handle bar. When the operator has the target in the cross hairs he pulls the firing trigger. If the gun captain standing on the 40mm gun has his firing trigger pulled the 40mm gun mount will commence firing and will continue to do so until one of the triggers are released.



If something were to happen to the Mk51 the gun would be aimed and fired via the crew on the gun mount and not remotely from the Mk51 gun director. However this would not be as accurate.

My father was an SO-3 on the USS Dyson destroyer during WWII. He went in at 17-years old. His mother had to sign off for him to join the Navy. When he was not operating the sonar, his battle station was on a twin 40mm battery. He was one in the chain of people who passed along ammo to feed the guns. I think he was near the deck but not on the gun turret.

FWIW, he always said the gun was aimed with radar and a simple type of mechanical computer system.

His last major battle was Okinawa, on picket duty.