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Chapter VII of Naval Ordnance, 1937 provides a comprehensive treatment of breech mechanisms for U.S. Navy guns. It covers the fundamental definitions, requirements, and systems of breech blocks; types of breech mechanisms used on intermediate and major-caliber guns; gas check design and operation including the DeBange system; salvo latches; and detailed descriptions of specific mechanisms for the 3-inch semi-automatic, 5-inch 25-caliber AA, 5-inch Mark VII, 6-inch 53-caliber, 14-inch, and 16-inch naval guns. The chapter concludes with the firing mechanism, the Mark XIV firing lock, and its safety features. Sixty illustrated pages including text (doc. pp. 153–195) and seventeen technical plates.
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