The RMS Queen Mary #9 by goodoleboy
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Description
Fire at will.
A Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun sits almost ready for action on the rear deck of the old girl, captured with my old Sears (Pentax) film camera, way way back in 1983. These came out pretty well, with just a minimum of postwork required.
RMS Queen Mary is now permanently based in Long Beach, California and docked in the harbor. It sailed in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967.
With the outbreak of World War II, the QM was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war. Hence, the gun to protect it from any Luftwaffe aircraft that happen to be in the vicinity. I didn't see any other armament on the ship.
And, barring any unforeseen developments, the urchins shown scrambling atop the gun should be in their mid forties by now.
Comments (5)
fun to see kids in these shots. And they're playing on this gun as if it were a jungle jim. It seems like a big fun contraption (shot 1) until we see shot 2: Then it's really a gun: A fearsome weapon, with that curved protruding window-bay behind it. Good combo of shots: Number 2 really brings home what 1 is all about. And the kids, all mashed into the nooks and crannies, are delightful.
It is very mean-looking guns indeed.... It is good to see the boys enjoying playing on the guns and probably dreaming of serving one day when they are all grown up!
It hurts that no one can stop boys playing with weapons 😣 but it is an interesting capture of old times 😀
Thanks for the two photos. Show how complex these guns were. As for the kids, the complexity is the real "WOW!" factor. I have a few photos of quad mount Bofors 40 mm. guns in the USS Alabama in Mobile Bay. Impressive to say the least. These photos bring home the reality of 1939 - 1945, particularly the lower one with the ship aft bay. Keep up the good work! :-)
Great photo Harry. Other than the kids dress, it's hard to tell the time frame for the photo. Perhaps the lack of people lugging a cell phone helps a bit too.
The time frame is covered in my narration below the photos.