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Photo # NH 98314:  USS Hull's eight-inch Mark 71 gun is test fired, 17 September 1975

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Hull (DD-945) -- Tests of the Mark 71 8"/55 Major Caliber Lightweight Gun, 1975-1979

During her major overhaul in 1974-75, USS Hull's forward 5"/54 Mark 42 gun mount was replaced with an 8"/55 Mark 71 gun mount. This Major Caliber Lightweight Gun ("MCLWG") was the result of a project dating back to the 1960s, when it was realized that heavy gunfire support for amphibious operations would die with the existing force of heavy cruisers unless a big gun could be developed for destroyer-size ships. A prototype gun and mounting had been built and tested ashore during the early 1970s. Hull was its test ship for seagoing trials, after which it was expected that several of these guns would be installed on board destroyers of the new Spruance class.

Hull's eight-inch gun began firing tests in April 1975. These lasted into the following year, and were reportedly successful. The ship carried the Mark 71 mounting during her 1976-77 and 1978 deployments to the Western Pacific, and conducted more firing tests during that time. However, the MCLWG project was cancelled in 1978. The prototype gun was removed from USS Hull during her 1979-80 overhaul.

This page features all the views we have of tests of the Mk. 71 MCLWG on board Hull (DD-945).

For more images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Hull (DD-945), 1958-1998.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 98310

    USS Hull (DD-945)

    Hull's experimental 8"/55 Mark 71 Major Caliber Lightweight Gun is test fired for the first time from a ship, during trials off the Southern California coast, 17 April 1975.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 124KB; 740 x 520 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98311

    USS Hull (DD-945)

    Hull's experimental 8"/55 Mark 71 Major Caliber Lightweight Gun undergoes initial shipboard test firings, during trials off the Southern California coast, 17 April 1975.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 510 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98312

    USS Hull (DD-945)

    Hull's experimental 8"/55 Mark 71 Major Caliber Lightweight Gun undergoes initial shipboard test firings, during trials off the Southern California coast, 17 April 1975.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 515 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98313

    USS Hull (DD-945)

    Hull's experimental 8"/55 Mark 71 Major Caliber Lightweight Gun undergoes initial shipboard test firings, during trials off the Southern California coast, 17 April 1975.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 103KB; 740 x 515 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98314

    USS Hull (DD-945)


    The destroyer's 8"/55 Mark 71 Major Caliber Lightweight Gun is test fired off San Clemente Island, California, 17 September 1975.
    Photographed by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Carl R. Begy.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98315

    USS Hull (DD-945)


    Crewmen give the ship a fresh-water washdown, during operations off the Southern California Coast, 16 September 1975. Hull's experimental 8"/55 Mark 71 Major Caliber Lightweight Gun is receiving the hose man's attention in this view.
    Photographed by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Carl R. Begy.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 105KB; 505 x 765 pixels

     

    For more images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Hull (DD-945), 1958-1998.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 31 January 2003