Brian Keith
Well-Known Member
A museum I’m associated with received twoof these the other day. The markings on the bottom of one are: “12 H.C. MK-17MOD 2 LOT. 2-37 NO:5086 CSOOOFA”. Doing a bit of research I think these werefor the USN 12”/50 Caliber gun, used on a number of ships, including a couple of pre-WW I battleships and WW II Battle Crusers. They are totally empy and don’t have a nosefuze or wind screen, but they still weigh several hundred pounds! The rotatingbands are gone, either never installed or removed for scrap or de-mil. On thisexample, there is a hand stamped “X” under the “2” of “MOD 2”. A couple ofquestions, is the “2-37” after the “LOT” a date code of manufacture-Febuary,1937? The other shell has “1-37”. I wonder if the “X” means it didn’t pass aninspection and was condemmend? Thus, the rotating band may have never beeninstalled. Can anybody tell me where these were made and by whom? Thanks forany information. Photo’s to follow.
BKW
BKW
