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Question about WWII Battleships

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  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: Maryland
Question about WWII Battleships
Posted by usmc1371 on Sunday, August 16, 2009 9:59 AM

I'm currently working on the USS Missouri.  My father-in-law recently acquired a Surrender Card from a sailor aboard the Missouri.  We found out the sailor was in the 11th Division aboard the Missouri.  Does anyone know where I can find information about the 11th Division, we are trying to figure out what the 11th Division did.

Thanks,

Jesse

  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Spartanburg, SC
Posted by subfixer on Monday, August 17, 2009 12:27 AM
I know that the gunnery divisions on the North Carolina were numbered 1-7 plus the rest of the weapons department's lettered divisions. I don't know what an Iowa class's ship's manning consisted of, but I would bet that it (11th) would probably be a gunnery division.

I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 11:39 PM

USN ships are divided into Departments.  Navigation, Operations, Gunnery, Supply, Disbursing, Engineering is the old "six department" split.  These were also known as Navo, Oppo, Gunno, Suppo, Disbo, and Snipes from the shorthand names for the department heads.

Departments are then subdivided into Divisions, the number of divisions needed relating to the size of the crew, the size of the ship, and so forth.

As a guess, only the 20mm or 40mm gun mounts need at least 11 divisions; the 40s could be too, though, by personnel count, since it's 10 per quad, versus two per Oerlikon.  20 quad 40s is 200 personnel plus the gun directors; 49 20mm is 98 hands, plus runners minding the ready-service lockers.

  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: Maryland
Posted by usmc1371 on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 6:16 AM

Thanks for the replys.  I'll be sure to pass the info along to my father-in-law.

-Jesse

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