140 Dahlgren 



What were some of the major gunnery items tested here during and just after World War 



in 



In gunnery, there wasn't very much. The major work load in gunnery after 

 World War II was, in fact, proof and testing until the mid-1960's. The latter 

 part of the 1960's, during the Vietnam War, was when the change came here. 

 There was some new gun development that was started in the early 1960's — the 

 lightweight 5"/54 MARK 45 mount and the 8"/55 MARK 71 mount. Both were 

 brought here for testing in the latter 1960's. That's the most significant thing 

 that happened here in the period we're talking about until the guided projectile 

 came on the scene. 



At what point do you feel that the pendulum began to swing from purely proof and testing 

 at Dahlgren to increased emphasis on research and development? 



The real point came when this Station decided it wanted to get into weapons 

 development, and again that was the latter part of the 1960's with the leading 

 effort being the guided projectile. Up until then, we were just meandering 

 around aimlessly under the continuous threat of closure. The change in our 

 mission in the late 1 950's saved us long enough to get our feet on the ground in 

 the latter part of the I960's. If we hadn't had a change in mission from a 

 proving ground to a naval laboratory, we never would have survived long 

 enough to have gotten started in the late 1960's into weapons development. If 

 we hadn't gotten into weapons development, we wouldn't be here today. 



What effect did the Korean War have on the gun work at Dahlgren? 



There was a tremendous increase in proof and test. There were probably 

 more rounds fired in the Korean War than in World War II. As a result of that, 

 the Navy exhausted all of its supply of ammunition. It didn't have any left, and 

 even after the Korean War was over, we continued firing for long periods of 

 time — just proofing ammunition to restock the Navy supply. It was a tremen- 

 dous increase in our work load — barrels, propellant lots, and projectile lots all 

 had to be proofed here. That was the main impact on this place. After we did 

 that, the question arose as to whether we were needed anymore, and that put us 

 in the period where we were threatened with closure. It's amazing that it could 

 have been forgotten so quickly that a place like Dahlgren is needed to do that 

 kind of work for the Navy. We had to learn that all over again in the Vietnamese 

 War, and we are beginning to forget it again. 



/ understand that a lot of old guns that had been removed from service were needed again 

 in Vietnam. 



That's right. We had to go back and introduce the battleship NEW JERSEY 

 into service for the third time in the Vietnamese War. It was taken out of service 



