The Bora Bora battleship batteries at 75
Back in the days of the Great White Fleet, the six Connecticut-class pre-dreadnought battleships (Connecticut, Louisiana, Vermont, Kansas, Minnesota, and New Hampshire; BBs 18-25) were initially designed by BuOrd to carry a secondary battery of twenty-four new model 7″/44 (17.8 cm) Mark 1 rapid-fire naval guns. Designed around 1900, they could rocket out four 165-pound AP shells a minute to 16,500-yards and were considered able to penetrate 9.6-inches of armor at point blank range.
Postcard of USS Connecticut (BB-18) from 1909, the casemated guns above her waterline but below her decks are 7-inchers.
In actuality, the ships only mounted 12 each in the hull casemates on completion due to topside weight issues, with the slightly longer 7″/45 Mark 2 being the gun of choice. The only other vessel to carry these popguns were the follow-on USS Mississippi and her sistership USS Idaho, which were quickly sold to Greece in 1914.
When WWI came, 54 of these older guns were dismounted to be used in France as tractor and train-mounted mobile artillery though they did not make it there before the Armistice, and indeed not all were converted as such.
Seven-inch tractor mount, Mark five Caption: Developed during World War I from casemated guns taken from the Connecticut-class battleships. Gun in preparation for proof firing, barrel at 40 degrees elevation. The first gun to be fired at the Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, Virginia, was this 7-inch caterpillar gun. Taken on a glass plate in October 1918. This gun is still (December 1963) on the station, though no longer used, it is a tourist attraction. Description: Catalog #: NH 70232
USS Minnesota (Battleship # 22) At the Philadelphia Navy Yard, circa 1919. Note that all of her 7-inch broadside guns have been removed. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 61215
The Connecticuts? They were used as training ships after scant WWI service and under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, they were all sold for scrap by 1924 and broken up– but their Mark 2 7/45″ guns were saved. Still sitting around at the opening stages of WWII, some (originally from USS New Hampshire) were mounted at Ft. Derussy at Pearl Harbor. Others went to the Azores and USVIs.
Then, eight were sent to Bora Bora, northwest of Tahiti in French Polynesia’s Society Islands just weeks after the war in the Pacific set off. Known as “Operation Bobcat” the Navy maintained a supply force of up to 7,000 men on the island for the duration of the war. The eight 7/45’s were set up in two, four-gun batteries overlooking strategic points around the island to protect it against potential Japanese attack.
Seabees placing a Navy 7”/45 Gun on a hill overlooking Teavanui Harbor, circa February 1942. The town of Vaitape is on the point of land at right. National Archives photograph, 80-G-K-1125 (Color).
Emplacing a Navy 7″/45 gun on a hilltop overlooking Teavanui Harbor, February 1942. Catalog #: 80-G-K-1119 Copyright Owner: National Archives
These guns never fired a shot in anger and the U.S. pulled out 2 June 1946, turning the airstrip (French Polynesia’s only international airport until 1960), new port facilities and guns over to the locals.
The century-old guns are still there and are a popular tourist attraction, now celebrating their 75th year on the island this month. A little of the Great White Fleet still on watch.
Hi. I volunteer for the US Navy History and Heritage Command (NHHC). I researching the 7 inch guns that were sent to Bora Bora as you discussed in your blog. I am trying to determine the specific source vessel for the guns that went to the sites in Bora Bora. With the pandemic my access to physical records such as at NARA is limited. Do you happen to have any source materials for the disposition of these guns? If so, anything you can provide me to address this question would be most appreciated.
Steve,
Great hearing from you.
Alas, I am not sure of any more than what I put into the article. Perhaps you could contact the U.S. Counsel there ( https://fj.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/u-s-consular-agency-french-polynesia/ ) and see if someone they have on the ground could get some good images of the markings on the breechblock and muzzle ring then compare them to the ordnance returns for the era they would have been installed on the ships. That would probably be the best bet.
Also, how do I vol for NHHC? I’ve been writing Warship Wednesday for like 7 yrs and have profiled 300+ vessels in that time, about half of which are USN, so I use NHHC’s/NARA’s catalog extensively and would love to contribute.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the tip about contacting the US Consulate. I will give it a try. In addition to the picture you posted on your blog I have been able to find some additional marking information online. Still much work to do 🙂
As for volunteering, I have volunteered for almost three years now and got started when I saw the article about how someone at NHHC found a historic record that was key to Paul Allen’s team’s discovery of the wreck of USS Indianapolis. I volunteer for the Underwater Archeology Branch of NHHC providing research support to the discovery and identification of the wrecks of ships, aircraft and submarines. Being retired it is something challenging and rewarding to do in my spare time. Until recently, I lived in the DC area and often visited NHHC at the Washington Navy Yard but now I live about 3 hours away and do all my research online using the same sources as you do and some others as well.
I would suggest starting by expressing your interest in volunteering to Dr. Bob Neyland who is the branch chief I volunteer for so feel free to mention my name when you reach out to him. You should be able to find his email on google but if not let me know and I can reach out to him and give him your email. Your experience and interests may be a better a fit to the History Division at NHHC but Bob can get you in touch with them if that ends up being the case.
Thanks again for your help and let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Steve
Thanks, Steve!
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