Chapter 56

The Chief met them at the boat. "We can't do the Seawhiz. But we can do something else. Load up," he pointed at his personal jeep. They did. "My name is Sanchez. I've been in every branch of the service ... I like the Coast Guard best.

"When I was in the Marines I was a wrench on Cobra helicopters. It just so happens that the Marines have an air station here and they have several broken Cobras. During the Vietnam war, there was the production turret model that mounted twin guns, it could mount twin .30cal/7.62mm electric gatlings, twin 40mm belt fed grenade launchers or one of each.

"There was a test model that could mount a 4-barreled .50BMG gatling in one or both of those mounts but it was considered to be too heavy with the weight of the ammunition for the nose of the Cobra helicopter. I see no reason that it couldn't be mounted upside down on a ship, as a matter of fact it would be ideal for a small to medium ship for close in defense with the grenade launcher or close to medium/long range with the electric gatlings against surface or aerial targets, the .30's would be good for medium & the .50's for long range.

"A ship the size of yours could mount one in the bow & one in the stern or one on each side, the side mounts would probably be the best. The turrets could be fitted with interrupters to prevent it shooting at the mast & rigging.

"When I was serving in the 'Nam, I field modified a 2.5 ton truck with a turret from a crashed Cobra mounted just behind the cab, it was used as an anti-ambush vehicle. The belt fed grenade launchers and .30 gatlings were good out to 800-1000 meters, the .50 would be good for at least twice that range & far better for defense against aircraft.

"The tendency of the electric gatlings to overheat when fired continuously could easily be handled when mounted on a ship. It would be quite simple to fit the gatling barrel clusters with a water-cooling jacket with fins fitted to the barrels, when the barrels turned the fins would act as pump blades to pump the water through the system. There are plenty of coatings to prevent corrosion used by the Navy that would allow them to use seawater for the cooling.

"Frankly I'm amazed that the Navy never tried to use a similar system on their small patrol craft, especially the ones used for close inshore or brown water riverine warfare, it makes too much damn sense. The problem probably stemmed from inter service rivalry. The Marines always did get the Navy castoffs.

"Of course, this was before the real CIWIS came out and this would be an early test version that never went into full production. South Florida waters would have been a perfect testing ground for such a system since the area was still quite isolated back then.

"We would need to mount sensors all around any area of the ship the gunner would be expected to be standing to pick up the control signals from the helmet so the turrets could be aimed. You could even have twin circuits so there could be one gunner for each turret or a single gunner controlling both with an override. With one gunner if an aerial target was engaged coming from one side & crossing to the other as the first turret lost the ability to fire due to the safety interlocks the other turret would be able to pick up the slack after it crossed over the ship. Of course, if the attacking aircraft decided to start strafing from one end of the ship to the other than both turrets could engage at the same time." (Thanks Jake)

He pulled up to a secure area and spoke to the guard, "Yeah ... these is them. President's orders."

The gate slid open and Chief Sanchez drove in. It was a Cobra scrap yard. "These are surplus to the service. My orders can be interpreted as saying do what can be done to protect you folks." He chuckled, "How many do you want?"

"How much do they weigh?"

The chief walked over to a dismounted ball and picked it up with his hands. "The XM120 (Emerson TAT-140) chin mount isn't all that heavy. The twin 20mm mount we scrapped off the bow was heavier. The .50 BMG ammo is much lighter than the 20mm self-contained cartridges ... on the order of six .50 rounds to one 20mm. The 40mm grenades weigh about half as much as a 20 millimeter round. In the Cobra, the magazine is behind the mount with the feed through the center of the pivot. I have already envisioned the magazine as being centered under the mount feeding through the reinforced deck mount. We call it 'line of sight engineering.'

"If this were a fiberglass boat we couldn't do this ... but it is rather substantial and robust aluminum alloy ... who the hell built this boat?"

David said, "Glass in Manitowoc ... the last boat before the bank foreclosed last year."

"Who did the original military modifications?"

"You don't want to know," David replied.

"I know them guys."

"Then you know."

"Yup ... and I ain't saying."

Andrea followed this conversation like a tennis match. "So how big are the magazines?"

The Chief walked over to an aluminum case, "About this big." The case was a double row of .50 cal thick, two feet tall and four feet long. "About ten thousand rounds ... about. Still lighter than two thousand 20mm rounds."

Andrea said, "I can see that a turret on the foredeck would intrude heavily in the crew area. But one on each side of the salon wouldn't matter. What's the arc of fire?"

"Lady, you ask great questions, for a girl," said the Chief.

"Ooo, bad move Chief," said David. Jake nodded.

"Chief, you need to see something. Andrea ... would you fetch your rifle?"

"It's on the boat."

"Oh ... right. Chief? Can we continue this discussion over some Bahamian Rum ... the good stuff?"

"I think the ATF boys got it," suggested the Chief. "Illegally imported."

They were loading up in the jeep ... the conversation continued ... as much as a conversation can continue when talking to a crazy Chief Petty Officer ... who drove it like he stole it.