[Roundsworth]

Thank you for the kind words, Bruce. It was a real privilege to serve on Missouri, especially in Turret One. I was part of the re-commissioning crew and was a few months shy of de-commissioning her.
The entire ship was a real work of art, built by artisans in their respective trades. My turret was 2,030,000 pounds of rotating steel and handling equipment and extended to almost 5 decks below. The turret main structure ranged from 7 to 17 inches of hardened steel, welded and riveted together in sections. I could just imagine a welder, sitting for his/her entire shift, in one spot, welding two pieces of 9 inch thick armor together! That's a lot of welding rods.
The entire ship required lots of manpower, but it sure was worth it. When we were underway, my division worked until 1800 or 1900 almost every night. When the brow was dropped in a foreign port, though, we were the first ones to go ashore, much to the chagrin of our shipmates. Preparations for shooting were extensive. Post-fire cleanup was even more intense! The bore brush was a beast and we used a capstan to pull it through the barrels. Our Master Chief Boatswain's Mate had 42 years under his belt, and he could really chew some ass! He made sure we did not spill any solvent on his teakwood deck. Yes, I did my turn at the Holystone. There were quite a few acres of wood to stone.
Indeed, if I could have....I would have tried to do my entire 20+ years on Missouri!

Note the projectiles on the left of the photo. Those were 2700 pound BL&P projectiles with full service charges. All nine of the main guns, plus six of the 5" guns fired at the same time. It is spectacular. The ship printed thousands of that photo so each of us could have at least one copy.