Hamilton High School - Hamiltonian Yearbook (South Hamilton, MA)

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OUR The order of the day now is: Prepai ' e for Defense!” The total- itarian nations have sent their challenge for world domination to the democ- racies, and the United States must rise up and answer them. In order to do this we have had to pause in our plans for the future to see how our future can be preserved and made safe. Billions of our dollars have been appropriated to build ef- ficient weapons and mod- ern equipment for our armed forces. We realize that to win this struggle we must have the greatest Only by the most modern and efficient weapons can this be accomplish- ed, Modern xvarfare is a struggle between the productive powers of enemy nations and the complete mechanization of their armed forces. Perhaps the closest-to-hom e branch of the army to us is the Coast Artillery Corps. From Maine to Texas and from v a.shington to California, our nation ' s boundary is the ocean. It is the job of the Coast Artillery corps to see that this boundary is held firm a- gainst any possible attack. Tlie men in this division of the army are trained to prevent the l mding of enemy forces on our shores and to protect our coastal cities from bombardment. In case of air attacks, the Coast Artillery mans anti-aircraft guns to defend cit- ies and bridges and military establislinents . The 14-inch Coast Defense G-uns are the defenders of ourharbors. Because of their enormous size and weig ' ht, they are fixed in very solid emplacements, A lai-ge crew? of officers and men man these guns which are operated by elcctricjty. The shells are so hea.vy that e- lectric cranes are necessary to hoist tiiem into position. The shell is rammed into the barrel of the gun, and the propelling charge of powder is put behind it. This powder is in silk bags; the number of bags used depends upon the distance of the target. The shell is pointed and has an armor piercing cap of solid steel behind the point . Whan the shell strikes a battlehip, the point crumbles, the ajr mor piercing cao completely penetrates tie armor plates of the bat- tleship, and the shell explodes. As a rule, a shell from this foui» teen inch gun will penetrate fourteen inches of battleship a?mor plate in a direct hit at a range of twenty-four miles. The aiming of these guns is a very complex mathematical problem and is directed by trained experts with long experience.

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committee put in a good many hours and a great deal of hard work; but their efforts wore rewarded, for the auditorium was transformed into a veritable paper flower garden Everyone had a grand time while dancing to the music of Billy Stone’s orchestra. Wo wore all sorry to sec Walter Dodge leave in the spring to join the Navy At last wc entered our third year to be the high and mighty seniors I This year, wc missed David Greeley who had been our class president during our sophomore and junior years Dave had joined the Marines during the seimmcr vacation Wc elected the following class officors to serve throughout the year: President, James Armstrong; Vice-President, Dana Perkins; Secretary, Mary Dewar; Treasurer, Emily Wotson In the fall, v c posed for our class pictures and on the v hole they came out very well In order to improve the financial status of the class, a social and danco v;as held in the Auditorium on April 17 The hall was at tractivcly decorated with bright colored streamers. There were all sorts of favors given to those attending, and the dancers made plenty of noise with them Among the novelty dances during the evening were the Virginia Reel, a Shoe Dance, and John Paul Jones A large bag of sno 7 ball pompoms 7hich v as suspended in the middle of the hall v as opened by a pull rope and there v as a grand rush for those favors The refreshment committee served fruit-punch and cake at intermission. Wc all agreed that there hadn’t boon a better social in the school for a long time. The dance was a real success both socially and financially This year, v c arc going to have a full .Commencement ¥eek The week 7ill begin v ith a Baccalaureate Service on Sunday, June 14» On Monday, v c arc going to hold our Class Picnic; but, due to gas rationing, 7C have not deci ded v hcrc this will be held The class favors Canobic Lake; and, if transportation can be arranged, wc v;ill doubtless go there Class Day v ill be held on Wednesday at the school, at which time there v ill be contests of athletic sporty after 7hich the Class Will, History and Prophecy will be read. Thursday v e v ill graduate and Friday v ill bo our Reception. As the time for our graduation drav s near, wo think over our days in this school. Vife recall ' the g,j)od rimes v e have had at soc- ials, dances, assemblies, ,And,:: th; cti ' ' c games ; and v e realize that our years at H amilton High-have bcc vcry happy ones, C Stanley ’42 I

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The anti-aircraft gunc £H‘‘e tlirei -inch guns and have a range cf.. between thirty thousand and forty thousand feet. They fire ashrap- nel or high explosive shell which is timed to burst at or near the airplane. The burst of one cf these shells will wreck a bomber within a radius of one hundrec). and fifty feet. These guns are armed automatically by the Mechanical Range Finder and Computer; and they are capable of firing about twenty-five shells per minute as the breech blocks close automatically when the shells are inserted; and open automatically when the empty shells are ejected. The anti-air- craft gun can be transported from place to place very rapidly on their own mobile trailers and are set up on folding steel platforms in a few seconds .all ready to fire. The brains of the Coast Defense guns aere the Anti-AircraJ’t Range Finder and the Mechanical Range Computer called the Jui.e Box The Range Finder enables the spotters to determine the horizontal and vertical position of enemy airplane bombing formations. The telescope sights are focussed on the attncking planes; and by a sy- stem of triangula.tion, the height and horizontal positions rre de- termined, The results obtained on the Range Finder -are transferred to the Mechanica], Computer which •• ' .bsorbs all nhe information gathered from the range finders, the sound detectors, and; at night, the searchlights. In the irt ' sterhous parts os! its interior the computer works a problem of rapid calculation that is like na.giq and the result is the exact range, a-ltitude, speed, and dimensional position of on- coming planes. This is Cone In a few sooondEJ, and then 1he calcula- tions are electrically transmitted to the Automatic Fuse Timer and aiming dials on the anti-aircraft guns. The new Gai’ar.d ,50 caliber rifle l ill eventually replace the Springfield rifle ir our armed forces. It is semi-automatic which means that the soldier only has to oull the trigger for each shot and the gases from the burnt po ' -rdcr operate the mechanism. This mechanism ejects zhe empty shell, replaces a new cartridge in the barrel, and closes the breech ready for the next shot. This rifle weighs nine and one-half pounds The clip holds eight cartridges; this is three more than the Springfield rifle holds, VThen al l the cartridges are fired, the empty clip is autom.atically ejected and the soldier replaces it with a full one. In this way, an almost continuous fire can bo kept uo with from twenty to one hundred armed shots a minute. Also, the kick is less and many shots can be fired because the shoulder does not get sore or lame. The hand grenade or plneapr: lo is still very ■ effective be- cause it throws shrapnel with a terrific force when it explodes, A small trigger is held back by a pin; when the pin is removed, the trigger ignites a slow-burning fuse which sets off the high ex- plosive. The new method cf throwing the grenade is similar to the way a football is thrown. The sixty millimeter mortar is used for blasting enemy trenches and machine gun nests. It throws a three and a half pound shell loaded with high explosives a distance of nineteen hundred yards.