From the April 11, 2012, Navy.Mil. "USS Arizona Gun Barrel Begins Trek to Arizona Capitol Museum after 63 years at Virginia Naval Base" by John J. Joyce.
The huge gun was lifted onto a trailer that departed Navy Support Facility Dahlgren on April 10, 2012.
The 14-inch gun will join a 16-inch one from the USS Missouri at a dedication expected to happen in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 7, 2012.
The Arizona gun, however, was not on the ship that fateful day. It had been removed to be relined before the attack came and was at Dahlgren the day of the event. It was on the Arizona from 1925 to 1938. It was later installed on the USS Nevada in 1942.
Between June 25, 1943, and August 26, 1944, it fired 224 rounds and was at D-Day.
In the 1950s, no longer having use for battleships, the Navy scrapped 38 of these barrels which were cit up and melted down. The Navy now plans to do the same with eight more of them, one of which was the Arizona's, but now it has a new home.
The barrel weighs in at 147,000 pounds.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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