Zen and the Art of Parbuckling

As we continue on our mission to open more of Turret 1 to the public and to adjust our ballasting plan, we're learning lots of skills. Our latest?

Parbuckling.

It's the process used to slide a projectile around a shell deck inside a turret. When the ship was active, this process was used to store the projectiles and to move them into the lifts that sent them up to the gunhouses.

It's a fairly simple, straight-forward process, but it's more than a bit intimidating because you're working with objects that weigh 1,900 pounds.

The ship could carry around 1,200 projectiles. Every one of them would've had to have been parbuckled. It was TONS of work. (See what we did there?)


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For other video on Turret 3 rotating:
On deck (part 1):    • Turning Turret III After 30+ Years  
On deck (part 2):    • Turning Turret 3 After 30+ Years - Fr...  
Inside the rest of the turret:    • Inside A Rotating 16 Inch Gun Turret  
Starting the motor:    • How To Train Your Turret  
How we powered the motor:    • How To Power A 16" Gun Turret  
Watch the rollers that allow the turret to turn moving:    • Never Before Seen: 16" Gun Turret ROL...  
Bringing the projectile into the turret:
   • We Loaded A 16" Projectile Into Turre...  


Turning the turret was the result of months of hard work and research by our team, as well as input from Iowa Class battleship veterans. We make it look easy, but it's most definitely not.



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