USS Missouri Gun Barrel Leaving Town
Gun barrel on its way to Cape Charles last year. (USFWS photo)
By SUSAN RICE
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
March 28, 2013
The USS Missouri gun barrel is leaving town, moving April 1 to the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge in Kiptopeke.
The barrel has sat in the Bay Coast Rail Yard in Cape Charles for the past year. It will depart the rail yard about 9:30 a.m. Monday and will take about two hours to travel the 12-mile route on Highway 13.
Once at the refuge, the barrel will be restored and put on permanent display.
The 16”/50 Caliber Mark VII gun barrel (#393) was on the USS Missouri at the time of the signing of the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945.
The barrel weighs 120 tons and is similar to the barrel which was in the bunker at the former Fort John Custis, now part of the Wildlife Refuge. [Read more…]
