Perhaps this is “old information” for many seasoned sailors, but I’ll bet my badge that most arm-chair admirals do not know this:
When referring to the canvas - or later the rubberized canvas - that are affixed to the gun barrel on one end, and to - the turret opening for the gun on the other end - the purpose of those canvas (or rubberized canvas) appointments serve a very simple purpose.
That purpose is to exclude salt water from the sea, rain water from the sky and the constant exposure of the inner workings of the turret to humid, salt-air.
In truth and fact, those covers (or ‘joints’ if you prefer that term), were never actually referred to by “real Navy” and Coast Guard sailors - as what most uninformed ship modelers now seem to be calling or referring to those covers as “BLAST BAGS.”
Those covers are in reality, generally referred to as “bloomers” - refering back to the days when women wore long-legged underwear that was billowly and extra large under their dresses and were seen only when the winds did not behave or when they were climbing stairs.
Technicially, those joint covers between the turret-face and the gun barrel, are actually called “gaskets,” and thus provide the same benefits that any “gasket” in the civilian automotive world - or elsewhere in other civilian applications - would supply.
Well … we do know that, it’s just that in this age of hyper-political correctness, blast bags is less sexually charged and denigrating to females than calling them bloomers.
And if memory serves me right (it rarely does), the brass plugs inserted in the muzzle end are known as “Tampions” and believe me I had to look up the spelling on that one. I only mention this because I hear too many people call em Tompkins. Its like hearing someone pronounce the state of Illinois with the final S, its silent ya know.
I have to confess that “tompkins” is new to me. But “tampion” and “tompion” are both found in contemporary documents. The term, in the context of naval gunnery, goes back at least as far as the seventeenth century, at which time the English language was still in the process of adopting standardized spellings. The American Heritage Dictionary lists both spellings (with “tampion” first), and says the word can be traced back to Middle English.
It’s been many a year since I’ve been aboard a warship. I understand in TODAY’S Navy the search for a left handed swab handle, a check of the muffler bearings, etc. along with handing an FNG a can of brasso and a rag to polish "the navigator’s balls " is strictly verboten. Say it ain’t so fellas, say it ain’t so…