USS MULLINNIX DD-944

       MK70 System

Mullinnix was equiped with two MK70 Manual Control Systems.

The two (2) MK70 were manual fire control systems featuring lead computing gunsights that sat in tubs on both wings one level above the bridge and one level below the foward MK56 Director. FTG2 John McGurk remembers this area was known as the "Commodores" walk.

The electronics for the systems were in a space (below the messdecks - reached by a ladder from the portside of the messdecks) between main battery plot and the ship’s office. The entrance was thru a hatch on the forward side of the passageway. The system used a QK-400 magnetron.

These systems provided secondary control for the twin 3" 50 gun mounts. Other than in drills, it is unclear if the MK70 was ever used in action.

John McGurk’s GQ station was as the starboard system as the ‘director’ operator. The MK70 systems were still in place in 1961. Some early pictures of Mullinnix showed these systems under tarps to protect them against the elements (see picture at the right).











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