From the interview with Walter Carroll of Everett, WA conducted by phone by Carter Huth on May 11, 2004 from the Fort Worden History Center.  Mr. Carroll served in the US Air Force in World War II. As a student at Snohomish, WA High School, he was a member of the National Guard.  He came to Fort Worden for two weeks every summer for training.  Here he tells about firing the disappearing guns of Battery C:

“We stayed up on top of the hill in tents. We learned to use those disappearing guns.  They were five-inch guns, and they were about 20 feet long.  I used to heave shots.  This missile weighed about 100 pounds and I’d kick the missile and throw it into the breech and the powder would come in behind me.   They’d shove the big white powder bag that held probably 15 or 20 pounds of powder right in, then they’d slam the breech. They’d get their coordinates on the telephones and fire.  We used to fire at a target being towed by a tugboat out in the bay. By golly, we knocked them out of the water.  We competed with Battery A from Mount Vernon.  That was a lot of fun, I enjoyed that.”