| On
September 11, 2009, volunteers Garry Redmon and Jim Tucker along with restoration
specialist O.B. Edens and curator Charles Lemons continued work on Cobra
King. At one point, the debris collected on the previous day by Don Moriarty
was gone through, with notable artifacts separated from incidental debris.
It soon became evident that there were a lot of ruptured cases and loose
projectiles and after finding a starter tab from a cloth ammo belt, Charles
theorized that, based upon the ruptured casings and lead missing from the
projectiles, the ammunition must have been destroyed in a fire. After entering
the bow gunner's position and making a closer inspection, he discovered
charring and soot, obvious evidence of a fire. He also found more projectiles
and casings, one even wedged under the driver's instrument panel. What caused
the fire that cooked off the ammo is unknown, but it must have happened
close to the end of Cobra King's operational life since no one attempted
to clean out the ammo debris after the fire. The ammo fire and damage to
the right rear bogie area may have led her to becoming a parts tank. |
Artifacts from
the Cobra Kings belly is separated out from dirt and debris. Ruptured .30
cal. cases are in the top right of the photo while bullets are in the lower
left. |
Heavy soot and
charring on the interior of the side hull are evidence that a fire cooked
off the .30 cal. ammo. |
Looking forward
from bow gunner's seat at the charring on the right side of the hull wall. |
The storage
box that held the ammo cans |
Heavy charring
on lower hull side. Note soot covered label. |
O.B. Edens works
with a sander and fine sandpaper hoping to see if any of Cobra King's orginal
stenciling is still present. |
In the photo
on the left, he started to uncover the "G" in Cobra King's name.
In the photo on the right, a "G" has been superimposed to show
the approximate shape of the letter. |
Although it
is hard to see in this photo, volunteers Garry Redmon and Jim Tucker used
a powered wire wheel and removed remnants of paint and corrosion on the
75mm. |
Much of the
machined steel now shines after the last vestiges of paint have been removed.
The next step is to prime and paint the gun. |