[nolu chan]

#386 [nc] The "ship's men" needed arms to return fire expected from the shore batteries. Picture it in your mind and try not to snork coffee all over your keyboard.

#386 [#3Fan] Todays military ships do indeed have guns. What's so extraordinary about it?

What is extraordinary is your notion of issuing ship's guns to soldiers aboard ship.

Here is a look at a gun turret of the battleship, USS Iowa.

And here is a look at the guns. Try issuing one of these bad boys to a soldier and sending him up into the rigging. Now that would be an extraordinary sight.

Pictured is John Mullahy receiving the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the highest award given for heroism in a noncombat situation following an explosion April 19, 1989 which claimed 47 lives.

Here are some links on the Mullahy story. Prior to the Iowa incident he had received a kangaroo court-martial in Rota, Spain.

Mullahy Presidential Citation for Valor

Mullahy: The Unsung Hero of the USS Iowa Explosion

Mullahy Court-Martial Outrage

[#3Fan]

All I can do is repeat that military ships that travel close to shore do indeed have arms. Vikings, Vietnam, and the Spaniards all had arms.

This argument is moot anyway because it looks like there was no signed armistice. Link me to the signed armistice if it exists.

[Gianni]

Alas, the 16 inchers appear to be on their way out. Too bad, there's something very cool about a gun capable of sending something approximating a Volkswagon hurling 30,000 feet into the air and landing over the horizon.