USS Iowa firing all of its 16-inchers. A fantastic spectacle but anachronistic in 21st century warfare. (US Navy Photo) Posted on 01/06/2014 1:08:10 PM PST by Sir Napsalot
USS Iowa firing all of its 16-inchers. A fantastic spectacle but anachronistic in 21st century warfare. (US Navy Photo)
Those who cover the militarized aspects of the ocean eventually will encounter a group of people who want the U.S. Navy to get back into the battleship business.
The argument goes like this: The four remaining World War II Iowa-class battleships are cheaper to operate, cheaper than building new ships, and provide powerful and much-needed weapons (giant 16-inch guns—that’s the diameter of the shell, not the length of the barrel) to the U.S. arsenal. (The 2012 summer movie spectacular Battleship may have reinvigorated some of the calls to reactivate the big ships following the glorious montage of the USS Missouri coming to life to fight maritime aliens).
Before killing the buzz of why bringing back the Iowa-class ships doesn’t make sense, let’s take a quick history tangent.
The modern armored ship entered popular American culture with the 1862 ironclad battle between the Union’s USS Monitor and the Confederacy’s CSS Virginia (often referred to by its Union moniker Merrimack).
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
That must have been incredible!!! What were the firing ranges? Any pics of it you could put up, I bet every FReeper would love ‘em!
Great Thinking!
We need more of those (surrenders).
What? Are we going to rent it to the Taliban?
With Bammy-in-Charge, the Al Qaeda jihadis too.
There was no battleship in the Falklands War. You really in Vt? I lived in Bratt for 13 years.
Today, we need more timely articles like "The Rise and Fall of the Fighter Jet, "The Rise and Fall of the Aircraft Carrier", or "The Rise and Fall of the Tank" that point out the degree to which we are still overspending on the tools of yesterday's wars.
On an EMF closed battlefield where electronics are toasted, old school whips ass!
It'd be a start.
If China gets a blue water navy and engages U.S. interests with it - it will be a submarine/air/space to surface engagement and the Chicoms will no longer have a blue water navy. It would make them feel good to be “just as strong” at sea than those nations that would “hold them down/back”. We need psychologists more than military strategists to deal with them.
Rail guns may lead to new vessels that carry guns as their primary weapons.
If missile and missile-defense developments are such that they cannot be stopped then armored ships will return.
If missile-defense developments are such that they missiles are totally ineffective, then direct fire may return as a primary attack weapon.
Those would not bring back the BB-61s, but they might lead to the development of new battleships.
The rise and fall of the Musket; The rise and fall of the Cavalry; the rise and fall of the Lance; the rise and fall of the Ship of the Line; etc.
Firing range was from 20 miles out so there wasn’t anything to see other than the splashing near the target. Those guns were still quite loud across the water from 20 miles away.
The targets we towed at different distances from our ship depending on what was practicing. Planes fired about 300-500 yards off our fantail, ships about 2 miles.
Iowa’s bearing was off once so bad that they were landing 16” shells about 150 yards from our ship. I promise there was never a Captain run quicker to the bridge when that happened.
While I love seeing gigantic cannons blast they are outdated.
With rocket and gps technology we can deliver accurate fire from further and further ranges than any battleship could ever hope.
Over the horizon, hundreds, thousands of miles away. Better from half a world away.
Take that Allah worshippers and we’ll station armed drones over you day and night as well.
I say we repurpose the ships for today world or keep them for the kewel factor.
Apparently, the brand-new Zumwalt and the remaining DDs of its class are similarly useless, since that's their primary mission. At least the battleships might survive a counter-attack.
Experimental sub-caliber sabot rounds fired from the 16" guns were evaluated prior to the ships returning to mothballs. IIRC, they added nearly 100 miles to the guns' effective range.
So long as it didn’t leak it pretty much stopped water...
/S
Wow!
Article says four Iowa class ships, there were 6, only four completed.
“Crossing the T” only makes sense if the opposing Navy is utilizing “Line Ahead” tactical formation. Nobody does that anymore. Battle Groups are dispersed over a wide area. Even in the Age of Sail a smart commander (Nelson at the Nile & Nelson again at Trafalgar) could violate the expected tactical arrangement and win a stunning victory.
Anyhow, Surigao was a satisfying victory for the old Battleships that were raised from the mud of Pearl Harbor. They got to perform their principal design task — knocking the stuffing out of a line of opposing Battleships & Heavy Cruisers.
Unfortunately, the Iowa can’t do that any more.
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