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To: Sir Napsalot

The argument for battleships is to bombard enemy beaches prior to landing. The possibility of landing troops on an opposed beach like they did at Tarawa or Iwo Jima is virtually zero, so the usefulness of the battleship is virtually zero as well.


35 posted on 01/06/2014 1:39:34 PM PST by Lower Deck
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To: Lower Deck
The argument for battleships is to bombard enemy beaches prior to landing. The possibility of landing troops on an opposed beach like they did at Tarawa or Iwo Jima is virtually zero, so the usefulness of the battleship is virtually zero as well.

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.

53 posted on 01/06/2014 1:56:53 PM PST by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: Lower Deck

The USS New Jersey was pretty effective in Vietnam and Beirut - and it wasn’t bombarding beaches in preparation for amphibious landings in either of those places.


67 posted on 01/06/2014 2:15:22 PM PST by WayneS (Respect the 2nd Amendment; Repeal the 16th (and 17th))
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To: Lower Deck

Actually I wondered this. What kind of effective fire support would Marines have when they take a beach? Would the Arleigh Burke’s 6 inch cannon be enough?


75 posted on 01/06/2014 2:40:06 PM PST by castlegreyskull
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To: Lower Deck

Well, there is also the scenario where everyone either spends all their whiz-bang gadgets and/or they’re fried by a bunch of EMP strikes, in which case he who has the most old school stuff would probably prevail.


88 posted on 01/06/2014 4:24:13 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
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