“Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room,”
My son graduated from the Naval Academy in 2013. His first duty was on the Spruance, at that time the newest destroyer in the fleet. I was on a family cruise where a demonstration of that 5-inch happened. Unbelievably powerful!
A week or two back, I saw where some Iranian vessel was violating the commands to stay clear of our vessels, so when our navy fired on it, they couldn’t hit it.
So many people thought it was incompetence on the part of the gun crews or design, but...most likely, they were firing shots to warn off a vessel. Those five inch guns can be pretty accurate.