Naval Gunnery Question

Greybriar · February 03, 2012, 02:14:55 PM

Quote from: Gusington on February 03, 2012, 02:02:05 PM
So I suppose the original author (over at SimHQ) was correct about the 15 inch guns.

I remember reading about 14", 15", and 16" guns, but I'm no authority. This site shows the armaments of some 20th century battleships.

Gusington · February 03, 2012, 02:17:31 PM

To Migs comment above, I'm sure there must be at least one navy somewhere in the world that still sports old school battleships. The Russians, perhaps? North Koreans? You know, a people that are not really known for talking softly and carrying big sticks but like a good display of force.

Staggerwing · February 03, 2012, 02:26:49 PM

AFAIK the only battleship technically still not decommissioned anywhere is the USS Arizona...and it's not quite mission ready ATM.

Gusington · February 03, 2012, 02:27:58 PM

What about the Black Sea Fleet? There has to be a 50 year old battleship or two embedded in there!

LongBlade · February 03, 2012, 02:35:30 PM

Quote from: Gusington on February 03, 2012, 02:27:58 PM
What about the Black Sea Fleet? There has to be a 50 year old battleship or two embedded in there!

I spent about five minutes Google/Binging for some info. Nothing immediately pops up. There is a thread on Ars Technica similar to ours with a link, but Mozilla thinks it is a hostile link so I chose not to pursue it.

The short answer seems to be no naval power worth a crap uses them any more. Brant thinks there may be a couple in service being used as training vessels, but you guys will have to put some effort into a search to find out more.

Gusington · February 03, 2012, 02:50:28 PM

Battleships are some of the coolest things ever built by man. Surely someone in some position of authority has at least one waiting for a revival.

mirth · February 03, 2012, 04:15:59 PM

I think we'd probably be closest of anyone. There's probably a remote possibility that we could put an Iowa back into action. I don't think anyone else has anything left. The Brits scrapped their battleships decades before we did. The Russians never really had any modern battleships and in the 70s-80s moved back to the 'battlecruiser' concept with the Kirov-class which were basically unarmored guided missile cruisers.

Gusington · February 03, 2012, 07:20:04 PM

^Were you a sailor?

mirth · February 05, 2012, 01:09:22 PM

Quote from: Gusington on February 03, 2012, 07:20:04 PM
^Were you a sailor?

No. Just a naval history buff. Took the ASVAB for the Navy when I was in college. They wanted to make a nuc. I kinda wished I had done it. My dad and grandad on my mom's side were both in the Navy.

Gusington · February 05, 2012, 02:31:49 PM

Most of my family in the military has been in the Army. I had one Grandfather who served as a weatherman on a destroyer in the Pacific in WWII but he died when I was very young. I'm sure he had some good stories.

mirth · February 05, 2012, 02:55:31 PM

I'll bet he did have some good stories, Gus. Especially if his destroyer was attached to Halsey's group during either of the typhoons.

My grandad worked on the groundcrew of blimps that patrolled in the Atlantic. It may not have been glamorous, but he did have some good stories. I was lucky enough to hear some of them over the years. He really opened up about his experiences in the last few years of his life. It meant a lot to me.

Gusington · February 05, 2012, 05:10:12 PM

^Wow that's cool. I've never met anyone who worked on the airships. The Grandfather I did know served throughout the entire war in North Africa, Sicily and Italy in the artillery and had tons of stories. Unfortunately he was badly traumatized and rarely if ever spoke about them. He saw a lot of friends die.

MIGMaster · February 06, 2012, 07:43:12 AM

I had two uncles in WW II. One served on a corvette doing escort duty out of Halifax and the other was in the infantry and wounded in Belgium. Neither ever talked about their experiences - it appeared that talking about their experiences was frowned upon ..... :(

Gusington · February 06, 2012, 10:48:32 AM

^Same with my Grandfather.

LongBlade · February 06, 2012, 12:08:29 PM

Quote from: MIGMaster on February 06, 2012, 07:43:12 AM
I had two uncles in WW II. One served on a corvette doing escort duty out of Halifax and the other was in the infantry and wounded in Belgium. Neither ever talked about their experiences - it appeared that talking about their experiences was frowned upon ..... :(

Well, to my thinking it's more about managing PTSD. Remember there were millions of these vets after the war. Hard to even guess how many had PTSD, but it wouldn't be surprising to think that a good portion of them did. The worst they could expect is some kind of Patton-esque ridicule, and the best they could get is a pass to head down to the VFW bar and drink it all away. No wonder these guys invented the three martini lunch. It was the only treatment they could get.