My thanks to reader Dave S. for sending me the link to this video clip of the Iowa class battleship USS Missouri firing her 16" Mk. 7 cannon while en route to take part in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1991. The video was taken from the cruiser USS Princeton.
All four Iowa class battleships have now been retired. We shan't see their like again . . .
Peter
There isn't any ship afloat as pretty or as deadly as an Iowa class Battleship!
ReplyDeleteRather elegant, isn't she?
ReplyDeleteSemper Fi'
DM
Was hoping for a broadside!
ReplyDeleteMaybe not as pretty, but as deadly?
ReplyDeleteSorry, but a single Ohio class SSBN can produce more destruction from just one of those 24 Trident D5 missiles than all of the 16" projectiles ever made put together.
There's a reason the Navy's of the world no longer operate the big gun battleships. BB's are very cool, very pretty, and very destructive - to a point. But they are also very expensive to both crew and maintain and they are much more vulnerable to modern weapons then they were in their heyday. You get a lot more bang-for-a-buck in other platforms.
Hey, the ships-o-the-line from Nelson's day were also very pretty and very deadly. But their day has also past.
I'm glad we can still see both in museums.
Will we ever see big gun ships again?
ReplyDeleteMaybe.
As the USN develops rail guns, one of the unintended consequences will be the elimination of air planes and missiles from combat. A C fractional projectile, even if it is the size of a BB, can eliminate just about any modern aircraft, missile, or satellite. If an unarmored target comes above the horizon, it will die.
Taking a cue from David Drake’s “Surface Action”, the big guns will come back.