I do not doubt the speed of the Enterprise to go over 50 knots. Thship itself is overpowered which is not a bad thing, considering that the fuel is actually in Navy terms unlimited.
The Iowa class was not falling apart on the job. The ship was just too expensive for what they do. Think about it, for bombardment, they could have reactivated the Des Moines class, with their rapid fire 8' turrets. Not as much power as the Iowa's 16" but they will do the job.
-------------------- Matrix If you say so If you want so Then do so
Registered: Jul 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
Hell, why not commission Japan to build a new Yamato-class battleship? 18.1" main guns and 16" thick waist armour. No wonder they retrofitted it into a spaceship...
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged
quote:Originally posted by Matrix: The Iowa class was not falling apart on the job. The ship was just too expensive for what they do. Think about it, for bombardment, they could have reactivated the Des Moines class, with their rapid fire 8' turrets. Not as much power as the Iowa's 16" but they will do the job.
Some people from tha warship1 forum said differently a while back. In any case, arty bombardment is pretty pointless today, with guided munitions. The psychological effects of those 16" guns are indisputible, but accurately eliminating the target is so much better. Does the Des Moines' guns even have close to the range of the Iowas? The Iraqi coast had extensive minefields, you really don't want to ge too close.
quote:Originally posted by Matrix: Consequently, the Yamato being made into a space battleship? Do they know that she is upside down and broken in half?
At at the time Super Mobile Battleship Yamato was made, no, I think they only discovered the wreck later on. I think the Musashi's in better shape, though, give her the refit.
[ May 09, 2002, 14:05: Message edited by: David Templar ]
-------------------- "God's in his heaven. All's right with the world."
Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged
quote:Does the Des Moines' guns even have close to the range of the Iowas?
Not really, according to www.warships1.com. A 16"/50 Mark 7 gun on the Iowa class with a 2700lbs AP round has an effective range of 42,345 yards, while the Des Moines' 8"/55RF Mark 16 gun with a 335lbs AP round only has an effective range of 30,050 yards. Considering an increase of over 12000 yards range, and 2435lbs of power behind the round I'd choose the Iowa as a shore bombardment platform any day. At least, if I didn't have other weapons systems like the Harpoon or Tomahawk.
-------------------- Bender: Well I don't have anything else planned for today, let's get drunk!
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Then again, if we are talking about 30-40-klick ranges, the high end doesn't remove the bombardment ship from the range of any shore defense systems, nor does the lower range bring any new shore defenses to play. If the intent is to bombard coastal defenses, then coastal artillery and light missiles can't respond to 30 klicks, but heavy missiles and anti-ship aircraft and torpedo boats will reach out to 40 klicks easily enough.
Bombarding deep inland targets isn't worth the trouble - if you can drive your ship so close to the shore, you can also land troops that carry their own artillery, or you can perform precision air strikes.
This with regard to reactivated old gun cruisers or battleships. A modern shore bombardment ship could in theory be designed so that it is more survivable than an air strike or an artillery landing attempt. I doubt anybody would want to do anything like that, though. The "arsenal ships" projected nowadays are all missile launching platforms, with an AA or anti-missile primary role instead of bombardment. And modern guns are designed for shore bombardment only in conditions where you already have *complete* superiority of the coastal waters, and could build a fixed Big Bertha on a cassoon there if you wanted!
posted
The friend I referenced in another thread regarding the aphorisms about the F-4 and F-14 regaled me with many other Navy anecdotes.
All this talk of offshore bombardment reminded me of one of them. He was stationed on the Roosevelt during Desert Storm as a Cryptotech, and he told me about the day bombardment began. One of the monitors in the suite was showing the targeting data the Missouri was using for her 16" guns. Nice peaceful downtown Baghdad street. A bread delivery truck was toodling along, when all of a sudden the street blows up in front of it. The truck screeches to a halt and starts reversing, only to have the street blow up behind it. By this point, the terrified driver's had quite enough, and he gets out and sprints out of view as the third shell takes out the truck itself.
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
18.1" main guns and 16" thick waist armour. No wonder they retrofitted it into a spaceship...
Printer-friendly view of this topic
