Iowa-class Battleship Weapons Upgrade

Only the finest Cold War era munitions
#battleship #navy #usnavy #coldwar #ronaldreagan #militaryhistory #reagan #warship #sovietunion #history #warthunder #worldofwarships #ww2 #worldwar2 #ww2history

[JimmySailor]

There were proposals in the 50’s to convert battleships into partial helicopter carriers by removing the rear turret and fitting a flight deck/hanger. It actually would have been an interesting vessel. Enough armor to stay very close in shore and conduct helo ops. I imagine they would have proven very useful in Vietnam where NV light attack boats were a big enough threat to prevent the USN from risking ships close to shore. The loss of the rear turret wasn’t considered important because if your only using the guns for shore bombardment it’s unlikely that the coast will sneak up behind the ship.

[redgeneral]

**railguns invented**
Iowa-class battleships: "We are so back"

[kommandantgalileo]

Small correction: the Iowas only has 10 5"/38 turrets, they were twin turrets, so what they actually removed was 4 of the 10 turrets they had.

[randybentley]

If memory serves, they would have put more Phalanx mounts on the Iowa-class ships, but the recoil from the Mark 7s kept knocking the radars offline if they were within a certain radius; hence, only four mounts were used.

[gGc]

I love that our missiles have the manufacturer’s logos and names on them like NASCARS

[mikestanley]

My Grandfather took me to Bremerton in 1977 or 78. I got to see all 4 Iowa class battleships at one place and actually got a tour of Missouri . That's a lot of firepower in one place .

[darrenbaird]

Imagine if the CIWS was defending Pearl Harbour

[anosmia]

Getting shelled from 24 miles out at sea must've been crazy. You can't even see them that far out on the water

[andymina]

For any nation it would be their flagship, for the US it's a tourist attraction

[FishingWithSails]

My dad did aerial surveying in the 80s and got a beautiful picture of USS New Jersey in drydock at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, 1981-82, when they were refitting New Jersey with all this modern equipment. He has the picture framed above his desk at home. Such a badass shot.

[Bruva_Ayamhyt]

As soon as I heard "twelve thousand rounds per minute" I thought of the Heavy Weapons Guy.

[LOLHAMMER]

The battleships were reactivated for Tomahawk. One Iowa could carry as many TLAM as 4 cruisers at the time of introduction. They were deactivated because Spruance-class DDs started getting Mk. 41 VLS- one Spruance could carry as many TLAM as 2 battleships at 1/10 the operating cost

[lokikinch]

Very small correction, a "gatling gun" is specifically a hand cranked rotary machine gun, the CIWS is a rotary cannon :)

[writerseye]

When you can launch 9 Volkswagen beetles 24 miles, you tend to keep them.

[mgzuck]

Initial plan was to also carry some sea sparrow anti aircraft missiles - but the could not handle the over-pressure when the main guns were fired so couldn't be included.

[Marth]

A modern battleship would be a terrifying prospect to engage. Rocket assisted ammunition like we see on the Zimwald Class, Assortment of missile, gatling and even laser weaponry would be mounted. With automation to have a fraction of the crew complement.

At staggering cost yes, you'd have something other navies would steer clear of lest they be sunk.

[josephmikolaitis]

Ryan Szmanski just rolled his eyes and cracked his knuckles before saying “Ok time to do this way better.”

[bryanthompson]

So all 9 of the 16" Guns There's no upgrade for those guns.

[vincentmueller]

A couple of those surplus Bofors or Orlicons would sure look good on any ship off Somalia

[Nope_Nope]

You’re a star. Keep up the good work. 👍