Big guns

drmitchgibson · Apr 26, 2011

This isn't about guns that a man can hold. I was finishing a research paper on wasted money, and came upon an interesting tidbit. The Navy doesn't have battleships anymore. Seems weird. I guess gunboats are totally obsolete (?). The last one was retired in 2006.

benjamin-benjamin · Apr 26, 2011

that is weird i didn't know that... although i thought this thread was going to show jesse flexing his arms..

dennishoddy · Apr 26, 2011

Battle ships went out of vogue in WWII. All of the big Battleships were defeated by air power.
There was only one battleship that stayed in service until the Vietnam war.
The Battleship New Jersey.
It provided firepower for locations in coastal areas. With the on board fire control computers, and them running in heavy seas, it was amazing how accurate they could be.
We were 12 miles off the coast, and called for fire support. The Battle ship New Jersey responded with several salvo's of 16" guns. The shells weighed 1500 lbs, and they hit dead-on within 200 yds of our positions.
Now guided missile cruisers, carry 10X the fire power of the battleships. Technology continues.

DutchWrangler · Apr 26, 2011

Thought this thread was going to be about punt guns.

dennishoddy · Apr 27, 2011

I think they have one of those punt guns at the Davis gun museum in claremore. I wonder how far back the recoil would push that boat?

keyser328 · Apr 27, 2011

Even the new "rail" weaponry is staying on the smaller ships, isn't it? I'd heard about a "spinal rail weapons system" in the works, but was basically a giant rail gun running the length of the ship and fired Volkswagen sized solid projectiles out of the bow, but even those will be in the smaller, more maneuverable ships.

That is interesting, but makes sense. In today's technological landscape, small and fast is easy to couple with firepower.

Burk Cornelius · Apr 27, 2011

benjamin-benjamin said:
.. although i thought this thread was going to show jesse flexing his arms..

No, you're thinking about the $6.00 Gun Show thread

Glocktogo · May 1, 2011

I really think we should de-mothball one of the battleships and park it off the coast of Somalia. They may be obsolete for regular warfare, but they're perfect for that particular role.