From: thornley@micro.cs.umn.edu (David H. Thornley)
Subject: Re: WWII: Why Japan didn't invade Hawaii
Organization: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, CSci dept.
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 19:32:35 GMT


From thornley@micro.cs.umn.edu (David H. Thornley)

In article <Bx5D40.JGz@law7.DaytonOH.NCR.COM> yngla@ida.liu.se (Yngve Larsson) writes:
>
>From yngla@ida.liu.se (Yngve Larsson)
>
>thornley@micro.cs.umn.edu (David H. Thornley) writes:
>
>>The Japanese had four 30-knot battleships, lightly armed and armored, four
>>25-knot ships that were reasonable in both, and two 25-knot ships that
>>were slightly better.  The U.S. had 3 battleships considered obsolete
>>(basically because they were no better armored than most of the Japanese
>>ships) and twelve that were pretty uniformly good, all capable of about 21
>>knots.
>
>Could someone list the U.S. battleship classes and their armament (main, 
>secondary and layout). I know the Iowa class is 2x3 16" forward, 1x3 16"
>aft and 5x2 5" each broadside (original layout).
>
U.S. battleship classes of WWII, with design full-load displacement, speed, 
and armor weights:
Arkansas, 26K/8K, 21kt, 12x12" guns in six twin turrets, two forward,
          two amidships, two aft.
New York (2), 27K/9K, 21kt, 10x14" guns in five twin turrets, two forward,
              one amidships, two aft.
The above three ships were considered obsolete.
Nevada (2), 27.5K/11K, 21kt, 10x14" guns in two twin and two triple turrets,
            one of each forward and aft, twin turrets superfiring the triple.
Pennsylvania (2), 31.4K/12K, 21kt, 12x14" guns in four triple turrets, two
                  forward and two aft.
Mississippi (3), 32K/12K, 22kt, guns as above.
Tennessee (2), pretty much as above
Colorado (3), much as above but twin turrets with 16" guns.
Washington (2), 45K/15K, 27kt, 9x16" guns in three triple turrets, two
                forward and two aft.
South Dakota (4), 43K/14K, otherwise as above
Iowa (4), 57K/18K, 33kt, otherwise as above
Alaska (2), 34K/10K, 33kt, 9x12" guns arranged as above.

The older battleships generally had eight 5" anti-aircraft guns and a varying
number (12 is typical) of longer-barrelled 5" guns for use against surface
ships; the battleships from Washington on mostly had twenty medium-length
dual-purpose 5" guns.  The older battleships would frequently get sixteen
of these if thoroughly remodelled.

>I also seems to remember that U.S. battleship classes differed in main
>armament, e.g. 14", short 16" and long 16". Could someone shead light on
>this?
>
Battleships classes with main gun caliber, length in calibers, range in
kilometers, shell weight in kilograms (note that rate of fire depends more
on fire control than the actual guns, and isn't a significant differentiating
factor):
Arkansas, 12"/L50, 25km, 394kg.
New York-Pennsylvania, 14"/L45, 30km, 635kg.
Idaho-Tennessee, 14"/L50, 31.5km, 635kg.
Colorado, 16"/L45, 31km, 952kg.
North Carolina-South Dakota, 16"/L45, 37km, 1224kg.
Iowa, 16"/L50, 39km, 1224kg.
Alaska, 12"/L50, 34km, 500kg.

The most significant difference in the 16" guns is actually light vs.
heavy shell, not short vs. long.  (I use this as a check of naval wargames,
by the way - any that list Colorado and North Carolina with one type of
gun and Iowa with another fail miserably.)

>Also, what about the Japanese BBs?
>
Kongo (4), 27.5K/6.5K, 30kt, 8x14" guns in four twin turrets, two forward
           and two aft.
Fuso (2), 30.6K/8.5K, 25kt, 12x14" guns in six twin turrets, two forward, two
          amidships, and two aft.
Ise (2), 31.5K/9.5K, otherwise as above.
Nagato (2), 34K/10.5K, 25kt, 8x16" guns in four twin turrets, two forward and
            two aft.
Yamato (2), 70K/23K, 28kt, 9x18" guns in three triple turrets, two forward
            and one aft.

14"/L45, 38km, 675kg.
16"/L45, 42km, 993kg.
18.1"/L45, 44km, 1460kg.

 
DHT


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