Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: _Furious_ and _Iowa_ Was: Re: Battleship Nelson
Message-ID: <1990Aug15.032745.27552@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 15 Aug 90 03:27:45 GMT
References: <1990Jul25.004713.6986@cbnews.att.com> <1990Aug3.031249.20275@cbnews.att.com> <1990Aug9.015753.8169@cbnews.att.com>
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From: phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson)
In article <1990Aug9.015753.8169@cbnews.att.com> paul@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au (Paul Bailes) writes:
>
>	I think the Lions to be better value for money than the US Iowas:
>	these battlecruisers (only 12" belts!) surely would have been at risk
>	at close range - was the USN relying on their speed to keep far away?
>Paul Bailes

You and the old-line admirals of the 30's.  The _Iowa_ class violated a
cardinal rule of battleship design in that they had almost no immune
zone (23,600 to 27,400 yards) against their own weapons.  But they
really weren't designed to stand up against a battle line -- they were
planned to protect carriers from Japanese heavy cruisers and _Kongo_
class battlecruisers.

The belt, BTW, was sloped at 19 degrees, giving the effective protection
of 16" plate.

The contemporary _Montana_ (BB-67) class was designed to fill the traditional
battleship role.  The class was cancelled, largely in favor of the more
useful _Essex_-class carriers.

In at least one sense, it isn't possible to appraise the performance of
American battleship armor.  As far as I can tell, no U.S. battleship was
ever hit on her main armor by a large-caliber shell in combat.  Counter-
examples are welcome.

[mod.note: South Dakota was hit in the belt by two 8" shells, and in
#3 barbette by a 14" shell, off Guadalcanal on 14/15 November '42,
with no penetrations.  The 8's aren't really "large-caliber" in the sense
you mean, but the barbette would count as "main armor." - Bill ]

>[mod.note: Courageous, Glorious, and their sister, Furious (which carried 
>18" guns) were officially designated "large light cruisers." - Bill ]

If I remember correctly, _Furious_ was a "hermaphrodite" carrier for
a while, carrying both planes and one 18" gun.  Through the 20's and
30's,  when carriers were new, many U.S. vessels with half-length
flight decks and full heavy-cruiser armament were proposed but never
built.  The 8" batteries on the _Lexington_s were removed in early 1942
and never used in anger.

[mod.note: Lexington was sunk before receiving this coversion. - Bill ]
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