Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!texsun!sun-barr!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: welty@algol.crd.ge.com (richard welty) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: USS Iowa explosion Message-ID: <6499@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 12 May 89 02:47:30 GMT References: <6272@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: New York State Institute for Sebastian Cabot Studies Lines: 73 Approved: military@att.att.com From: welty@algol.crd.ge.com (richard welty) From: rti.uucp!duncan@rti.rti.org (Stephen Duncan) *In article <6272@cbnews.ATT.COM> maniac%garnet.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George W. Herbert) writes: *[ reply to someone else deleted] *> Feasible, yes. How much do you want to modify? If we pull the barbette *> down to the old powder magazine, we have space for a pair of 61-cell *> VLS (Mk-41, see Janes wpn systems.) *>...The result would be space for ~100 SM-2's assumin some other *> missiles in use. *> (maybe that's too high. $50m?) Vertical Launch Asroc could be fitted, *> providing lots'o ASW. Would it be worth it? mmm. Why not spend the *> money on a DDG-51? well, refit might be cheaper. I dunnow. Comments? ok, but why do you want to turn your shore-bombardment system into an AA or AS system? that's what escorts are for, after all. *To replace the bombardment capabilities, the 203mm upgrade to the 127/54s *could be resurrected, replacing the twin 127/35s currently left. At *20 rounds per minute, 3 of these could approximate the 3 406mm lost. i shouldn't think so -- rate of fire is not a substitute for the heavy caliber shells in this case. remember, the Iowas were ressurected because in both Korea and Vietnam, the 16" guns showed a clear ability to handle targets that were beyond the capabilities of both land-based artillery and tactical air. Earthen field fortifications that withstood weeks of tac air strikes couldn't hold up under a couple of 16" HE shells. *[mod.note: Beat me to it ! The MRL is my pet suggestion for a potential *refit; seems to me it would have excellent magazine capacity belowdecks *(#2 turret, being a deck higher, should have the largest magazines on *the ship), and this adds extra capability for the support of a landing, *the battleships' primary mission. - Bill ] some magazine & projectile stowage trivia on the Iowas: Turret I 120 projectiles may be stowed on the outer (stationary) ring of the upper projectile flat 126 on the outer (stationary) ring of the lower projectile flat 72 on both the upper and lower inner rings (these rings rotate with the gun house) other nooks and crannies lead to a total of 390 Turret II 70 on upper/outer 125 on lower/outer 72 on both inner rings 121 fixed stowage on the third level other nooks and crannies lead to a total of 460 Turret III 100 upper/outer 126 lower/outer 72 each inner other nooks and crannies lead to a total of 370 the powder is stored in the magazines outside of the turret structure; there not enough magazine space to match the number of shells that the turrets can handle (during construction, some magazine space was diverted to usages such as the new CICs) richard -- -- richard welty welty@algol.crd.ge.com 518-387-6346, GE R&D, K1-5C39, Niskayuna, New York ``Every time I see an Alfa Romeo pass by, I raise my hat'' -- Henry Ford