I've always been fascinated with the Super Yamato the Japanese were planning.
It would have had 6 20 in guns and numerous smaller guns of 6.1 in, 5 in, and AA.
How would it have fared against the Iowa?
South Dakota?
Or even the Montana class?!
The one with 12 16 in guns.
Super Yamato
Super Yamato
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- This is an artists interpretation of the Super Yamato
I think there would be 6 inch turrets above the main battery. - Design_A-150.jpg (28.99 KiB) Viewed 3207 times
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alecsandros
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Re: Super Yamato
It would have been sunk with all hands.
Japanese designs were awesome.
But Japanese construction (especialy of AP shells) and crew training were quite bad.
Radar and radar integration were absent or NOT up to date.
US fire control, shells, guns and human quality on the other hand were very good...
Japanese designs were awesome.
But Japanese construction (especialy of AP shells) and crew training were quite bad.
Radar and radar integration were absent or NOT up to date.
US fire control, shells, guns and human quality on the other hand were very good...
Re: Super Yamato
Yes, true, the US had great quality weapons and radar.
But wouldn't the armor be so thick that at least it would have had a considerably large immune zone against 16 in shells.
The armor would have been thicker than the Yamato, and could have had an 18 in. thick side belt.
But wouldn't the armor be so thick that at least it would have had a considerably large immune zone against 16 in shells.
The armor would have been thicker than the Yamato, and could have had an 18 in. thick side belt.
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alecsandros
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- Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 2:33 pm
- Location: Bucharest, Romania
Re: Super Yamato
Yes it would.
But it's not necessary to pierce the armor. First of all, the "soft" systems would be destroyed, such as rangefinders, possible radars, directors, etc. This will make accurate firing of the 20" guns much more difficult.
Then, it would be a matter of rate of fire: the US BB would pour shells at maximum rate of fire, which would destroy the parts of the ship that were un-armored, and cause flooding in the forward and aft compartments, as well as fires on the superstructures.
Maybe the ship wouldn't sink immediately; maybe it woudl take some hours; but the outcome would be pretty assured... IMO...
But it's not necessary to pierce the armor. First of all, the "soft" systems would be destroyed, such as rangefinders, possible radars, directors, etc. This will make accurate firing of the 20" guns much more difficult.
Then, it would be a matter of rate of fire: the US BB would pour shells at maximum rate of fire, which would destroy the parts of the ship that were un-armored, and cause flooding in the forward and aft compartments, as well as fires on the superstructures.
Maybe the ship wouldn't sink immediately; maybe it woudl take some hours; but the outcome would be pretty assured... IMO...
Re: Super Yamato
I'd also say the odds were against her but wouldn't put down her defeat as certain. Japanese training pre war for instance wasn't only not that bad in some respects it was better than US training (night fighting for instance). On the otherhand guns of this size can inflict significant blast damage on the ship carrying them and it might not show up in testing due to angles at which the guns are test fired.
Another problem is that when probabilites of pentration are being calcualted they don't take into account the effects of multiple hits and the damage inflicted by shock and impact of other rounds. They also often don't take into account things like edge effects and possible flaws in construction techniqes. Of course the latter apply to the US ships as well as the Japanese ones but penetration by 20" rounds is pretty likely in any case.
Another problem is that when probabilites of pentration are being calcualted they don't take into account the effects of multiple hits and the damage inflicted by shock and impact of other rounds. They also often don't take into account things like edge effects and possible flaws in construction techniqes. Of course the latter apply to the US ships as well as the Japanese ones but penetration by 20" rounds is pretty likely in any case.