Hms Vanguards 15 inch turrets!

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Nellie
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Hms Vanguards 15 inch turrets!

Post by Nellie »

I read that the 15 inch turrets mounted on Vanguard were those sitting on Courageous and Glorious in 1917. The 15 inch 42-cal/ Mark 1 gun at 20 degres elevation could only reach 26 700 yards (30 180 yards at 30 degres elevation on Hood, but this wasn´t the case with Courageous and Glorious i assume). On a ship launched in 1946 those performances was of course very bad so do anyone know what was made with these guns before putting them in Hms Vanguard.
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Gary
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Post by Gary »

Didnt Glorious and Courageous have single barreled 18 inchers?

I believe Vanguards turrets were spares intended for eventual use by Hood, QE's, R's Renown or Repulse
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Nellie
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Post by Nellie »

Hi! It was Hms Furious who had a single 18 inch gun, Courageous and Glorious became Carriers so thats wy their 15 inch guns could be used on Vanguard. Hms Furious had only a small flight deck when she entered service, thats why they still had place for one 18 inch gun on the aft of the ship, in the beginning Furious was supposed to have two 18 inch guns!
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Gary
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Post by Gary »

We are both correct.

The Turrets were originally on G & C they were then put into reserve for the R's and QE's etc.
They were then earmarked for Vanguard
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1Big Rich
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Post by 1Big Rich »

Vanguard's turrets, like those of Warspite, Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, and Renown, were raised to Mk 1*N standard. This increased elevation to 30 degrees, naturally yielding longer range. The R's, Malaya, Barham and Repulse carried turrets that were still at Mk 1 standard, with only 20 degrees elevation. Because of this, they were equipped with supercharges to increase range. Hood was equiped with Mk II turrets, which had 30 degrees elevation as built.

Vanguard was supposed to carry supercharges as well, but it is unclear if she ever did.

Further details can be found here:

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_15-42_mk1.htm

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Big Rich
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Re: Hms Vanguards 15 inch turrets!

Post by Tiornu »

A maximum gun range near 25,000 yards was common during the First World War. The French lagged behind the others and had to work their way up toward that figure.
In the RN, Hood was the first to have 30deg elevation, I believe. The monitors had 30deg by the time of WWII. Renown, Warspite, QE, and Valiant got the increase when modernized. Of the "R" class, it's possible that Resolution had her elevation increased c1942, but none others did. The ships still carrying 20deg mounts sometimes had an allotment of enlarged propellant charges, and the new 1938-lb shell also added a bit of range. Thus an unmodernized ship could reach as far as 29,930 yards. Vanguard had the new shells, of course, and she was specially equipped to handle the super-charges even though she had 30deg mounts. Thus she could fire as far as 37,870 yards, but usually her maximum range would be 33,550 yards.
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