Steve Crandell wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 12:19 am
I would always take an Atlanta against a Dido in the typical night brawls in the Pacific during WWII, where rate of fire would be more important than trajectory. Assuming of course that you don't have your own CAs shooting at you.
Naturally, all things being equal, it would be nice to have a 5"/54 over a 5"/38. Unfortunately the USN experienced some of the same problems with the 5"/54 as the British did with the 5.25"/50. With the weapons on the Midway class CVs, the ammunition was too heavy to handle quickly and the mounts were cramped. The result was the crews couldn't load as fast and they tired quickly. They tried to solve that with fully automatic gun loading systems that could load as fast as a 5"/38 crew, and those had problems with reliability. It took many years to develop a reliable mount, and now it's pretty much limited to surface gunnery and a relatively low rate of fire. Full circle.
Hi Steve,
Friedman touches upon the 5in/54 versus 5in/38 topic in his nook on US Cruisers. When the Montana Class BBS were cancelled, the 5in/54 under development as their secondary became "orphans" and, according to Friedman, some consideration was given to employing them aboard cruisers (IIRC, either for new construction or as replacement for existing 5in/38 batteries. The idea was, however, ultimately deemed not worth the effort.
In terms of
night surface actions, the 5in/54 arguably would not IMO have brought a much extra to the fight. Its principal attraction was a higher velocity round and, by implication, greater range. But higher velocity meant little, given that 5in was never intended as an AP caliber, and the extra range was of relatively little value, given that night engagement ranges were really dictated by the distance at which the controlling FC radar could detect fall of that caliber shot (MK4 FC could, for example detect 5in fall of shot out to about 10,000 yds).
Apart from that, you yourself made a good case regarding the weight and complexity costs involved in even getting the 5in/54's RoF up to existing 5in/38 levels.
FWIW.
Happy holidays!
B