5' Deck Guns Shot Down Airplanes

On the History Channel there was a documentary about the Mighty Mo. U.S.S. Missouri the last of the WWII Battleships of that class. U.S.S. 63

When it came to Kamikazie (sp?) pilots coming in low and suicidal it was stated that the only thing (of all the arament on her) that was effective was the 5 inch guns.

FLETCH.

That makes a lot of sense. When they are flying low there's much less open space to miss. Not to mention the fact that the AA guns may do their damage to take down the plane but that's no satisfaction if the darn thing slams into you anyway. The 5 inch guns would probably stop them in their tracks so to speak.

I've seen a picture of a kamikazee hitting the Mo on her starboard side during WWII. I also have a business aquaintence that was on her at the time.

Mitch

I have shot down several bombers with 15' guns

Remember (at least in the USN) the AAA shells by late war had tiny little radar sets in them, called proximity fuses, and they'd blow up into a kajillion pieces when they got close to the airplane. Before then, you had to guess how far away the plane would be when the shell got there, and set a timer fuse on the nose of the shell.

(This applies to the 3"and up shells (the proximity fuses were for 5" shells only IIRC) The 40mm and 20mm were set to go off at certain distances if they missed a direct hit.)

I have shot down several bombers with 15' guns

A 15' gun!!!

Wow how long is the barrel?

LOL..... just joking.

FLETCH.

I also took out a bomber with a 5" gun, but I only noticed after it happened. It was pure luck.

I read somewhere that at Guadalcanal a Japanese Betty bomber was shot down by an 8in shell, but I can't remember if it was by USS Quincey or HMAS Canberra.

Medium and large caliber guns were often and with great effect used in an AA role. The 5"/.38 cal guns that make up the secondary batteries on the South Dakota and Iowa class battleships in the US Navy (IIRC) could elevate up to 85 degrees and had special flak and AA shells to go along with their normal AP, HE and Starburst shells.

During WW2 there was a documented case of when Brittish torpedo biplanes attacked the Bismarck, on their flight away from it, the battlecruiser opened up with its 18" cannons in an attempt to take out the low flying planes with the water spout that would result from an HE shell striking water.

EDIT: My bad, the Bismark had 15" guns, not 18". I must have crossed it somewhere with the Yamoto's 18.2"

I take down planes with 5" all the time. Just select the plane on the tac and tell the 5" guns to take her down.

I got 4 (IIRC) bombers on LFN mission 11 last time I played.

(same thing worked in SHII v.1.0 )

Also, I remember something that I read about the Yamamoto (Hope I spelled that right ) packing some 18.1" shells with 20MM shells and seting to explode. IIRC, it didn't work too well.

yes Adam u did spell it right. i was wondering if any of u guys could point me in the right Direction on a great 3d program