"I Was The Last Person To Fire A Battleship’s Massive Guns" Topic

… These Warship Have Much To Teach Us

"What accounts for the lasting allure of Iowa-class battleships?

These are ships of war built in the 1940s to fight Axis enemies that no longer exist.

We are constantly told that the aircraft carrier doomed the battleship to obsolescence at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941…"

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Armand

Every word is true. A great article.

BBs and their guns were sexy in their day. Just like a buxom blonde WW2 pin-up girl, but their days were numbered when obsolete Swordfish set up the Bismarck for the kill not to mention Taranto or Pearl Harbor.

The Aegis ships are fast, agile greyhounds of the sea able to kill targets way beyond the horizon. The are sexy like a Ferrari or Maserati. To drive one is a Sailors' dream. I don't know how we get the public to fall in love with these and deadly SSNs, but they are the future and far more capable than those old Battlewagons.

OBTW, at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren we still have some of the big guns and use them for research. One of my buddies is one of the Navy's remaining experts on the 14, 16, & 18 inch BB guns. Everytime I am in his office he shows me his latest historical find from those glory days. Just last week we were using a 16" BB gun bore sight modified to fit in a little 57mm gun to align the target with a fixed gun.

Thanks

Armand