Most heavily Armed ship during ww2.

[plan_D]

Don't forget the Alaska-Class Battlecruisers and Iowa-Class Battleships.

[mosquitoman]

If there weren't any planes in the vicinity (very unlikely I know ) I would take the Japanese monster battleships over anything else. 1 Carrier though would be able to reduce it to a smoking wreck before it ever got within range though

[evangilder]

The Musashi and the Yamato had some big guns! They were 18 inch guns!. The Missouri and other Iowa class ships had 16 inch guns, which were no small one either.

When the Musashi was hit during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea (Part of the Battle of the Leyte Gulf), she was hit by 17 bombs and 19 torpedoes! It still took another 4 hours for it to capsize and sink.

[plan_D]

The Iowa-Class BBs had better fire control systems though. I've also seen somewhere that the 16" on the Iowas' were more accurate.

I would take the Iowa-Class over the IJN big hitters, personally.

[trackend]

Yamato and her sister ship where indeed impressive vessels but there radar lagged well behind the western powers this in turn lost any effectiveness gained by the 18" guns I agree the Iowa were good vessels and indeed the fastest battleships every produced with a top speed of 32.5 kts as opposed to Yamatos 27kts or Bismarks 30.1 kts.
As a gun platform the Iowa class had only a couple of minor flaws with the necessity to navigate the Panama canal locks the beam of the vessels was kept too 108.2 ft (Bismark 118.1ft & Yamato 121.1ft) this made for a fast ship but also made them slightly less stable. Because of this loss of beam the bows had a relatively high for-peak to take the seas, this impeded the ability to use the forward turret when firing over the bow at closer ranges. but overall as you say D they where excellent and very beautiful ships. As for any battle-cruisers the concept was good but they invariably ended up being put against battleships, and they where not designed for this, so as with the Hood they lacked sufficient protection against large caliber shells. I am pleased that the US has kept at least one Battleship around as they represent an important period in world events also even though they could be sunk by later and more powerful weapons the sight of one of these incredible monsters unleashing a broadside is a mighty and impressive thing.
Image C/O navyveterans.com

[plan_D]

Just a small, tiny, correction about the Battlecruiser. It was always intended to go against any kind of ship, what it was never intended to do was to get into a slugging match with a Battleship.

The Battlecruiser should have been used as a powerful hit and run vessel. It's quite remarkable that the British invented the Battlecruiser and they also developed perfect tactics for them but time and again they forgot to read the manual! The Battle of Jutland and the sinking of H.M.S Hood are both times when the Royal Navy forgot that a Battlecruisers main defence is it's speed!

[trackend]

Hood had a top speed of 30kts D slower than Bismark so it was always going to be a slugging match. When the Battle cruiser was first designed I agree they where 10kts faster than the battleships of the day so as you say they could use speed to an advantage so I stand corrected MR D .At jutland they also stacked munitions in the corridors as they had over filled the magazines.Not a good idea

[plan_D]

The H.M.S Hood was set for a re-fit though, personally I don't believe she should have been sent out into the oceans until that was done but that is with the benefit of hindsight.

In Jutland, as in the Hood, the turrets were stacked with cordite, which happens to be against Royal Navy regulation both then and now. The gunners enjoyed a higher rate of fire though. The light armour of the Battlecruiser left it open to destruction in the slugging match of Jutland.

[trackend]

Im suprised D I didnt think the current navy had anything over 4.7" and they are auto fed fixed rounds.

[plan_D]

You mean with the regulations? I think they've updated it to encompass all weapons explosives on the ship, like missiles and such. You don't want the hanger to be full of missiles ready to be put on GR.7s, when the ship gets hit.

And I honestly think if someone got on the Ark Royal and started packing cordite around the inner workings of it, someone might say "What the hell are you doing?"

Unless it was the Ark Royals mascot, that African Grey, then it'd probably say "Show us yah tits" ...oh, I started rambling.

[evangilder]

Speaking of Iowa class, the picture below is on the USS Missouri during the surrender ceremonies in Tokyo Bay. The guy in the lower left, in the circle is my wife's cousin! When I found that out, I was amazed. Unfortunately, Teddy passed away before I met my wife. I would have loved to talk to him.

[BombTaxi]

I visited the USS North Carolina when I was out there visiting my uncle, and I was totally blown away by the scale of that thing! I've visited HMS Belfast and several modern RN vessels, and they're like tugboats compared to a USN BB Certainly the greatest concentration of firepower (barring CV's) that was ever set afloat!

[trackend]

Thats some pic Evan he must have felt very privaledged to see such an important moment in history.
Its a shame they couldnt have kept a Battleship from the UK fleet as a reminder. when the Belfast was proposed as maritime attraction I seem to remember the old Ironduke was still about (somewhere in the middleeast I think) it would have been nice to see her saved.

[Nonskimmer]

I saw the New Jersey up close, at Norfolk. What a monster! She wasn't berthed at the naval yard, she was tied up in the inner harbour, and I wasn't expecting to see this massive battleship when I rounded the corner.
And once again, the camera was at home.

[trackend]

There certainly an impressive symbol of sea power Skim I have a little 2 meg camera that I wear around my neck so If something crops up I can get a reasonable picture it's only 1" X 3"