The 5"/38, coupled with the Mark 37 fire-control system, was the best heavy AA system of the war. G ENERAL COMMENTS: Iowa and SoDak have by far the best heavy AA suite of the seven. Vittorio Veneto fared slightly better, but also suffered from comparatively low rates of fire. King George V is hampered by the comparatively low rate of fire she experienced with her 5.25" guns. Richelieu also has a very powerful battery for her size. In her final configuration, and in a broadside engagment, she would be able to bring 8,563 lbs of ammunition/minute to bear, some 43% of it being very powerful, high-velocity 6.1" shells. It should also be noted that the reason I rate Yamato as highly as I do (despite her lower total throw weight) is because she has the best arcs of fire for her secondaries of any BB, due to her superfiring triple 6.1" turrets. Bismarck and Yamato now pull even in the overall rankings. The net effect is that Iowa's secondary, while still very potent, no longer dwarfs the competition. In effect, if the same amount of steel is in the air, 6" steel is better than 5" because its shells carry larger explosive charges, are more effective against light armor, and tend to have flatter trajectories, making it easier to range and hit the target. While I personally lean towards the belief that more shells is just a better thing, I can also understand those who argue that battleship secondaries must be able to hit and sink small ships before they can fire their own 4-5" weapons at you. In addition, in the Adjusted Rating I added 1 point to those ship's scores which carried at least some guns of near 6" caliber, because these guns generally have greater range, a more powerful shell, and therefore a greater ability to knock out small vessels such as destroyers. These include:Īdding in Bismarck's 105mm armament into the equations, where I hadn't beforeĭecreasing rates of fire, as best I could, to reflect achievable combat rates, rather than nominal test firing rates. G ENERAL COMMENTS: Since the first version of the page, I have re-run the numbers and made some adjustments. Best Battleship: Secondary Batteries Best Battleship: Secondary Batteries
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