Inittialy, I got them from ISSUU. Unknow if they continued avaiable
Interesting, though the part of me that named my account is a bit salty about the Big E going down.
I wonder how the USN's carrier force of today would look like if the America and JFK had been nuclear powered as originally intended and the FDR given a refit instead of an early retirement. We'd probably still have 12 carriers around and Constellation probably would have been the carrier used in the SINKEX that historically used America
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Kamikaze 1946, Issue No.2 (kinda "broken" for been two pages, but you get the idea)
Luftwaffe 1946, Issue No.2
1: What is that 3x3 ship on the left? A Scharnhost? Another class of ship?
2: They built an entire Super Battleship/Carrier as bait? That seems like a waste of steel, engines, manpower (builders who were executed and crew) and fuel.
1: In the "X Fleet", the vessels present are the following:
Japanese BB Kii
German BB Friedrich der Grosse + Jean Bart*
German Hybrid Clemenceau*
Japanese cruiser Shin Atago
German cruiser Graf Spee**
2: I kinda can't explain everything, since literally, every nations seens to have unlimited resources (check some of the crazy aircraft I've posted as well: Air and Space Photos from Alternate Worlds.)
* Yes, those are French Battleships - After the surrender of France, there was a CEASEFIRE between the British (with Halifax as PM) and the Axis, that only restarted after Pearl Harbor (on 30 of November), and Germany might have recalled the Jean Bart and started contruction of Clemenceau
** This is the "Pocket Battleship" Graf Spee, instead of hunting lone ships and been scuttled in Uruguay, it was instead send to its current position
McPherson
Banned
This is something that students of Pre-dreadnoughts should consider.
Forensic Study of BOUVET Capsizing
Summary: the Bouvet's botched design problem was not restricted to her, or to the Marine National; or to the French naval architects; or to battleships in general or even to the 1890s.
There is a hint here...
New Requirements for DDG-1000 Focus on Surface Strike ...
The thing is ... "lessons learned" are not always "lessons learned".
McP.
Forensic Study of BOUVET Capsizing
Summary: the Bouvet's botched design problem was not restricted to her, or to the Marine National; or to the French naval architects; or to battleships in general or even to the 1890s.
There is a hint here...
New Requirements for DDG-1000 Focus on Surface Strike ...
The thing is ... "lessons learned" are not always "lessons learned".
McP.
At a million dollars per round, there's no wallet that can sustain that gun... so now the ship is a glorified missile barge...This is something that students of Pre-dreadnoughts should consider.
Forensic Study of BOUVET Capsizing
Summary: the Bouvet's botched design problem was not restricted to her, or to the Marine National; or to the French naval architects; or to battleships in general or even to the 1890s.
There is a hint here...
New Requirements for DDG-1000 Focus on Surface Strike ...
The thing is ... "lessons learned" are not always "lessons learned".
McP.
True but this ship was pretty much built specifically for those two 155mm guns and their ammo. Without them, it's just a missile carrier, inferior to any other ship of the USN, since it can't provide terminal guidance for the long range SAMs it carries.
Not quite true, as the gun is used in combat frequently, due to the changed geopolitical situation since the fall of the Communist block. Modern naval warfare is now mostly focused on dealing with unequal opposing forces, meaning a modern combatant has to deal with rather primitive targets at sea, such as fast motorboats and small fishing vessels most of the time, not worth using expensive weapons like guided missiles to deal with. Most naval combat in this 21st century is like what is happening right now in the Perisan Gulf region and Arabian Sea, where small fast attack boats armed with machineguns only are threatening commercial shipping. To deal with this sort of enemies, the naval gun comes into play, especially the smaller type with faster rate of fire, if present.
McPherson
Banned
Close.
The lesson learned not lesson learned is "tumble home" and why that is a bad idea... especially for floating launch platforms. And I will add, since; "the missile barge" relies for off platform target assignment and guidance support to its birds, the conjecture that...
is not correct.
If one knows how Pershing II worked in the 1980s, (Yes, that far back.) then one can understand how the "missile barge" is supposed to work.
Not exactly a AAM platform. It is more a replacement for the traditional strike cruiser.
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The ships do not carry the terminal guidance radars used by the USN, the AN/SPG-62. instead, the SPY-3 is being/going to be modified to do this. But the normal SM-2 and ESSM cannot receive from the SPY-3, so the missiles have to be modifed specifically to work on the Zulwalts... all of which increases the cost...
McPherson
Banned
It is a launch platform.
The missiles are steered OFF PLATFORM into "drop baskets". Once they reach the basket, they turn on onboard signal propagator devices and chase the echo returns until they either proximity fuse off or hit to kill. Whether anti-ship, anti-installation, or anti-air threat the same kind of off platform guidance to a drop basket is used, and then comes the active terminal onboard signal propagation/chase to merge a moving target. Installations are GPS or INS kills. The merge problem is solved in the weapon. It has to be solved in the weapon. The launch platform has the curvature of the earth between the target and it.
This is not just the Zumwalt, it is everybody's solution to over the horizon engagement. About the only direct look, direct guide, direct shoot, direct steer to merge that is left is in the ABM role. And even there the architecture is "basket" and then active terminal guidance in the weapon/effector to merge the target.
RamscoopRaider
Donor
Inferior...except for them being the stealthiest ships the USN has, being the only surface combatants with a proper margin for growth, having the best habitability in the fleet, being the only Mark 57 VLS carriers and having the highest power generating capacity short of a CVN
They were not built specifically for the 155mm guns, the earliest design phases had 127mm guns, with a vertical gun added later, and the 155mm coming late in the design process
Honestly the biggest mistake with them, after the decision to throw everything advanced into right from the beginning, was the decision not to shove the electronics from a Burke into their hulls and using them as the basis for future destroyers instead of restarting Burke production
Just an Idea I put into words:
HMS Leopard-quick summary
Laid down in 1912 and completed in December of 1915, HMS Leopard was essentially a scaled up version of her cousin, Tiger, but armed with newer model 6” guns, as well as eight 15” weapons. Leopard displaced some 31,500 tons normal, and was slightly better protected than Tiger. Completed too early for small tube boilers, she nevertheless could steam at 28 knots, as she displayed at Jutland, where her 15” shells claimed the battle cruiser Seydlitz despite her crew’s inexperience and poor shooting. Retained after the Washington Naval treaty in exchange for scrapping the battleship Benbow, she also survived the second interwar treaty, at the expense of HMS Ramilies. In September 1939, she was still recognizable as the battle cruiser from 1915. Eight 4” guns, a pair of octuple pom-poms, and a dozen .5” machine guns were the only armament changes, while newer fire control, bulges, a seaplane, and better flash protection were the only other improvements. She hunted raiders, using her top speed, now just 26.5 knots, to stay in range of the cruiser Deutschland long enough to cripple her with gunfire and close the range. The battle cruiser continued raider hunting until May, 1940, when she was attached to Force H to counter the Regia Marina, just in case. When France surrendered, Leopard joined the rest of the squadron in attacking the fleet in Mers-El Kebir, and together with Hood, forced the fleeing Strasbourg to beach herself. Leopard spent the next year and a half operating with Force H, covering Malta convoys, and once facing Italian battleships, which withdrew when she and Renown pressed them. Leopard was in dry dock when Ark Royal launched her famous attack on Bismarck, however. With the threat of Japan attacking Far Eastern colonies, she was sent with Repulse and Prince of Wales to Singapore, but lost a propeller blade shortly after departing from Ceylon and had to turn back. During this time a minor refit was given to her aging engines, as Leopard was down to 24 knots, barely battleship speed. She was rushed through the refit, and completed it in time to cover convoys withdrawing from the Far East, before joining Somerville’s fast squadron of carriers to operate against the Kido Butai, which was on its way to attack British bases in India. The carriers, now free to operate at faster due to not having to steam with old battleships, successfully launched a night attack which crippled Kaga with torpedoes, forcing the Japanese to withdraw. Leopard was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean to assist in running more convoys, before rejoining Force H to cover Operation Torch. She was then sent home to help contain the German units in Norway, which she did into 1943, however the old ship was beginning to show her age, and it was decided she was best suited for bombardment duties due to her lack of armor and deteriorating speed. She supported the Allied landings in Sicily and Italy, and was slightly damaged by a 500 pound bomb. After repairs, she escorted a carrier strike on Tirpitz, holed up in her fjord, then joined Operation Overlord, pouring shells into German positions, before being laid up in August of 1944, and decommissioned in May, 1945. The old ship was scrapped by mid-1946, having more than paid off for the effort needed to build her.
HMS Leopard-quick summary
Laid down in 1912 and completed in December of 1915, HMS Leopard was essentially a scaled up version of her cousin, Tiger, but armed with newer model 6” guns, as well as eight 15” weapons. Leopard displaced some 31,500 tons normal, and was slightly better protected than Tiger. Completed too early for small tube boilers, she nevertheless could steam at 28 knots, as she displayed at Jutland, where her 15” shells claimed the battle cruiser Seydlitz despite her crew’s inexperience and poor shooting. Retained after the Washington Naval treaty in exchange for scrapping the battleship Benbow, she also survived the second interwar treaty, at the expense of HMS Ramilies. In September 1939, she was still recognizable as the battle cruiser from 1915. Eight 4” guns, a pair of octuple pom-poms, and a dozen .5” machine guns were the only armament changes, while newer fire control, bulges, a seaplane, and better flash protection were the only other improvements. She hunted raiders, using her top speed, now just 26.5 knots, to stay in range of the cruiser Deutschland long enough to cripple her with gunfire and close the range. The battle cruiser continued raider hunting until May, 1940, when she was attached to Force H to counter the Regia Marina, just in case. When France surrendered, Leopard joined the rest of the squadron in attacking the fleet in Mers-El Kebir, and together with Hood, forced the fleeing Strasbourg to beach herself. Leopard spent the next year and a half operating with Force H, covering Malta convoys, and once facing Italian battleships, which withdrew when she and Renown pressed them. Leopard was in dry dock when Ark Royal launched her famous attack on Bismarck, however. With the threat of Japan attacking Far Eastern colonies, she was sent with Repulse and Prince of Wales to Singapore, but lost a propeller blade shortly after departing from Ceylon and had to turn back. During this time a minor refit was given to her aging engines, as Leopard was down to 24 knots, barely battleship speed. She was rushed through the refit, and completed it in time to cover convoys withdrawing from the Far East, before joining Somerville’s fast squadron of carriers to operate against the Kido Butai, which was on its way to attack British bases in India. The carriers, now free to operate at faster due to not having to steam with old battleships, successfully launched a night attack which crippled Kaga with torpedoes, forcing the Japanese to withdraw. Leopard was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean to assist in running more convoys, before rejoining Force H to cover Operation Torch. She was then sent home to help contain the German units in Norway, which she did into 1943, however the old ship was beginning to show her age, and it was decided she was best suited for bombardment duties due to her lack of armor and deteriorating speed. She supported the Allied landings in Sicily and Italy, and was slightly damaged by a 500 pound bomb. After repairs, she escorted a carrier strike on Tirpitz, holed up in her fjord, then joined Operation Overlord, pouring shells into German positions, before being laid up in August of 1944, and decommissioned in May, 1945. The old ship was scrapped by mid-1946, having more than paid off for the effort needed to build her.
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To be fair....that is the cost per round established by taking the total development cost of the ammo and the limited production run for the 2 ships so far armed with the weapon system divided by the number of shells produced.
Had the full 32 ship run been produced that cost per shot figure would drastically drop to something lighter on the wallet.