9.2 inch Landing Craft Guns

[tigercat]

I'm still trying to find a suitable What If for the 9.2 inch guns saved from scrapped WW1 monitors

In reality the Mountings were scrapped in 1938 and the guns had to be scrapped in 1943 as they didn't easily fit coastal defence mountings but What If they were available.

I understand that the shell weight and rate of fire made them unsuitable for Cruisers but they were used in WW1 on Monitors and what would be their nearest equivalent in WW2 but the Landing Craft Gun .

[rickshaw]

I think it would have been rather an interesting experience firing something of that size from anything but the largest LSTs.

[Mossie]

Set them into a barge for a semi-fixed inshore/estuary battery?

[pyro-manic]

New monitors seems the obvious answer. Though the guns are a bit of an anomaly for the 1930s/40s to be honest - they're too big for cruisers, and too small for battleships. An in-between ship could be built, but then that's an awkward compromise that's not much use in either of the two roles. Maybe if you had a design with, say, nine in triple turrets or eight in four twins, you could have an answer of sorts to the Panzerschiffs or the Hipper-class heavy cruisers, though they would be expensive and probably manpower-hungry. Maybe the RN sees the threat of the Japanese expansion in the early 30s, and builds a class of heavy cruisers to be based in Singapore? If the Aussies get a couple as well that could be a good counter to the Takao and Mogami-classes. It would break Treaty limits, however, so you would have to assume that either the Washington Treaty lapsed, the London Naval Treaty didn't happen, or was slightly different.

[simmie]

I think it would have been rather an interesting experience firing something of that size from anything but the largest LSTs.

Mounted down on the vehicle deck.  High elevation fire when close in shore.

Maybe at low elevations firing through the bow doors??!!??

[rickshaw]

I think it would have been rather an interesting experience firing something of that size from anything but the largest LSTs.

Mounted down on the vehicle deck.  High elevation fire when close in shore.

Maybe at low elevations firing through the bow doors??!!??

I can imagine the look of horror on the LST commander when the gun disappeared through the floor of his vehicle deck and the ship started flooding or his ship started going backwards when the gun was fired through the bow doors.   Most people don't seem to understand landing craft and ships were built to a price - as cheaply and as lightly as possible.  Even when turned into such beasts as LCSG (Landing Craft, Support, Gun) which mounted 25 pdrs or 17 pdrs, they had to be substantially reinforced to absorb the recoil.

[tigercat]

Obviously the ship would have to be reinforced, something similar to the Landing Craft Rocket

The Landing Craft Tank (Rocket), LCT(R), was a LCT modified to carry a large set of launchers for the British RP-3 "60 lb" rockets mounted on the covered-over tank deck. The full set of launchers was "in excess of" 1,000 and reloads totaling 5,000 rockets were kept below. The firepower was claimed to be equivalent to 80 light cruisers or 200 destroyers.

[rickshaw]

Obviously the ship would have to be reinforced, something similar to the Landing Craft Rocket

The Landing Craft Tank (Rocket), LCT(R), was a LCT modified to carry a large set of launchers for the British RP-3 "60 lb" rockets mounted on the covered-over tank deck. The full set of launchers was "in excess of" 1,000 and reloads totaling 5,000 rockets were kept below. The firepower was claimed to be equivalent to 80 light cruisers or 200 destroyers.

No recoil though...

[NARSES2]

 Most people don't seem to understand landing craft and ships were built to a price - as cheaply and as lightly as possible. 

And for 2 customers. Army had the front end, Navy the back. Dad said a fair few LST's sailed home across the Channel backwards after breaking the "Army's" end 

[rickshaw]

An excellent book to get, if anybody is interested in what sort of war the landing craft fought is "War of the Landing Craft" by Paul Lund & Harry Ludlam.  Bit old now but full of wonderful anecdotes.

[tigercat]

ok maybe they should go on a LST

although it wouldn't be the first time the Navy was given something that was more dangerous to the operator than the enemy

Out of curiousity how much did a landing craft cost? The original monitors  the guns were fitted to cost  £40-55000 in WW1