do big guns have a modern role?

[eatthis]

Someone clearly knows how, as US aircraft carriers have armoured hulls!
anyway, Rail guns, anyone?

how much armour do they have?
and yeh railguns are an idea and what about smart shells?

[NARSES2]

Someone clearly knows how, as US aircraft carriers have armoured hulls!
anyway, Rail guns, anyone?

Yup. In theory armour plate is not to difficult to manufacture. However you don't know how well you've done it until it's tested. I know that Chieftain turrets used to be taken off the line and taken to the ranges and used as target practice in order to ensure the manufacturing standards were ok. A mate was shop manager and he swore the guys from the MOD deliberately picked the ones they'd nearly finished rather then the most recent rough casts at the start of the line 

I assume the US Navy tests in the same destructive way ?

[Hobbes]

Someone clearly knows how, as US aircraft carriers have armoured hulls!

To some extent, yes, but nowhere near the levels of a battleship. Those had armor belts thick enough to stop 16" shells (or on that order), meaning they had 20" of steel plate in some places, and the entire ship was armored. Nimitz-class carriers have 2" of Kevlar around vital spaces, to limit the damage done by antiship missiles. That's much easier to fabricate.

[Captain Canada]

My world will always have a place for big guns ! Especially shore based. Cheap (ish) last ditch defence.

[kerick]

I can see guns on a ship to support an amphibious landing. Rail guns lobbing 8" shells from well off shore might be useful. Its not as bad as it used to be when a few clouds in the right places could really hamper air support but having something that could lay down some firepower no matter the conditions could be very useful.

[Martin H]

Someone clearly knows how, as US aircraft carriers have armoured hulls!
anyway, Rail guns, anyone?

Yup. In theory armour plate is not to difficult to manufacture. However you don't know how well you've done it until it's tested. I know that Chieftain turrets used to be taken off the line and taken to the ranges and used as target practice in order to ensure the manufacturing standards were ok. A mate was shop manager and he swore the guys from the MOD deliberately picked the ones they'd nearly finished rather then the most recent rough casts at the start of the line 

I assume the US Navy tests in the same destructive way ?

Well they did wait until the USS America (CV66) was retired. USS America wikipedia page

They spent four weeks throwing every thing they could bar nukes at her before she was scuttled.

The video footage is apparently very heavily classified as it would be foolish to allow any one else to see what it would really take to sink a super carrier. It pays to keep em guessing. 

She now holds the record of being the largest ship ever to have been deliberately sunk.

[zenrat]

Battleships - needed for when the aliens invade Hawaii.

You've been watching movies again, I know.......... 

It's one of Mrs z's favourites.  I think because unusually for movies you can pinpoint the date exactly (during RIMPAC 2012) and we were there then.

[proditor]

All other methods of modernization aside, if you want to reduce the crew by 270, you remove the twin 5" turrets. Each has a crew of 27. If you want to retain the medium caliber, you replace the mount with old 5"/54 that were replaced with 5:/62s. New crew, 6 per mount. 2 mounts per side, net savings with this and no other attempts to reduce crew, roughly 250 crew.

[zenrat]

27!?
Do you have a breakdown of what they all do?

[pyro-manic]

Turret captain, gunlayers, aimers, gun crew for each gun, plus a sizeable magazine crew handling shells and charges. The main battery turrets had a crew of almost a hundred.

[zenrat]

Thanks Pyro.  I was picturing all 27 crammed into one turret...

[scooter]

Thanks Pyro.  I was picturing all 27 crammed into one turret...

Its not a Beetle, for pete's sake...

[NARSES2]

Thanks Pyro.  I was picturing all 27 crammed into one turret...

Its not a Beetle, for pete's sake...

Yup it's easy to forget all those guys working in the magazines etc.

A couple of WWII films give you a good feel of the number of people involved in getting even a destroyers main guns into action. "In Which We Serve" is one.

[DarrenP]

big gun's have large Projectiles that can be used to carry other payloads than explosive, like Jammers or multiple projectiles and definitely good for land operations

[kitnut617]

27!?
Do you have a breakdown of what they all do?

tank turret  ----   battleship turret