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Friday, December 03, 2004
American triple turrets with guns all in the same sleave
I consider that the American practice of having triple turrets with three guns in the same sleeve was a bad practice. The opposite extreme was the British triple 4in gun mounts on the Renown and Repulse, as originally built, which added unneeded complexity for rapid fire guns. The American triple 14in gun turrets on battleships were the first appearance of three guns in a single sleeve, as far as I can tell. I suppose that it was an attempt to simplify the design. Apparently, saving weight was also a factor. The real reason that the single sleeve happened is that the Americans lacked experience with long range firing with triple turrets. To get smaller spreads, individual sleeves were critical. There needed to be a way to make small corrections in elevation for individual guns. Apparently, the American system didn't allow for this feature. If the guns got out of alignment from firing, there was no way to realign them. The same bad practice was continued for the "Treaty Cruisers", apparently up through the New Orleans class.
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