I'd suspect that the 335lb AP shells were kept in a depot until the ships were stricken. ~240lb HE shells probably went into general Army storage, because they are the same weight as Army shells.
One has to wonder whether these opportunities are not being discussed w/Ukraine's 175mms..however for future NATO considerations one would imagine 203mm lg rg would be preferred.
I don't believe that Ukraine had any? They were 122/152/203mm family.
Though it has to be said that the Ukrainians are increasingly suffering crippling munitions shortages.
again implausible/impractical.
True, but at least the ancient M113s and other items sent to them can usually be used in some way. 175mm shells without any actual 175mm caliber guns to fire them seem very useless. Maybe they could take the explosive out of them (probably past its shelf-life) and reuse it somehow, but I pity the guys getting that job. They shouldn't be that desperate for basic munitions at this point.
And 203mm still. The Soviet 203mm tubes are apparently compatible with US 203mm shells, based on photos of US-marked 203mm ammo but zero reports of M110s being delivered.
It seems there was a whole series of those studies:
It's all from Chapter 14 "Fire Support Revisited" of Norman Friedman's U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft An Illustrated Design History.
Yes, I found the place, they are indeed there, except for the first variant, the one with missile launchers aft, apparently.
I have a paper copy, the first one definitely from that chapter.
The citation is here: Effron, Herbert M. (December 1975). "8"/55 Major Caliber Lightweight Gun: Big Punch for Small Ships". United States Naval Institute Proceedings: 91–93.
I’ll shift this build and the ship to a separate thread, since it isn’t directly under the subject.
Yes, that's known. And a known issue in full fire missions. But the Zumwalts weren't entirely built around that idea, but more around sniping with 155mm guns.
In modern days, an unmanned monitor with 155-mm long-barrel gun mount, autoloading MRLS and kevlar armored deck might be a solution.
If you're doing that, you can make that a brown-water boat instead of green-water. Have it go up the rivers,
The correct name is "bronekater", i.e. "armored motorboat".
A possible solution: took a McClung-class LCM hull, section its vechicle bay, cover deck with kevlar. Install a 155-mm gun in automatic stabilized mount, a pair of MRLS launchers (in reloadable mounts - just a rails, along which the rocket pods wouls move), and a pair of Mk-70 container launchers for Tomahawks & ESSMs, if required. Add a SeaRAM and anti-drone measures (autocannons, heavy MG, drone interceptor launchers) in numbers. And you would have basically a monitor and "straights control" ship, that you could put into Hormuz without caring much about its loss.
Too true.
And still doing it. I'm surprised anybody would want to do business with the government at this point.
