Back then big turrets and big calibers ruels the seas, but now even with more advance technology, ship guns are becoming smaller and smaller, why is that?
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Cruise missiles like the Tomahawk or Kalibr can do far more damage far more accurately much further away than any oversized cannon. The Missile Cruiser replaced the Battleship, and then missiles got even more efficient to the point where we don’t even need large cruisers anymore, destroyer and frigate sized warships can get the job done. At this point, the cannons are primarily for the ships own defense against smaller targets that are hard to hit with big missiles that can’t turn very tightly, and you don’t need a very big gun to destroy those.
Missiles take up less space and have a longer range and do more damage than guns, so the big guns are generally no longer of much use, smaller guns can be used for shooting down aircraft or missiles as they have a higher rate of fire and can be moved rapidly, in addition these weapons can be used against small fast moving missile or torpedo boats and can additionally be used in shore bombardment.
Cruise missiles like the Tomahawk or Kalibr can do far more damage far more accurately much further away than any oversized cannon. The Missile Cruiser replaced the Battleship, and then missiles got even more efficient to the point where we don’t even need large cruisers anymore, destroyer and frigate sized warships can get the job done. At this point, the cannons are primarily for the ships own defense against smaller targets that are hard to hit with big missiles that can’t turn very tightly, and you don’t need a very big gun to destroy those.
Missiles take up less space and have a longer range and do more damage than guns, so the big guns are generally no longer of much use, smaller guns can be used for shooting down aircraft or missiles as they have a higher rate of fire and can be moved rapidly, in addition these weapons can be used against small fast moving missile or torpedo boats and can additionally be used in shore bombardment.
Missiles take up less space and have a longer range and do more damage than guns, so the big guns are generally no longer of much use, smaller guns can be used for shooting down aircraft or missiles as they have a higher rate of fire and can be moved rapidly, in addition these weapons can be used against small fast moving missile or torpedo boats and can additionally be used in shore bombardment.
Two reasons:
Reason one: missiles. Missiles is what happened to the big guns on of warships.
To put it in perspective, the maximum range of the 16-inch guns of the *Iowa*-class Battleships, the largest gun used by the US in WWII, was 32,000 meters (about 20 miles). That’s it. The AGM/RGM/UGM-84 (aircraft, surface, and submarine-launched, respectively) has a max range of about 77 miles for ship or submarine-launched weapons and about 138 miles for air-launched weapons.
Whereas before you had to get within 20 miles and hope the math was right and lob an unguided shell through the air to drop on target multiple times, now you can fire a missile from beyond the horizon, watch it fly just above the surface of the water to target, acquire its target on its own, pop-up and slam down into the target from above, most often breaking the keel of the target ship *in half* in a single shot.
Why rely on big guns when you can sink a navy without even seeing it?
Reason two: aircraft. WWII *really* drove home the point that the Age of the Battleship was over when entire fleets (and subsequent invasions) were destroyed without ever actually seeing each other. The Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway both mark that turning point. The Imperial Japanese Navy never learned the lesson (well, *they* did, but their higher-ups back on Japan didn’t) and that’s why they never recovered from Midway. The US (and subsequently the UK) figured that out pretty quickly and have since adopted their respective navies around air defense.
Modern navies don’t have big guns because it’s expected that the missiles and aircraft are going to be doing all of the damage. That’s why the Battleships were phased out of service; they were largely useless. Modern cruisers and desroyers are designed with air defense being the top priority, both against aircraft and incoming missiles.
Two reasons:
Reason one: missiles. Missiles is what happened to the big guns on of warships.
To put it in perspective, the maximum range of the 16-inch guns of the *Iowa*-class Battleships, the largest gun used by the US in WWII, was 32,000 meters (about 20 miles). That’s it. The AGM/RGM/UGM-84 (aircraft, surface, and submarine-launched, respectively) has a max range of about 77 miles for ship or submarine-launched weapons and about 138 miles for air-launched weapons.
Whereas before you had to get within 20 miles and hope the math was right and lob an unguided shell through the air to drop on target multiple times, now you can fire a missile from beyond the horizon, watch it fly just above the surface of the water to target, acquire its target on its own, pop-up and slam down into the target from above, most often breaking the keel of the target ship *in half* in a single shot.
Why rely on big guns when you can sink a navy without even seeing it?
Reason two: aircraft. WWII *really* drove home the point that the Age of the Battleship was over when entire fleets (and subsequent invasions) were destroyed without ever actually seeing each other. The Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway both mark that turning point. The Imperial Japanese Navy never learned the lesson (well, *they* did, but their higher-ups back on Japan didn’t) and that’s why they never recovered from Midway. The US (and subsequently the UK) figured that out pretty quickly and have since adopted their respective navies around air defense.
Modern navies don’t have big guns because it’s expected that the missiles and aircraft are going to be doing all of the damage. That’s why the Battleships were phased out of service; they were largely useless. Modern cruisers and desroyers are designed with air defense being the top priority, both against aircraft and incoming missiles.
those guns had a role: long range artillery fire pretty much.
with the tech advancing to the point where most engagements take place beyond visual range, with stuff like cruise missiles advanced radars, and other long range options that role got swapped over.
ships still carry big boi guns but their roles become more about anti air and missile interception in the form of CIWS(close in weapon systems) . andevne then these larger veseels will implement these in the form of missiles aswell leaving conventional ballistics as a last line of defence.
thge other nail in that coffin came from the advacement of aircraft and the creation of the Carrier platform for them, this marked the end of the age of the battleship to where one aircraft ca nengage far beyond visual range with weapons ships of the time had no hope of stopping. by developing a carrier centirc doctrine you noew had air control as aswell as sea control fo the immediate area around the carrier’s battlegroup+ range of its aircraft.
those guns had a role: long range artillery fire pretty much.
with the tech advancing to the point where most engagements take place beyond visual range, with stuff like cruise missiles advanced radars, and other long range options that role got swapped over.
ships still carry big boi guns but their roles become more about anti air and missile interception in the form of CIWS(close in weapon systems) . andevne then these larger veseels will implement these in the form of missiles aswell leaving conventional ballistics as a last line of defence.
thge other nail in that coffin came from the advacement of aircraft and the creation of the Carrier platform for them, this marked the end of the age of the battleship to where one aircraft ca nengage far beyond visual range with weapons ships of the time had no hope of stopping. by developing a carrier centirc doctrine you noew had air control as aswell as sea control fo the immediate area around the carrier’s battlegroup+ range of its aircraft.
Two reasons:
Reason one: missiles. Missiles is what happened to the big guns on of warships.
To put it in perspective, the maximum range of the 16-inch guns of the *Iowa*-class Battleships, the largest gun used by the US in WWII, was 32,000 meters (about 20 miles). That’s it. The AGM/RGM/UGM-84 (aircraft, surface, and submarine-launched, respectively) has a max range of about 77 miles for ship or submarine-launched weapons and about 138 miles for air-launched weapons.
Whereas before you had to get within 20 miles and hope the math was right and lob an unguided shell through the air to drop on target multiple times, now you can fire a missile from beyond the horizon, watch it fly just above the surface of the water to target, acquire its target on its own, pop-up and slam down into the target from above, most often breaking the keel of the target ship *in half* in a single shot.
Why rely on big guns when you can sink a navy without even seeing it?
Reason two: aircraft. WWII *really* drove home the point that the Age of the Battleship was over when entire fleets (and subsequent invasions) were destroyed without ever actually seeing each other. The Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway both mark that turning point. The Imperial Japanese Navy never learned the lesson (well, *they* did, but their higher-ups back on Japan didn’t) and that’s why they never recovered from Midway. The US (and subsequently the UK) figured that out pretty quickly and have since adopted their respective navies around air defense.
Modern navies don’t have big guns because it’s expected that the missiles and aircraft are going to be doing all of the damage. That’s why the Battleships were phased out of service; they were largely useless. Modern cruisers and desroyers are designed with air defense being the top priority, both against aircraft and incoming missiles.
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