In 1944-1945, the USN found that their 20 mm Oerlikons and 40 mm Bofors batteries were ineffective in stopping Japanese Kamikaze attacks. Only the 5"/38 (12.7 cm) fired a round large enough to kill-stop a determined attacker and this weapon was too heavy to use in the numbers necessary. This problem led to an accelerated program to develop an intermediate-caliber weapon that could fire a VT fuzed shell.
The weapon chosen was the standard 3"/50 (7.62 cm) Mark 22 used on many Destroyer Escorts and auxiliaries built during the latter part of World War II. This was the smallest-caliber weapon which could still use the VT fuzes available at the time. It also had a concentric counter-recoil spring, which meant that it was more easily adapted for automatic fire, which was achieved with an electrically driven auto-loader using revolving sprockets. BuOrd rushed this through the design phase, with the first prototype being ready for test firing on 1 September 1945.
Although completed too late for service during World War II, this weapon was widely used on many USA ships from the late 1940s through to the 1980s and remains in service today (2003) on a few USA ships sold to other nations and on the Norwegian Oslo Class frigates. The Spanish firm of Fabrica de Artilleria, Sociedad Española de Construccion Naval manufactured these guns under license for the Spanish Navy.
Dimensionally, the new twin 3"/50 (7.62 cm) mounting was the same size as the quad 40 mm Bofors mounting, although it weighed a bit more. The additional weight meant that these guns replaced the Bofors guns on a one for three basis, rather than the originally intended one for two basis. Ammunition was loaded from each side into the auto-loader. The sprockets turned intermittently, transporting the rounds to a loading tray, which swung down to be in line with the breech where a rammer then catapulted the rounds directly into the firing-chamber, with the breech-closing mechanism being triggered by the edge of the cartridge case as it tripped one of the ejectors. Effectively, the auto-loader simply replaced the crewmen whose job it was to push shells into the breech. The auto-loader is synchronized with the rhythm of the recoil motion, so that new rounds are ready to be rammed at the instant that the previous cartridge is ejected. Ballistically, the new automatic weapon had the same characteristics as the older weapon, although the higher rate of fire did result in a shorter barrel life.
Constructed with an autofretted monobloc barrel with chromium plating and secured at the breech by a bayonet joint. Uses an automatic breech block. The mechanical and electrical complexity of this weapon were near the limits of World War II technology and excellent servicing is required to keep it in operation. However, it did give greatly improved performance against likely aircraft targets, with testing showing that against a target representing a Nakajima plane a single rapid-fire 3"/50 (7.62 cm) was as effective as two 40 mm quad mountings and that it could effectively engage at a much longer range.
After reading the previous from the Naval weapons site (
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_3- ... -33-34.htm) I think that Chuck you have a very strong case there. Propably the gun enplacements on the main deck and 01 level of battleships could easily have 3" guns. But for further up levels the weight of the mounting is large enough or even prohibiting. (Chuck you have me thinking now for a modification
)
Also, considering the single stack design, the distance between the for boiler romms and the aft ones is too big and, furthermore, I do not think that it is practical to have exhaust vents running along in the upper deck compartments.
Considering the 40mm mountings on turret tops if you see the ships design you will notice that there are 4 mountings port and stbd of the bridge, as well as two for of No1 turret and 1 at the bow (This is from Mr Friedmans Montana design in the book US BBs). What would be the gain from one mounting more atop a turret ?
As for the 5" mountings I guess that the lower the weights added the better for the ship, and assuming the lowering of the 5" mounts as a weight compensation for the two superfiring main turrets makes sence to me.
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) and came across this paperback. Looks like it could be at least somewhat interesting...
resin dust everywhere it can go. I ended up using a mask an goggles and a hut. 
