Me in 2018: “I’m not that much into Battleships, they’re old and loud and slow…”
Me right now: “Missouri’s main battery consisted of nine 406 mm/50 cal Mark 7 guns, which could fire 1,200 kg armor-piercing shells some 32.2 km. Her secondary battery consisted of twenty 5 in 38 cal guns in twin turrets, with a range of about 16 km. With the advent of air power and the need to gain and maintain air superiority came a need to protect the growing fleet of allied aircraft carriers; to this end, Missouri was fitted with an array of Oerlikon 20 mm and Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns to defend allied carriers from enemy airstrikes. When reactivated in 1984 Missouri had her 20 mm and 40 mm AA guns removed, and was outfitted with Phalanx CIWS mounts for protection against enemy missiles and aircraft, and Armored Box Launchers and Quad Cell Launchers designed to fire Tomahawk missiles and Harpoon missiles, respectively. Missouri and her sister ship Wisconsin were fitted with thicker traverse bulkhead armor, 368 mm, compared to 287 mm in the first two ships of her class, the Iowa and New Jersey.“
