World War II
U.S. Submarine
Armament and Firepower
U.S. Navy Weapons and Armament 1941-1945
The
Deck Guns
© Valor at Sea.com
Initially, deck
guns were considered by many to be an extraneous and dangerous piece
of hardware for submarines at the beginning of the war. Principally,
the reasoning was that a submarine is basically a poor platform for
a deck gun. Owing to the fact that the vast majority of the sub
fleet's war patrols within 500 miles of Japanese bases were
conducted submerged, the value of the deck gun was severely
questioned. Additionally, it was reasoned that a submarine in a head
to head gun battle with an enemy in possession of equal (or greater)
firepower was at serious risk. Any enemy hits on the submarine which
could impede or prevent her ability to submerge was justification
enough to avoid a surface gun action. That's not to say that
submariners didn't take advantage of some welcomed target practice
when the opportunity arose. US Submarines that were scouting the
Japanese Empire waters frequently came upon sampans, which were
often suspected of being naval lookouts or anti-submarine pickets.
By April of 1942, submarine skippers decided to start thinning out
the sampan fleet and a periscope contact often resulted in the order
of "Battle Surface". The results of a piboat going up
against a lightly armed, floating bundle of wood one would think
could be easily determined, however sinking these pesky little
vessels was not a simple as first thought. Theodore Roscoe, in his
book US SUBMARINE OPERATIONS IN WW II, states: "They could be
riddled with .30 and .50 caliber machine gun bullets and holed
several times by 3 or 5 inch shells and remain afloat like a box of
Swiss cheese". More often than not, a submarine's deck gun was of
greater value for overall morale than it was for combat
effectiveness. A submerged boat that was damaged by an enemy surface
vessel could, as a last ditch effort to survive, surface and engage
in a gun battle, although with the odds generally stacked heavily
against it. The deck gun was the ultimate weapon of last resort and
it has been suggested that the 3, 4 or 5 inch guns (used for both
anti-aircraft and surface actions and typically located abaft of the
the conning tower), was therefore justified.
The 4 inch 50
caliber dual purpose cannon was standard issue to many submarines
during World War II. This weapon had a muzzle velocity of 2,700 feet
per second, a maximum range of 14,600 yards and was equally
effective being utilized against both surface and aerial targets.
The US Navy's
largest machine gun, and the one which was frequently found in a
submarine's armory, was the Bofars designed 40mm; an automatic,
rapid firing anti-aircraft gun, capable of delivering 160 rounds per
minute at a maximum range of 2,800 yards - although its most
effective range actually depended upon the type of ammunition used.
Typically located forward of the conning tower, it often replaced
two 20 mm AA guns.
While the single
40mm was air cooled and manually loaded, aimed and fired, both the
twin and quad (double and quadruple barreled) guns were water cooled
and was capable of firing by either manual, local power or by
director power fire control. While not used on submarines, these
weapons were designed for the larger warships (destroyers, cruisers
etc)
The 20mm Oerlikon
is a manually operated weapon and was located either forward or aft
of the conning tower on the bridge deck. Fleet submarines often
substituted twin 20mm guns for the single mounts for added
firepower. Capable of firing 450 rounds per minute, the 20mm had a
maximum range of 4,000 yards. The close range Oerlikin was an air
cooled automatic anti-aircraft gun which fired an explosive shell -
including the "tracer" - which glowed as it traveled towards its
target and indicated the direction of fire.
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5 Inch Deck Gun
20 mm Anti Aircraft Gun
40 mm Anti Aircraft Gun
3 inch 50 Caliber
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