wcsswag@ccs.carleton.ca (Alex Klaus) (05/24/91)
From: wcsswag@ccs.carleton.ca (Alex Klaus) I am now looking for some information about the MCLWG(Major Calibre Light Weight Gun) Program. This was the 8" gun that was to fitted to Kidd, Spruance, and maybe the Tico class. I know this gun was tested on the USS Hull. My questions: 1) What was the main motivation for the cancellation of this program? 2) Would the gun have been retro-fitted to any other classes? 3) What is/was the difference between the MCLWG and a normal 8" gun Thanks in advance Alex Klaus <wcsswag@ccs.carleton.ca>
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (05/24/91)
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) >From: wcsswag@ccs.carleton.ca (Alex Klaus) >1) What was the main motivation for the cancellation of this program? If I recall correctly, the laser-guided shell was killed to save money, and then the gun was killed because it wasn't accurate enough. (!) Its death was basically financial. A major contributing factor was that the Marines were the major customer (for heavy-caliber shore bombardment) but the Navy was paying for it, which made it low priority when money got tight. >2) Would the gun have been retro-fitted to any other classes? Had it been a big success, it could have gone in almost anything carrying a 5-inch gun. >3) What is/was the difference between the MCLWG and a normal 8" gun Much tighter packaging, to make it a drop-in replacement for a 5-inch. There might have been other differences too, I never saw details. -- And the bean-counter replied, | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology "beans are more important". | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
johne@hp-vcd.vcd.hp.com (John Eaton) (05/30/91)
From: johne@hp-vcd.vcd.hp.com (John Eaton) > I am now looking for some information about the MCLWG(Major Calibre Light > Weight Gun) Program. This was the 8" gun that was to fitted to Kidd, Spruance, > and maybe the Tico class. I know this gun was tested on the USS Hull. I think I my have actually seen this one. I was on a destroyer (USS Berkeley DDG-15) in San Diego back in 74 and there was one ship that had been fitted with a new 8" low recoil gun. It looked huge in comparision to the normal 5"54's that everyone else had. Rumor was that they were trying to see if it could be used without shaking the ship apart. I hope they also installed a better ammo handling system. I carried enough 5 inch shells and powder to know that I wouldn't want to have to carry any 8". John Eaton !hp-vcd!johne