Can land artillery fire safely from a ship's deck?

Would firing a 155 mm towed artillery piece from a flat deck seriously damage the ship?

Not if recoil loads are calculated and the gun is positioned over deck structure thick enough to carry them.

A 155 mm towed gun need not damage a ship if the installation can withstand its recoil. The load has to be calculated before choosing a firing position. Thin deck plating is unsuitable, so the gun needs a sufficiently strong part of the structure beneath it. The example contrasts roughly two millimetres of plating with ten or eleven millimetres or more, while retaining the requirement to calculate the installation.