Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 5:34:56-5:36:18

Why a modern 3-inch gun would not necessarily arm the Flowers

Even if the US 3-inch/50 were available earlier, new guns would likely go to modern destroyers while Flowers used stored 4-inch weapons.

Flower Class CorvettesNaval GunneryUS NavyWartime Production
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Question

Would an early US Navy 3-inch/50 be a suitable replacement for the Flower class's 4-inch gun?

Short answer

It would fit the role, but production priorities would probably send new 3-inch guns to destroyers while Flowers retained stored 4-inch guns.

Notes

The 3-inch/50 was technically suitable for a Flower-class corvette, although suitability did not guarantee allocation. The emergency escorts were designed to use equipment already available in stores and to be completed cheaply and quickly. Newly manufactured dual-purpose guns would be more valuable on destroyers and other modern ships designed to exploit them.