The 5.5-inch gun is described as a capable weapon that has largely disappeared from popular memory. The calibre appears in HMS Hood and Japanese service, so it was not confined to one navy. It is presented as a technological path that navies chose not to continue. The exchange gives viewers a specific intermediate calibre to investigate outside the more familiar 5-, 6-, and 8-inch categories.
Notable Point · 1:30:50-1:31:22
The 5.5-inch naval gun as a path not taken
A brief aside recovers the 5.5-inch gun from obscurity and presents it as a capable intermediate naval calibre.