Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 58:50-59:18

Why Iowa avoided centerline 5-inch mounts

Centerline secondary mounts offered extra firepower but imposed height, weight, exposure, and layout costs that outweighed their value.

Iowa Class BattleshipsSecondary BatteriesTopweightWarship Design
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Question

Why did the Iowa class not carry centerline 5-inch secondary mounts?

Short answer

The added height, weight, exposure, and layout costs were not worth the extra battery.

Notes

The comparison with Cleveland and Alaska asks why Iowa did not place additional 5-inch mounts on the centerline. This was a design-balance problem rather than a missing idea. Raising guns adds weight high in the ship and exposes the mount and surrounding spaces. The designers had to decide whether the extra arcs and barrels justified those penalties, and concluded that they did not.