Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:35:05-1:37:22

Why quad machine guns could be worse than the UP launcher

The quadruple machine-gun mount consumed deck space without much combat value, while the flawed UP launcher at least contributed to later British rocket development.

Anti-Aircraft GunsInterwar PeriodNaval TechnologyUnrotated Projectile
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Question

What was the worst non-ship naval system of the interwar period?

Short answer

Quadruple machine-gun mounts are a stronger candidate than the UP launcher because they wasted space and produced no useful development path.

Notes

Several systems qualify as candidates for the worst non-ship naval idea of the interwar period. The Unrotated Projectile launcher was operationally poor, but its research created a technological path into aircraft rockets used against mobile and shore targets. Quadruple machine-gun mounts offered little comparable benefit. They occupied scarce deck space, added almost no useful capability, and did not lead toward a more valuable wartime weapon.