Record shot - USS St Paul (CA-73)

[mthrockmor]

My dad served on the USS St Paul, CA-73 during the Korean War. He was the fire control director for the 5" guns on the port side. In-game the cruiser we have is a USS Baltimore Class cruiser, of which the St Paul was the 7th in the class.

On October 2, 1970 the USS St Paul shot an 8" experimental round 60,624yards, or 34.4 miles.

The round is pretty interesting. While 8" it was a modified 5" round with a sabot, very similar to a standard 105mm or 120mm sabot round, though these rounds were explosive.

boo

[USRanger]

That's a long frikkin' way to chuck something.

[Bodhi]

Very cool.

[Scherf]

I hear tell it picked off a 262 which had just lifted, behind a mountain.

(Sorry, couldn't resist,  to your Dad.)

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Sorry to rain on your parade but according to the Soviets the finnish artillery shot double that distance already in 1939 (Mainila). 

[John Galt]

Sorry to rain on your parade but according to the Soviets the finnish artillery shot double that distance already in 1939 (Mainila). 

LOL

[Rich46yo]

Thats pretty amazing for a standard gun/ammo.

I know the target range of the new ERGM ammo from the 5" naval gun is 64 NM but that is with the assist of a rocket in the ammo itself.

[mthrockmor]

Let me throw in, this is sourced from a magazine that my Dad's non-profit unit prints. My guess is it was accurate in 1970, though things have changed. I spent a wee bit of time with a towed artillery unit, shooting 155mm through M-198s. They spoke of a RAP (Rocket Assisted Projectile) that could go in excess of 30 miles. My guess is this USS St Paul record has been exceeded since then.

As for Ripley's comment about 1939 and some non-American country shooting further....bite your tongue!   

On a serious note, I suspect most things coming from Soviet sources, certainly during the height of Stalin's reigh of terror. Did the Finns make such a claim? Or, was it sole sourced via Soviets? If sole sourced via Soviets I could see an excuse to explain away some random issue or failure with a magical cannon shot from the Finns. Just say'n...

If I can figure out how to get a picture of the 8"/5" sabot round I'll post it here. Pretty neat picture.

boo
 

[John Galt]

The reason the Soviets were saying that is because in order for the rounds to come from Finnish guns,the range would of. had to be that. long

[Auger]

I hear tell it picked off a 262 which had just lifted, behind a mountain.

Thank you Scherf!  That was hilarious.  Trying to explain to my wife why I was laughing so hard took some of the funny out though.

[Tr1gg22]

WOW

[Scherf]

Thank you Scherf!  That was hilarious.  Trying to explain to my wife why I was laughing so hard took some of the funny out though.