I would like to see some actual quotation on the armament of the barges and how problems of aiming without fire control systems were to be overcome, given the amount of errors you are making when recalling things. I am not aware of actual gunnery training taking place on barges being towed, so I would not mind you or anyone else bringing some examples of how gun crews were trained to allow for the new environment they were working in.leandros wrote:From my above quote it can then be deduced that an enemy vessel approaching such a convoy from "the side" would, on a distance of 2 km. be within range of approx. 20 outboard and center tow-trains - depending on their armament. In all, 60 transport vessels with some sorts of armament - not counting their jury-rigged forward-pointing 75 mm's meant for landing support. Mostly 20 and 37 mm automatic cannons.Andreas wrote:But even if we accept 'a couple of hundred metres', what would that do to the argument that a convoy could pour out concentrated fire at naval targets? Or do we now have magic convoys that on the one hand are spread out to avoid damage from aerial attack, but at the same time are close enough to concentrate the fire of their guns on attacking destroyers and MTBs?
All the best
Andreas
Regarding the ideas you have here:
- Forward pointing 75s are useless against an enemy attacking from any other direction.
- 20mm guns have a max range of 4,500m, 37mm of 6,500m, but in each case it depends on the munition used. If it was Zerleger, the range would be 2,200m and 3,500m, respectively. They would be outranged by any serious ship artillery piece, and it would therefore not be necessary for HMS Pinafore and her sisters to get into the danger zone.
In any case, ship artillery outranges anything that could realistically have been put on top of the barges, considering balance issues. The 37mm gun including crew and ammo would be 2-2.5 tons of weight (gun weight 1,550kg, magazine with 8 rounds 12.5kg). The 20mm gun would be about 1 ton+ (depending on the ammo at hand - a magazine with 20 rounds weighs 9.5kg, the gun (including shield) weighs 420kg (540kg).
All the best
Andreas