July 14, 2007
Scarecrows of the Navy?
Over at Warships 1, someone in this thread noticed something odd on the foredeck of the USS Elrod. 
It looks like (and the consensus of opinion seems to be that it is) a fake gun mount intended to deter maritime brigands.
While the Perrys have lost virtually ALL of their hot war punch with the removal of the MK 13 missile launchers, they still possess both a MK 75 76mm gun and an improved Phalanx upgraded to improve its effectiveness against surface targets. The ship is quite capable of dealing with pirates and such...of course neither the phalanx nor the 3inch gun look particularly fierce to an untrained eye, and at any rate the ship seems to have no weapons bearing forward aside from small arms and, perhaps .50 caliber weapons on the bridge wings.
So what IS this thing, a dummy gun to deter attackers, or an actual weapon like a 25-30mm cannon?
It certainly looks fake.
(Note: At time of posting there is a much better high res picture in the linked thread...)
As an aside, the USCG's 378' High endurance cutters now have the same fixed armament and have it better positioned, comparable range and speed, twin screws, better maneuverability and a shallower draft....and despite being twice as old with old and hard to maintain equipment, require a crew of 168 vs 300 . The Perrys certainly have better EW equipment, 2 vice 1 helicopters and their ASW tubes are still fitted, but it is hard to avoid thinking that the Coast Guard, with something similar to the 378's would be better (and more economical) to use on antipiracy duties.
Of course....we'd need to not have our new-builds be lemons first.
Perhaps we should just build more of the 'white needles of death' with updated systems (you know...systems still in production).
Anyway, does anyone have any contradictory ideas on the "dummy gun"?
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It looks like (and the consensus of opinion seems to be that it is) a fake gun mount intended to deter maritime brigands.
While the Perrys have lost virtually ALL of their hot war punch with the removal of the MK 13 missile launchers, they still possess both a MK 75 76mm gun and an improved Phalanx upgraded to improve its effectiveness against surface targets. The ship is quite capable of dealing with pirates and such...of course neither the phalanx nor the 3inch gun look particularly fierce to an untrained eye, and at any rate the ship seems to have no weapons bearing forward aside from small arms and, perhaps .50 caliber weapons on the bridge wings.
So what IS this thing, a dummy gun to deter attackers, or an actual weapon like a 25-30mm cannon?
It certainly looks fake.
(Note: At time of posting there is a much better high res picture in the linked thread...)
As an aside, the USCG's 378' High endurance cutters now have the same fixed armament and have it better positioned, comparable range and speed, twin screws, better maneuverability and a shallower draft....and despite being twice as old with old and hard to maintain equipment, require a crew of 168 vs 300 . The Perrys certainly have better EW equipment, 2 vice 1 helicopters and their ASW tubes are still fitted, but it is hard to avoid thinking that the Coast Guard, with something similar to the 378's would be better (and more economical) to use on antipiracy duties.
Of course....we'd need to not have our new-builds be lemons first.
Perhaps we should just build more of the 'white needles of death' with updated systems (you know...systems still in production).
Anyway, does anyone have any contradictory ideas on the "dummy gun"?
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
01:24 PM
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