Old Allied Battleships

[el cid again]

It began by thinking about EEO - and what to do with USS Wyoming?

This is a very confusing ship IRL - she changed her guns "apparently as required" - and we had her configured wrong.
Not that I ever figured out what "right" means - I used photographs and line drawings to come close. I also found out she had reduced power - and a speed of 18 knots.

This ship does not appear in the CVO family scenarios - because she spent the war in Chesepeke Bay training gunners - firing more rounds than any US warship in WWII.

She did not appear in EOS family scenarios either. She did appear in BBO scenarios - but in a misarranged gunnery training ship form.

IRL "consideration was given" to converting her back to battleship standard - presumably similar to her original sister - USS Arkansas. I decided that for that reason - the BBO family scenario concept means she should appear in that family in that form. Transferred over as soon as she could be reconverted, she appears in the form USS Arkansas had when she sailed and fought extensively in the Atlantic Fleet. She then converts to the form USS Arkansas had when it transferred to the Pacific (meaning I can use Arkansas slots for the Wyoming in BBO family).

I also learned that the ship had served as a amphibious warfare training ship in the 1930s - and that she had 6 of her 12 inch guns until a 1944 conversion. She could embark a battalion of Marines - and did. So I decided this ship should appear almost in her start of war form in the EOS family scenarios - instead of converting to a full battleship - she comes over almost as is - a year sooner - designated still as AG-17 (but classified in WITP terms as AGC) - making her a very useful heavily armed and armored AGC. The only difference (aside from classification) is that the ship is restricted to a full speed of 18 knots - no time to install engines - and picks up a few 40 mm guns - which she had plenty of space for but lacked entirely.

Meanwhile I learned that USS Arkansas herself actually fought at Iwo Jima - in spite of mainly being a ETO theater asset. So I converted all scenarios to have her appear in time for that - in her later form. Until now she only appeared in BBO family, and then too soon - before she completed her conversion. Now she appears in all scenarios - and except for EEO she is as she really appeared at Iwo - a true battleship with 12 twelve inch guns. In EEO ONLY she appears like her sister - as an AGC - on the assumption heavily armored AGCs are more useful than ancient battleships for a nation embarked on amphibious offensives.

I extended my review to USS Utah - a gunnery training ship at Pearl Harbor when the war began. Strongly criticized for putting it in, her history convinces me she SHOULD BE there - and it is bad simulation NOT to have her. She was torpedoed and sunk - and remains on the bottom - it being too complicated to salvage her (although a few light guns were saved). This means IRL she attracted attention (enough to get two torpedo hits) - and served to dilute the effectiveness of the Japanese strike force vs more important capital ships. She appears properly in all RHS families, and remains.

A suggestion on the board was made re HMS Centurion. For EEO it was suggested she could be armed as a BBAA. IRL she did serve in this role - although only barely so - briefly - before becoming a self propelled blockship - first to block Suez if the Axis overran the area - and actually expended as such at Normandy. The ship is suitable for such use - and the main question is what weapons might be scraped up for her? The ideal armament would probably be a pair of 5.25 inch on each turret foundation (4 forward, 2 center, 4 aft) - supplimented by an a barroled pom pom on each side amidships centerline (beside the elevated turret foundation for P mounting). Some four inch probably can be fitted on the sides - fore and aft of the pom pom - ideally twins but if not then singles. That would give her 10 x 5.25s, 8 x 4 inch,
16 x 40 mm. If 5.25s are not possible we would probably go with 4.7s. Investigating these configurations for EEO only.
Otherwise Centurion appears in her historical form as a deception ship that does not upgrade - and because she is classed as a battleship she might qualify for a British withdrawal requirement (which is completely fair - she was withdrawn from theater).

[el cid again]

Centurion rearms with 8 x 4.5 inch, 4 x 3 inch 20 cwt, 16 x 2 pounders and 10 x 20mm with a short range AS radar in EEO only.