Best Battleship: Light Antiaircraft Weapons

Light Anti-Aircraft Rating	Yamato	Iowa	Bismarck	Richelieu	King George V	Vittorio Veneto	South Dakota
Battery	150 x 25mm, 4 x 13mm	80 x 40mm, 49 x 20mm	16 x 37mm, 78 x 20mmAA#2	Original: 12 x 37mm, 24 x 13.2mm After refit: 56 x 40mm, 48 x 20mm	(variousAA#3) 88 x 40mm, 8 x 40mm Bofor, 54 x 20mm	20 x 37mm, 32 x 20mm	68 x 40mm, 77 x 20mm
Shell Weight (lbs.)	.552, .114	1.985, .2714	1.420, .265	Original: 1.814, .1144 After refit: 1.985, .2714	1.684, 1.985, .272	1.81, .295	1.985, .2714
Cyclic Rate (r.p.m.)	120 (practical), 250 (practical)	160, 450	100, 500	Original: 165, 450 After refit: 160, 450	115, 165, 480	120, 240	160, 450
Throw Weight Per Minute	10,050 lbs.	31,392 lbs.	6,713 lbs.	Original: 4,827 lbs. After refit: 24,203 lbs.	26,712 lbs.	6,610 lbs.	31,001 lbs.
Raw Throw Weight Index	3	10	4	7.5	8.5	1.5	10
Adjusted RatingAA#4	2.5	10	3.5	7	8	1.5	10

GENERAL COMMENTS: Again, the Iowa and South Dakota come out on top, largely as a result of mounting so many 40mm Bofors, the best medium AA gun of the war. Furthermore, both American BBs made lavish usage of remote power control (RPC) for their Bofors mounts. By the end of the war, the US was also radar-controlling their 40mm mounts. Richelieu initially mounted a breathtakingly inadequate AA outfit, but after her refit in New York she emerged as a strong performer with her own suite of 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikons. The Yamato was limited by having no comparable weapon; her 25mm mounts, while technically faster-firing, actually had a sustained rate lower than the Bofors (the 25mm gun had to cease fire when a new ammo cartridge was fitted). The Bofors also threw a much heavier shell. Japanese high-angle fire-control was inferior, and her triple 25mm mounts lacked good RPC (i.e. they turned and elevated too slowly to track a fast-moving aircraft). Bismarck benefitted from excellent optical fire control for her AA systems, but had a relatively small suite of weapons. King George V suffers slightly for mostly mounting the 2-pounder pom-pom, which lacked the rate-of-fire and muzzle velocity of the Bofors. Additionally, British high-angle fire-control was not up to American standards (as postwar British studies clearly admitted). Vittorio Veneto was simply hopeless: mediocre guns and not enough of 'em, mediocre fire-control, and complicated sky arcs.

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