The 16-inch Gun The decision of the United States government
to adopt 16- inch guns for their two new battleships marks the end of limitation in big ship armaments, and may restart the trend towards monstrously large ships, which was checked by the Washington Treaty of 1922. But the decision comes as no surprise ; it was rendered almost inevitable by Japan's refusal to adhere to the 14-inch limit which all the other signatories of the Washington Treaty accepted after last year's London Conference, on condition that such acceptance was unanimous. Whether other powers will feel compelled - to follow Japan's bad example remains to be seen. The five battleships now building for this country will mount 14-inch guns only, and the six ships under construction in French, German and Italian yards are all designed for r5-inch guns. Bigger guns mean bigger ships to carry them. For the weight of turrets, armour, ammunition and machinery needed for any calibre larger than 14 inches is likely to be too great for a ship displacing 35,000 tons, the limit laid down in the London Treaty. Yet war-time experience shows that there is a limit to the value of increasingly big guns. Above a certain point the rate of fire, the number of guns in a salvo, and the limits of visibility are more important considerations than the size of the guns.
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