Now that's what I call a gun!

[The Boston Dangler]

Did the US and Russia ever share a battlefield in WW2?

i don't think so. it was UK and US's policy to let the russians do as much of the dying as possible.

 

[BUTCH1]

While a magnificient engineering exercise. A waste of manpower and resources for very little gain.

That's correct but keep in mind the original use was for the French "Maginot line", a line on the border with Germany constructed between wars with extremely thick fortifications, the German generals went to Krupp (the manufacturer) and asked in spefic "what type/size gun would be needed to break those fortification's and could it be done", Krupp gave them the gun they wanted, however the German army simply went through the Ardennes region and outflanked the line, but by that time the gun was already built so they used it in Russia. Overall though your right, it's not a good usage of resources to build and operate such a weapon at all.

 

[Brovane]

That's correct but keep in mind the original use was for the French "Maginot line", a line on the border with Germany constructed between wars with extremely thick fortifications, the German generals went to Krupp (the manufacturer) and asked in spefic "what type/size gun would be needed to break those fortification's and could it be done", Krupp gave them the gun they wanted, however the German army simply went through the Ardennes region and outflanked the line, but by that time the gun was already built so they used it in Russia. Overall though your right, it's not a good usage of resources to build and operate such a weapon at all.

I just don't imagine any fortifications that couldn't be battered down with a smaller weapon like the 280mm K5. The thing still fired a 500+lb shell. The Germans had also a 16" rail road gun that would be more than enough for the job of destroying any fortification. The problem is that you get much above 16" you start having to use dual rail road tracks and a lot of assembly to get everything together. A weapon that takes 3+ weeks to assemble isn't much use.

 

[BUTCH1]

16", 18", even 24" makes no difference. obsolete by over 2 decades is still obsolete.

even in their prime, the dreadnought-class ships were of very limited use. other than jutland, the 1 and only time fleets were engaged the way admirals had conceived from their brandy and pipe smoke-filled leather and hardwood meeting rooms, they spent the majority of time in port, too expensive to risk. this was repeated in ww2. pearl harbor accidentally thrust the US in the right direction.

here's an article on the iowa-class' rangekeeper mark 8, a fantastic piece of work:

http://arstechnica.com/information-...-mechanical-analog-computers-ruled-the-waves/

Everyone learned in WW2 that the Aircraft carrier was the ultimate weapon as it could project it's power hundreds of miles, not 20-25 miles, the range of the main batteries. The Iowa's were necessary though as they provided the ability to bombard with great accuracy before an invasion and there was no risking any planes or pilot's either, they just sat safely offshore and commenced firing, they also provided great AA for the carriers as they were the most targeted in kamikaze attacks, plus if a IJN battleship came in to attack a carrier you defiantly wanted an ability to fight back with something bigger than a destroyer or cruiser.