Defense, Miitary, and Geopolitical Forum
                                                     The Pub | The Field Mess | The Staff College | WAB Bookstore


LOGIN or REGISTER to REMOVE ADS

Go Back   World Affairs Board > History of International Conflict > The World Wars



Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 11-29-2009, 20:31 PM   #1 (permalink)
New Member
 
Join Date: 03-02-09
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 21
Country:
Out of Ammo.

How common was it in World War II for Allied ships to shoot themselves out of ammo on their AA guns. Talking about 5inch, 40MM and 20MM AA guns mainly. I am curious about this because been playing the game called Pacific war and after one or two major air strikes on task forces most ships run dry on AA ammo until you replenish at a port. Think that Destroyers and cruisers might run out, but a battle wagon would take longer.
Yukon65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2009, 16:15 PM   #2 (permalink)
Regular
 
redco's Avatar
 
Join Date: 10-22-09
Posts: 76
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yukon65 View Post
How common was it in World War II for Allied ships to shoot themselves out of ammo on their AA guns. Talking about 5inch, 40MM and 20MM AA guns mainly. I am curious about this because been playing the game called Pacific war and after one or two major air strikes on task forces most ships run dry on AA ammo until you replenish at a port. Think that Destroyers and cruisers might run out, but a battle wagon would take longer.
The loss of a number of RN ships during the Crete evacuation can be directly attributed to the ships running short of AA ammo due to being under constant air attack.
redco is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2009, 22:01 PM   #3 (permalink)
Regular
 
Gus00's Avatar
 
Join Date: 09-29-09
Location: Texas
Posts: 46
Country:
If the game doesn't allow underway replenishment then it has a major flaw.
Gus00 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2009, 13:20 PM   #4 (permalink)
New Member
 
Join Date: 03-02-09
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 21
Country:
Yes the game allows underway replenishment. It becomes available sometime in 1944 for five inch and under ammo other then that you have to head for port for the heavier stuff. My only complaint is that the AI for it is quite stupid. The game has a lot of logistics type stuff in it. It is called War In The Pacific and it is a day by day strategic game and it takes forever to play.
Yukon65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2009, 14:35 PM   #5 (permalink)
Regular
 
redco's Avatar
 
Join Date: 10-22-09
Posts: 76
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yukon65 View Post
The game has a lot of logistics type stuff in it. .
So does the real thing
redco is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-03-2009, 14:55 PM   #6 (permalink)
Defense Professional
Military Professional
 
Albany Rifles's Avatar
 
Join Date: 04-27-07
Location: Prince George, VA
Posts: 3,041
Country:
UNREP was available from mid-42 on.

Unrealistic scenario.
__________________
Frederick the Great's horse was on seven campaigns, but at the end of it all he was still a horse.
Albany Rifles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-03-2009, 17:32 PM   #7 (permalink)
Regular
 
Gus00's Avatar
 
Join Date: 09-29-09
Location: Texas
Posts: 46
Country:
"Major flaw" wasn't the right phrase. I should have said, a serious handicap for the player.

Even before UNREP became routine I'm sure ships would string a bosun's line and share what they could, including ammunition, to keep things going. But I'm just guessing.
Gus00 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-04-2009, 12:45 PM   #8 (permalink)
Defense Professional
 
Dreadnought's Avatar
 
Join Date: 05-12-05
Posts: 11,507
Country:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yukon65 View Post
How common was it in World War II for Allied ships to shoot themselves out of ammo on their AA guns. Talking about 5inch, 40MM and 20MM AA guns mainly. I am curious about this because been playing the game called Pacific war and after one or two major air strikes on task forces most ships run dry on AA ammo until you replenish at a port. Think that Destroyers and cruisers might run out, but a battle wagon would take longer.
US Naval commands had a constant supply of ammunition. Mainly they were based in the Pacific island chains and along with oilers, reefer ships and ammo ships they were constantly on the move particulary during the island hopping campaigns. In other island chains were your floating dry docks and repair ships far away from the enemy but close enough to service damaged war ships.

When the fleet was under way they were replentished by AE's (Ammuntion stores ships) or AEL's (small ammunition ships).

When in port and not being assisted by cranes they were replentished by YE's (Ammunition lighters) and YFT's (Torpedo transport lighters).

*For those that dont understand the term "lighter" its a small motorized barge that came in many forms for the USN.

Ofcoarse this changed dramatically with the use of helocopters during the Korean War.
__________________
Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

Last edited by Dreadnought; 12-04-2009 at 12:48 PM..
Dreadnought is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2009, 13:37 PM   #9 (permalink)
New Member
 
Join Date: 03-02-09
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 21
Country:
During Actual Battle.

Know that the USN in WW II had lots of ways to get ammo and fuel to ships including forward bases. My question is during air attacks on Task Forces did many ships actually run out of AA ammo during a intense attack on a Task Force? Early in World War II know that a few British Navy ships shot off all their AA ammo, just wondering if the same thing happened to the USN or other navies during intense air attack.
Yukon65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Share this thread with friends:



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Case less Ammo vs. Conventional Ammo iar1 Small Arms and Personal Weapons 28 10-02-2009 07:53 AM
Troops use live ammo instead of blanks ned kelly International Economy 32 07-02-2008 03:26 AM
'The Ammo Was Rubbish' troung The War on Terrorism 3 11-28-2006 03:54 AM
1-shot killer, new 5.56 round Ironduke Small Arms and Personal Weapons 10 05-13-2004 23:57 PM

Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.3.2
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 17:09 PM.


Rochen is the business hosting sponsor of World Affairs Board and a provider of reseller hosting and a specialist in joomla hosting services.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.