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Super-heavy AP shells

WIP -- Super-heavy armor piercing shells were specialized armor-piercing (AP) shells developed by the United States Navy (USN) for use with several naval gun systems. Markedly heavier than "standard" AP shells of equivalent size, super-heavy shells were designed to increase armor-penetration performance. Utilized operationally initially in the late interwar period through the Cold War, super-heavy AP shells represented an integral component of USN naval artillery capabilities. -- WIP

Development (WIP)

During the interwar period the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, 1930 London Naval Treaty, and the 1936 London Naval Treaty would restrict warship displacement and naval gun size. In the 1930s, even with the United States’ primary potential naval opponents adhering to these treaties, the USN was still concerned about the increasing world tension leading to an unregulated naval arms race, as had occurred in the lead-up to World War I. The Royal Navy’s 1906 HMS Dreadnought lent her name to an entire generation of dreadnoughts, themselves leading to super-dreadnoughts; armored cruisers and protected cruisers would lead to light cruisers, heavy cruisers, and battlecruisers. Consistentamong these design evolutions, however, were the ballooning vessel displacements and main battery sizes.

With the USN Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) acknowledging this historical precedent, and with their own development of 16-inch guns for the Colorado-class, it became apparent that naval powers such as Nazi Germany’s Krigesmarine or (of most concern to the USN) the Imperial Japanese Navy might develop guns that USN battleships were not armored against. However, bound by treaty, the USN was restricted from developing guns larger than the extant 16-inch guns. As such, in the early 1930s, BuOrd began investigating the possibility of improving armor-penetration capabilities of current weapons systems, primarily via improved ammunition types.

The first experiments occurred with the Colorado-class main battery; by the mid-1930s, the 2,240 lb (1,016 kg) Mark 5 "heavy" AP shell was developed, replacing the 2,110 lb (957 kg) Mark 3 shell, a roughly 6.2% increase in weight. The additional weight was attained via the hardening and thickening of the shells’ ballistic cap (with the downside of a reduced bursting charge). However, this 6.2% increase weight resulted in a roughly 10% increase in deck penetration capability; The heavier, lower-velocity shell flew in a higher-arching trajectory, resulting in less-oblique contact with armor. BuOrd would note that such "heavy" shells also had the potential to reduce belt armor penetration in medium-range engagements, but it it was felt that the increased deck penetration gained in long-range engagements more than made-up for this.

In 1934, Imperial Japan announced their intention to repudiate the 1930 London Naval Treaty starting in 1936. As such, the 1936 London Naval Treaty, while officially capping gun-size at 14-inches, added an "escalator clause" which specified that non-adherence to the previous series of treaties would permit signatories to begin utilizing 16-inch guns again. This clause would lead directly to the primary armament schemes of the North Carolina-class, South Dakota-class, Iowa-class, and the abortive Montana-class of fast battleships. Even with the return of 16-inch guns, the USN Bureau of Construction and Repair began creating draft sketches of 18- and 20-inch gun ships.

On July 10, 1937, President Roosevelt, in-response to the Imperial Japanese naval treaty abrogation, ordered that the mid-construction North Carolina-class be armed with 16-inch/45-caliber Mark 6 guns vice the 14-inch/50-caliber Mark "B" guns. Initially, the 2,240 lb (1,016 kg) Mark 5 "heavy" AP shell (originally developed for the Colorado-class) was to be used vice the standard 2,110 lb (957 kg) Mark 3 shell. However, the North Carolina-class, despite mounting similar main guns as the Colorado-class (16-inch/45-caliber Mark 6 guns vice the Colorado-class 16-inch/45-caliber Mark 1, Mark 5, or Mark 8 guns) could utilize both heavier and slightly longer shells, due to upgraded handling and loading equipment. As such, BuOrd developed the 2,700 lb (1,225 kg) Mark 8 AP shell, the first "super-heavy" shell.

In addition to battleship shells, BuOrd developed super-heavy shells for both 6-inch (light cruiser) guns and 8-inch (heavy cruiser) guns. Super-heavy shells were also created for the 12-inch guns of the Alaska-class "large cruisers."

Marineküstenpolizei

The Marineküstenpolizei (MKP) (German: [maʁi:nəkʏstənpo:lɪt͡saɪ̯]; lit. 'Navy Coastal Police') were the military police of the WWII-era Nazi German navy (the Kriegsmarine). Charged with enforcing discipline among Kriegsmarine personnel, enforcing military and naval law, as well as the laws of Nazi Germany and occupied territories. MKP personnel could be assigned to naval vessels, to MKP-operated patrol boats, or to shore-based law enforcement duties. MKP personnel were the Kriegsmarine's equivalent of the Feldgendarmerie (and later, the Feldjägerkorps) of the Heer, the Luftwaffe's Feldgendarmerie, and the SS-Feldgendarmerie of the Waffen-SS.

USBI

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of Utah is a state-level criminal investigatory law enforcement agency.