Editing Tennessee-class battleship (section)

===Armament===
[[File:USS California (BB-44) after turrets.jpg|thumb|''California''{{'}}s aft turrets]]
The ships were armed with a main battery of twelve [[14"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|14|in|adj=on|0}} /50 caliber Mark IV guns]]<ref group=Note>A 50 [[caliber (artillery)|caliber]] gun has a length 50 times its bore diameter.</ref> in four triple [[gun turret|turrets]], placed on the centerline in [[superfire|superfiring pairs]] forward and aft of the [[superstructure]]. Unlike earlier American battleships with triple turrets, these mounts allowed each barrel to elevate independently.{{sfn|Friedman 1986|p=117}} Since ''Tennessee'' and ''California'' were laid down after the [[Battle of Jutland]] of mid-year 1916, which demonstrated the value of very long-range [[plunging fire]], their main battery turrets were modified while still under construction to allow elevation to 30&nbsp;degrees.{{sfn|Friedman|1985|p=135}} This provided a maximum range of {{convert|35100|yd}} with the standard {{convert|1500|lb|adj=on}} [[armor-piercing shell]], which was fired with a [[muzzle velocity]] of {{cvt|2625|ft/s}}. With the lighter {{cvt|1275|lb}} high-capacity shell, the muzzle velocity increased to {{cvt|2825|ft/s}} for a correspondingly greater range of {{cvt|36650|yd}}.{{sfn|Cracknell|p=205}} The guns suffered from excessive dispersion of shot, which was eventually discovered to have been caused by overly lengthy [[Chamber (firearms)|chambers]], which allowed a gap between the shell and the propellant charges. The problem was eventually corrected with the Mark VII gun.{{sfn|Friedman|2011|p=163}}

The [[secondary armament|secondary battery]] consisted of fourteen [[5"/51 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|adj=on|0}} /51 caliber guns]], ten of which were mounted in individual [[casemate]]s clustered in the superstructure [[amidships]] at 01 deck level, one deck higher than the main deck. Six of the guns were arranged to fire forward and four were pointed aft. The remaining four guns were placed in open pivot mounts another deck higher at 02 level; two were placed abreast the conning tower and the others placed on either side of the funnels. Initially, the ships were to have been fitted with twenty-two of the guns, but experiences in the [[North Sea]] during [[World War I]] demonstrated that the additional guns, which would have been placed in the hull, would have been unusable in anything but calm seas. As a result, the casemates were plated over to prevent flooding.{{sfn|Friedman 1986|p=117}}{{sfn|Cracknell|p=205}} The guns were the Mark VIII type, which had a muzzle velocity of {{cvt|3150|ft/s}} firing a {{cvt|50|lb}} shell.{{sfn|Friedman|2011|p=185}}

The battleships carried four [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|adj=on|0}}/50 caliber Mark X guns]] for anti-aircraft defense. These guns were located on the 02 deck, with two on either side of the boat cranes and the other two abreast of the mainmast. The guns fired a {{cvt|13|lb}} shell at a velocity of {{cvt|2700|ft/s}}. They also carried a variety of other guns, including four 6-pounder [[saluting gun]]s and a 3-inch Mark XI [[field gun]] and several [[machine gun]]s for use by [[landing party|landing parties]].{{sfn|Friedman|2011|pp=193–194}}{{sfn|Cracknell|pp=205, 207}}

In addition to their gun armament, the ''Tennessee''-class ships were also fitted with a pair of {{convert|21|in|adj=on|0}} [[torpedo tube]]s, with one mounted submerged in the hull on each [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]].{{sfn|Friedman 1986|p=117}} They were supplied with [[Bliss-Leavitt torpedo]]es of the Mark VII type; these carried a {{cvt|321|lb}} [[warhead]] and had a range of {{cvt|12500|yd}} at a speed of {{cvt|27|kn}}.{{sfn|Friedman|2011|pp=342–343}}