Editing Alaska-class cruiser (section)

== Armament ==

=== Main battery ===
[[Image:USS Guam (CB-2) firing main battery, 1944-45.jpg|thumb|right|''Guam'' firing her main battery during a training session sometime in 1944–1945]]

As built, the ''Alaska'' class had nine [[12"/50 caliber Mark 8 gun|12"/50 caliber]] Mark 8 guns mounted in three triple (3-gun) turrets,<ref name="12/50"/> with two turrets forward and one aft, a configuration known as "2-A-1". The previous 12" gun manufactured for the U.S. Navy was the Mark 7 version, which had been designed for and installed in the 1912 {{sclass|Wyoming|battleship|2}}<nowiki/>s. The Mark 8 was of considerably higher quality; in fact, it "was by far the most powerful weapon of its caliber ever placed in service".<ref>Dulin and Garzke, 190.</ref> Designed in 1939, it weighed {{convert|121856|lb|kg}} including the [[Breech-loading weapon|breech]], and could sustain an average rate of fire of 2.4–3 rounds a minute. It could throw a {{convert|1140|lb|kg|adj=on}} Mark 18 [[Armor-piercing shot and shell|armor-piercing]] shell {{convert|38573|yd|m|0}} at an elevation of 45°, and had a 344-shot barrel life<ref name="12/50"/> (about 54 more than the much larger but similar [[16"/50 caliber Mark 7 gun]] found on the ''Iowa'' battleships.).<ref>{{cite web | last = DiGiulian | first = Tony | title = United States of America 16"/50 (40.6&nbsp;cm) Mark 7 | url = http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_16-50_mk7.htm | publisher = Navweaps.com | date = 7 February 2008 | access-date =16 October 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080921165815/http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_16-50_mk7.htm| archive-date= 21 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> The ''Alaska''s{{'}} Mark 8 guns were the heaviest main battery of any cruiser of World War II, and as capable as the old [[14"/45 caliber gun]] used on the U.S. Navy's pre-treaty battleships.<ref name="12/50"/>

The turrets were very similar to those of the ''Iowa''-class battleships, but differed in several ways; for example, the ''Alaska'' class had a two-stage powder hoist instead of the ''Iowa'' class's one-stage hoist. These differences made operating the guns safer and increased the rate of fire. In addition, a "projectile rammer" was added to ''Alaska'' and ''Guam''. This machine transferred shells from storage on the ship to the rotating ring that fed the guns. However, this feature proved unsatisfactory, and it was not planned for ''Hawaii'' or any subsequent ships.<ref name="12/50"/>

Because ''Alaska'' and ''Guam'' were the only two ships to mount these guns, only ten turrets were made during the war (three for each ship including ''Hawaii'' and one spare). They cost $1,550,000 each and were the most expensive heavy guns purchased by the U.S. Navy in World War II.<ref name=Morison85/>

=== Secondary battery ===
The secondary battery of the ''Alaska'' class was composed of twelve dual-purpose (anti-air and anti-ship) [[5"/38 caliber gun]]s in twin mounts, with four offset on each side of the superstructure (two on each beam) and two centerline turrets fore and aft. The 5"/38 was originally intended for use on only [[destroyer]]s built in the 1930s, but by 1934 and into World War II it was being installed on almost all of the U.S.'s major warships, including aircraft carriers, battleships, and heavy and light cruisers.<ref name="5/38">{{cite web|last=DiGiulian |first=Tony |title=United States of America 5"/38 (12.7&nbsp;cm) Mark 12 |url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-38_mk12.htm |publisher=Navweaps.com |date=27 March 2008 |access-date=25 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905181826/http://navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-38_mk12.htm |archive-date= 5 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Anti-aircraft battery ===
[[File:40mm gun practice on USS Alaska (CB-1), 1945.jpg|thumb|upright|Crew of a [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm Bofors gun]] on ''Alaska'' mount ammunition clips into the loaders of a pair of guns on 6 March 1945 during the [[Battle of Iwo Jima]]]]

Medium anti-aircraft armament (a key component of area air defence within a Task Group) on the ''Alaska''-class ships was 56 x 40mm [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|Bofors gun]]s and for close-in air defence they carried 34 × 20&nbsp;mm guns. These numbers may be compared with; 48 × 40&nbsp;mm and 24 × 20&nbsp;mm on the smaller ''Baltimore''-class heavy cruisers, 60 x 40&nbsp;mm and 36 x 20&nbsp;mm on the larger battleship ''North Carolina'' at the end of the war, and 80 × 40&nbsp;mm and 49 × 20&nbsp;mm on the even larger ''Iowa''-class battleships.<ref name="Alaska DANFS"/><ref>{{cite DANFS | title = Baltimore | url = http://hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/ca68.txt | access-date=15 October 2008|short=yes|link=no| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080906103026/http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/ca68.txt| archive-date= 6 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite DANFS | title = Iowa | url = http://hazegray.org/danfs/battlesh/bb61.htm | access-date=15 October 2008|short=yes|link=no| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080920053724/http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/battlesh/bb61.htm| archive-date= 20 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>