Editing Alaska-class cruiser (section)

=== 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/>