The famous 5"/38 could fire up to 20 rounds per minute. When firing from a dual mount this could cause interference problems, and the firing rate for each individual gun had to be slower. The new 5"/54 was an auto-firing gun which could put out 40 rounds per minute on a good day, much faster than could ever be effective in long-range combat. For close-in work this made it much more effective than the older gun, even in a dual mount. A dual mount would be impractical for a true rapid-fire gun. They were suplemented with several 3" guns for AA work.
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“Never do anything you can't take back.”
—Rocky Russo
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