Above you see the commissioning photo of the USS Tarawa. Notice the two 5 inch guns on its bow?
What happened and why did we lose these weapons?
If the requirements are changing and we expect assault echelon ships to make runs toward the beach to disembark its Marines (since holding at 25 miles off shore is no longer considered any safer than 10 miles in)...then why don't we have these fabulous weapons, along with modern warheads to engage shore based missile batteries, small boats and other threats in the littorals.
Maybe its time to take a blast from the past and put guns back on amphibs!
