Does anyone know of any US Navy gunboats in use today and/or where to get a good picture of one

Question

I'm looking for a the name of and a picture of a gunboat firing some shells. Also, what class of ship is it, if you happen to know (frigate, destroyer, etc.).

Also, if you know the year the ship was launched, that would be great, too.

Answer 1

Modern US Naval vessels seldom use gunfire. While modern frigates and destroyers do have Naval gunfire capabilities, they are with much smaller caliber guns than cruisers and battleships of old had.

Today's Navy relies mainly upon missiles. With a SLCM (Sea Launched Cruise Missile) a ship or submarine can stand off at a long distance, out of range of Silkworm missiles, and attack. This keeps the ship and crew much safer.

Within a carrier battle the aircraft can drop highly accurate "smart-bombs" thus rendering old-style Naval gunfire outdated.

Answer 2

Here is youtube showing a Battleship firing 16 inch guns. The 2nd link has all Navy ships by type. Not much in the way of big guns anymore though. Missiles are where it is at now. For the most part the guns are just for AAA (Anti Aircraft Artillery). Look at the Cruisers, Destroyers and Frigates.

Answer 3

The source below is the link to a searchable data base for all Navy ships, past and present. Many of the ships' individual pages have photos of the ships, including participation in gunnery drills and exercises. There are no gun boats in the current Navy complement of war ships. However, you can view photos of the previous gun boats. All of the ships' pages have the details on keel-laying, commissioning, decommissioning, etc. There is also a link off each ship's page to the Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS) history of that ship.  

Answer 4

Go to www.navy.mil and check out the fact file.