Weapon Information
DD-872 USS FORREST ROYAL


Originally installed in 175 Fletcher class destroyers, the Mk 12 Mod 1, 5-inch/ 38 caliber gun was one of the most successful surface weapons of World War II. Either installed in a single barrel mount in the MK 30 gun mount or in the twin-barreled Mk 38 gun mount, each had the capability of firing a 55 pound projectile over a 9 mile distance, and the Fletcher/Sumner/Gearing class destroyers used these guns from WW II to Vietnam is support of U.S. naval and ground forces. The ROYAL expended some 2,600 rounds of 5-inch projectiles in missions in the I and II Corps area and night harassment and interdiction fire in Da Nang Harbor.



ASROC or Anti-Submarine ROCket, was the Navy's answer to combat Submarines that were within a 5 1/2 mile (10,000 yards) range of the launching destroyer. Using the Mk-44 or Mk-46 acoustic homing torpedo as the payload, the MK-112 rocket-thrown-torpedo system was installed on the FRAM Mk-I ships and was the most successful Anti-Submarine Warfare system created by FRAM. In fact, only recently was ASROC retired from Navy Destroyers.