Naval gunfire support
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Naval gunfire support (NGFS) comprises the use of naval artillery to provide fire support support for amphibious assault troops.
Naval gunfire is one of the three main components of amphibious warfare assault operations support, along with aircraft and ship-launced missiles.
World War II
Naval gunfire against fortresses is as old as the use of cannon on ships. The practice reached its zenith during World War II, when the availabilty of man-portable radio systems and sophisticated relay networks allowed forward observers to transmit targeting information and provide almost instant accuracy reports — once troops had landed. Battleships, cruises and destroyers would pound shore installations, sometimes for days, in the hope of reducing fortifications and attriting defending forces. Obsolete batttleships unfit for combat against other ships were often used as floating gun platforms expressly for this purpose. However, given the relatively primitive nature of the fire control computers and radar of the era, accuracy was incredibly low until troops actually hit the beach and were able to radio back reports to the ship — usually after great numbers of them had died. The solution was to engage in longer and longer bombardment periods — up to almost two weeks, in some cases— saturating target areas with fire until a lucky few shells had destroyed all the intended targets. This had the unfortunate effect of "telegraphing the punch", alerting an enemy that he was about to be attacked. In the Pacific War, this mattered little, as the antagonists were usually expecting their island strongholds to be invaded at some point and had already committed whatever combat resources were available. Bombardment periods were usually shorter in the European theater, where surprise was more often valued and ships' guns were responding to the movements of mobile defenders, not whittling away at static fortifications.
Naval gunfire could often reach as far as 10 miles inland, and were often used to supplement land-based artillery. The heavy-caliber guns of some eighteen battleships and cruisers were used to stop German Panzer counterattack at Salerno. Naval gunfire was also used to help curb German operations in Normandy, although the surprise nature of the attack precluded the drawn-out bombardment neccesary to reduce the Atlantic Wall sufficient to reduce the horrendous casualties suffered, especially at the American beaches (Omaha & Utah).
Vietnam era
Task Unit 70.8.9, the Naval Gunfire Support Unit, was made up of destroyers, usually armed with the rapid fire five inch fifty four caliber guns, and continuously patrolled the coast of South Vietnam to provide NGFS at short notice. If greater firepower was required then larger gunned cruisers were called in for reinforcements. NGFS was controlled by the United States Marines First Air/Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) who provided spotters, usually airborne in light aircraft but sometimes on foot, in all military regions.Template:Navy-stub