 During 1944–1945, the 5"/38 caliber gun was recognized as the best gun for the dual role of antiaircraft and naval gunfire support, and the 40 mm gun was seen as the best antiaircraft gun.The older 20 mm and .50 caliber guns had been recognized to be of limited value, and were being phased out, though they appeared on some of these ships.The 20 mm guns were later removed from all of them, but it is not clear just when this happened.