I served briefly on the ss Grampus to do a three day asw evaluation. The sonar crew did well. Later during asw exercises aboard Rowe dd564 we knocked out all her running lights with hand grenades encased in rolls of toilet paper. Some fun.
That was an advantage with the radials in warplanes. No vulnerable cooling system for gun fire to destroy. I have flown enough radials to know of whence I speak.
Walter Chrysler was commissioned by the army to develop the hemi engine specifically for the p47. He was successful but the war ended before it could come into use.