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Dave Archibald

Better wear you ear plugs!!!!

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18 minutes ago, Scorpio64 said:

So much gunpowder.  One shell would give me a lifetime of reloads.  I wonder what the burn rate is....

It would be very slow, compared to any small arms powder.

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On 10/30/2020 at 1:35 PM, RUTGERS95 said:

takes quite a bit of time to reload

Not that much time.  Big problem is barrel life was around 300 rounds.

According to Jane's Fighting Ships (circa WW II), the muzzle velocity (MV) was up to 2800 fps with a 2100 pound shell and muzzle energy was 98,406 ft. tons. The rate of fire was about two rounds per minute.

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55 minutes ago, PeteF said:

Not that much time.  Big problem is barrel life was around 300 rounds.

According to Jane's Fighting Ships (circa WW II), the muzzle velocity (MV) was up to 2800 fps with a 2100 pound shell and muzzle energy was 98,406 ft. tons. The rate of fire was about two rounds per minute.

awesome info!  thanks

my God, shooting a shell that big at 2800fps is something to really be in awe about.  Some of the scenes of these guns pounding islands was a sight to behold.  Love me some Big J!

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46 minutes ago, Krdshrk said:

Love how he didn't put his hearing pro on until AFTER the gun fired :D

I've done that. Electric ear pro is great because I can hear normally with them on. Unfortunately, sometimes I forget I took them off. Very glad I have a PWS CQB compensator on my 12" other. It would have likely been much worse. 

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@Dave Archibald, @RUTGERS95, @Scorpio64, @10X, @ChrisJM981, @Krdshrk and @PeteF

Iowa Class .50 caliber 16 Inch rifles have the ability, when combined with a well-trained crew and the state-of-the-art analog computer system they employ, to put 27 shells (3 full broadside salvo's) onto a target the size of a football field, from over 20 miles away, SIMULTANEOUSLY!  They can do this by altering the trajectory & thus the height of each fired salvo, and have ALL 3 SALVO'S HIT AT ONCE! 

Prior to the Iowa Class, we had the South Dakota Class BB's.  Battleship Massachusetts is a sister ship of this Class.  It's a museum ship in Battleship Cove, located in Fall River, MA.  Many years ago I slept aboard her, in an enlisted man's "rack", when we took our entire Boy Scout Troop (I was their Charter Organization Representative--COR).  On the wall near the crew's mess was a huge photo of the Massachusetts firing a THIRD salvo from her .45 caliber rifles and you could see the 16 inch HE & AP rounds IN THE AIR when the picture was taken.  In fact, the photo and the rack I speak of is in this video.  Also a great pic of the secondary magazine where sailors manually fed 5" .38 caliber rounds to the elevators to feed the twin 5' mounts.  

The Tin Can Sailor's museum is alongside the Massachusetts, aboard the Joseph P. Kennedy, a Destroyer named after JFK's brother who was blown-up in an experiment trying to rig a bomber to fly as a drone during WW2!  There's also PT boats, a Higgins landing craft and a Fleet Class WW2 sub museum exhibits.  Spend a weekend there if you can!

 

 

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2 hours ago, Smokin .50 said:

@Dave Archibald, @RUTGERS95, @Scorpio64, @10X, @ChrisJM981, @Krdshrk and @PeteF

Iowa Class .50 caliber 16 Inch rifles have the ability, when combined with a well-trained crew and the state-of-the-art analog computer system they employ, to put 27 shells (3 full broadside salvo's) onto a target the size of a football field, from over 20 miles away, SIMULTANEOUSLY!  They can do this by altering the trajectory & thus the height of each fired salvo, and have ALL 3 SALVO'S HIT AT ONCE! 

On the wall near the crew's mess was a huge photo of the Massachusetts firing a THIRD salvo from her .45 caliber  

Also a great pic of the secondary magazine where sailors manually fed 5" .38 caliber rounds to the elevators to feed the twin 5' mounts.  

Them there are some mighty short barrels ;)

The multiple round simultaneous impact missions are devestating.  There is no place to hide.  Everything in or near the target area is gone.  Witnessed testing on 4 M109a6 paladins firing 3 rnd mrsi.  12 rounds all landing within a few seconds.  Awesome.   

Scale that up from 95lb shells to 1.5 ton shells and 2x as many.  There are no words.

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5 hours ago, Smokin .50 said:

@Dave Archibald, @RUTGERS95, @Scorpio64, @10X, @ChrisJM981, @Krdshrk and @PeteF

Iowa Class .50 caliber 16 Inch rifles have the ability, when combined with a well-trained crew and the state-of-the-art analog computer system they employ, to put 27 shells (3 full broadside salvo's) onto a target the size of a football field, from over 20 miles away, SIMULTANEOUSLY!  They can do this by altering the trajectory & thus the height of each fired salvo, and have ALL 3 SALVO'S HIT AT ONCE! 

P...

 

Rosey, I hate to nitpick but I do want to point out an inaccuracy of the data you present.  During the 1980s refits, each turret received a DR-810 radar that measured the muzzle velocity of each gun which made it easier to predict the velocity of succeeding shots, making the accuracy at this point in time the greatest ever in their service history.  Since, during test shoots off of Crete in 1987, 15 shells were fired from 34,000 yards which is a hair under 20 miles.  For greater accuracy, they were not simultaneous full salvos.  They fired only the right-hand barrel from each turret, 5 times, one at a time.  The accuracy observed was as follows. 220 yard pattern size, 0.64% of total range.  14 out of 15 shells landed within 250 yards of the center of the pattern and 8 were within 150 yards.  Shell to shell dispersion was 123 yards or 0.36% total range.

Long story short, they fired under more accurate conditions than full salvos, at less than 20 miles, and got lesser accuracy than you quote.  But, that's not to say it's unimpressive...it is still mind numbing reading the range tables.

You can read the range tables here for those who want to dive deeper on naval gunnery.  It is exceptionally fascinating.  https://www.eugeneleeslover.com/USN-GUNS-AND-RANGE-TABLES/OP-770-1.html 

 

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59 minutes ago, Pew Pew Plates said:

Rosey, I hate to nitpick but I do want to point out an inaccuracy of the data you present.  During the 1980s refits, each turret received a DR-810 radar that measured the muzzle velocity of each gun which made it easier to predict the velocity of succeeding shots, making the accuracy at this point in time the greatest ever in their service history.  Since, during test shoots off of Crete in 1987, 15 shells were fired from 34,000 yards which is a hair under 20 miles.  For greater accuracy, they were not simultaneous full salvos.  They fired only the right-hand barrel from each turret, 5 times, one at a time.  The accuracy observed was as follows. 220 yard pattern size, 0.64% of total range.  14 out of 15 shells landed within 250 yards of the center of the pattern and 8 were within 150 yards.  Shell to shell dispersion was 123 yards or 0.36% total range.

Long story short, they fired under more accurate conditions than full salvos, at less than 20 miles, and got lesser accuracy than you quote.  But, that's not to say it's unimpressive...it is still mind numbing reading the range tables.

You can read the range tables here for those who want to dive deeper on naval gunnery.  It is exceptionally fascinating.  https://www.eugeneleeslover.com/USN-GUNS-AND-RANGE-TABLES/OP-770-1.html 

 

Nitpick away & please keep doing it!  I want to be accurate!  Glenn, truth be told I never looked it up, I was merely repeating what was told to me by a tour guide...so I stand corrected & thank-you!

Was thinking of you, Tom, Liz & the family as we were coming home from Sinking Spring, PA on Monday.  Driving by the Reading Airport with memories of fond times watching the reenactors, and getting a ride in your Staff Car.  Here's hopin' & wishin' the WW2 Weekend is a GO in 2021!

All the best!

Rosey

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/BB6...

 

 

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