The Mighty Mo.
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I was at Pearl Harbor today, vacationing, so I was on the USS Missouri and was looking at the large turret guns. I was talking to a volunteer guide that really knew his subject. So those canons were loaded with 660lbs of powder and a 2700 lb. projectile. They would aim at targets 25 miles away! I asked how they could aim at a target 25 miles away and was told with radar and a spotter plane. Talk about a hot load, 660 lbs of powder in 1 round. Off subject but I also asked how long the anchor chain was, 1100 ft. Each link of that chain wieghs 120 lbs, this is serious stuff here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Larry, Moe, Curly
Larry, Darrell, Darrell
Huey, Louie, Dewey
If I'm remembering correctly.
Larry, Darrell, Darrell
Huey, Louie, Dewey
If I'm remembering correctly.
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716 Posts
"Mo bigger is mo better" 
The biggest thing I've seen fired was a 120mm - that was impressive, but I can hardly imagine something almost 4X larger! And that is only in diameter - projectiles increase in relation to cross sectional area - so it more like 12 X larger in practical terms!
Riposte
The biggest thing I've seen fired was a 120mm - that was impressive, but I can hardly imagine something almost 4X larger! And that is only in diameter - projectiles increase in relation to cross sectional area - so it more like 12 X larger in practical terms!
Riposte
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Heyyyy, what a great use for Coopers and Prius’s.
The Coopers are probably more accurate though. More of a boat tail design as opposed to the smashed flat end of the Prius….😲
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Imagine taking a Mini-Cooper and throwing it 25 miles accurately. Those Missouri (oops), make that Iowa class battleships were amazing dreadnaughts!
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The Navy called the 16" guns on the battleships rifles...
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I remember shooting 105 Howitzer out of the aft left side of our AC-130’s. Incredible shooting a gun like that down on targets…amazing accuracy. Made the aircraft move sideways a bit when fired. But that 105 was puny compared to those big 16” “rifles.”
But that 105 was puny compared to those big 16” “rifles.”
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That is what I thought as well........naval rifles since they were actually rifled barrels.
I've been sick the past few days and have been watching YouTube movies. "The Battle of Archimedes" is a Japanese made flick that is centered around the design/politics/construction/sinking of the battleship Yamato. The opening scenes alone are worth watching.
The Yamato, even though is sits at the bottom of the Pacific, is still to this day a source of pride to the Japanese people, and it has become part of their cultural lore......with it's 18" guns!
-E-
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Naval guns again, as the Zumwalt class ships now have a 155mm smooth bore
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And we think Unique is hard to meter. If I remember correctly, the barrels had liners that could be replaced as they wore out. Can't recall how many rounds they could shoot before the liners needed replacing and I believe the number of rounds differed between AP and HE shells. Not quite as simple as the good old .45acp.
Grumpy
If I remember correctly, the barrels had liners that could be replaced as they wore out. Can't recall how many rounds they could shoot before the liners needed replacing and I believe the number of rounds differed between AP and HE shells. Not quite as simple as the good old .45acp.Grumpy
Everything I just found and read uses the term "naval gun" - not once did I see the term " naval rifle". It doesn't matter - they are not "canons".
When you guys showed up it was like a gift from heaven. We knew our chances of living to fight another day just went up.I remember shooting 105 Howitzer out of the aft left side of our AC-130’s. Incredible shooting a gun like that down on targets…amazing accuracy. Made the aircraft move sideways a bit when fired.
Thx for being there when we needed you.
Welcome home.
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