Naval Mark 7 16 inch cannons article

[edler7]

I found this article about the 16 inch cannons from the Iowa class battle ships. It looks like the barrels and projectiles are about to be cut up and sold for scrap unless they can find new homes.

I'll take a couple !

Anybody want to take on a casting a boolit for these babys ?

http://www.guns.com/2013/07/03/save-...loudly-videos/

[popper]

No, I high-lined enough of the Mark 15 8" projectiles to last me a lifetime.

These self-loading guns with lined monobloc construction and vertical sliding breech blocks weighed about 20 tons. (sic. 3 gun turret is 300 tons)Semi-fixed ammunition (projectile and powder case handled separately) with 78 pounds (35 kg) of smokeless powder gave a 335-pound (152 kg) projectile a velocity of 2500 feet per second (760 m/s).[1] Each gun could fire about ten rounds per minute. Range was 17 miles (27 kilometers) at the maximum elevation of 41 degrees.

[JeffinNZ]

Still doing over 1600fps at 40K yards! And each shot is more than a lifetime of powder for me.

[btroj]

Anyone make a mould for an appropriate projectile?

[oneokie]

Some of those cannon barrels were listed on the govliquidation site earlier this year.

[bob208]

I guess one of them on a mount in the front yard would trump. the swat teams armored suv.

[BruceB]

What is a 16-inch/50cal armor-piercing round?

This is the naval method of describing a gun; in this case, it is a gun with bore diameter of sixteen inches and a barrel length of fifty calibers, i.e.: 16" x 50 = 800"........ almost sixty-seven FEET. There's nothing subtle about such a weapon!

Armor-piercing is simply a type of projectile intended for use against other heavily-armored vessels, where the round might have to penetrate a couple of feet of hard steel before exploding..... as opposed to a regular high-explosive shell which detonates immediately on impact. HE was used for such things as shore bombardment or unarmored vessels.

[pipehand]

You think if we went in together and cut a barrel into 30" pieces, it would be suitable for an NEF stub barrel conversion?

[beagle]

I have seen the terminal affects of the New Jersey's 16 inchers in VN. Impressive amount of firepower./beagle

[jmort]

My dad was on the New Jersey during WWII and he said the 16" guns made a big impression. Rock the boat. He was assigned to the 5" cannons. Thanks for the link. Picture of the New Jersey firing all the 16's at once is too cool.

[uscra112]

Talked with a guy at either Watertown or Watervliet Arsenal in the late '70s who claimed that those 16" liners were only good for a hundred rounds. (I worked for a machine tool rebuild/repair outfit back then, and did jobs in both places.) When I were a wee sprout growing up nearby, they still had anti-aircraft guns in place around the Watertown Arsenal. Then a little later it was Nike missiles.

[rondog]

U.S.S. Wisconsin giving the guns a workout, pure awesome!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ATYPr...%3D-5ATYPrZnSQ

[ragsflh]

look great in my yd.that would impress the neighbors

[pipehand]

I remember looking at the DRMO auction site a few years ago, and the machinery to rifle naval gun tubes was up for bid. The location was listed as Watervliet Arsenal. Watertown must have been a busy place during WW II.

[MUSTANG]

I believe that it was Guns and Ammo that published an article that highlighted the 16" 50 Caliber Guns of the Iowa Class Battleships as equal or exceeding long range "Varmint" gun accuracy. Seems the article was back in the late 1970's or early 1980's if my memory serves me.

Mustang

[Digger]

Had some picks from the San Fran paper I had saved ... they set up a display at one of the original sites on the coast before you get into the bay in frisco ...
Think they brought one of the pieces in from Harter's neighborhood out in Hawhorne , Nevada ...
Attachment 89602
Attachment 89603
Attachment 89604Attachment 89605

[Harter66]

Yep that looks like 1 of ours.......... Sadly gentlemen 11 of those 12 bbls were chopped up over a yr ago. 3 of those bbls were removed from the Iowa after the blow up.

I have a proof sheet in all my stuff from Aberdeen NM for proppelling charges for 8'' 47's . 47# of powder behind a ''nominal'' projectile (150-275 lbs) developed 35,000 psi at the breech block and 2700 fps.

The original rating for AP howies was bore inches for AP inches, IG, 8'' gun for 8'' of armour. That changed of course during WWI.

I was told the LORAN slaved last generation 16's would drop rocket assisted shells into a football field (inside the grid lines) at 60 miles. A good gun crew and chief could get them in the stadium w/good spotters at 30 miles in WWII.

[Harter66]

I'd bet that, that bbl is the 1 from the Iowa that is memorialized. Thanks Digger.
Very apropriate to me. I've lots of ''connections'' to all of this. 12/7 just hrs away and all........

[popper]

Fun watching the 8" bbl replacement when they pulled her back from the blockade, which ended before she got back on-line.

[Digger]

Your most welcome there Harter , did not realize the significance of the article but kept copies of the pics for another individual that I work with that was in the Navy on a cruiser back when , he enjoyed them greatly.
While going back over this thread here this evening .... looking at that small map.
I googled "Battery Townsley" .... and found this ... very enjoyable , history and pics and best of all ...
details on that particular gun as it happened to be in attendance at a very important moment in history ..
It includes a pic or two of that piece out there in Hawthorne ... click on the links they provide and they will show more details ... also explore the page for the history of " Battery Townsley"
Thanks to the OP for bringing the subject up ...have really enjoyed the research this evening.
Link ...
http://www.nps.gov/goga/historyculture/new-gun.htm
Also here .....
https://www.google.com/search?q=battery+townsley+open+house&client=firefo x-a&hs=kXX&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=gL6iUub vFcfZoASW3YCoCg&ved=0CFAQsAQ&biw=1120&bih=612&dpr= 1.5