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Old 02-01-2009, 05:07 AM
Seascamp Seascamp is offline
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Pho,

Just a SWAG, but an 18 inch bore USN cannon would probably be pre-1906 Dreadnaught era. Huge bore cannon were about, but tended to be short barrel and short range; almost mortar in nature. The most famous being the British Royal Navy “Carronade” or as known to the Brit Sailors as the “smasher” or to the Spanish or French Sailors as the “Devil gun”. These bad boys were mounted up along the bow sprint , had a arc deck track; roughly 100 degrees of azimuth capability , loaded a 64 pound ball backed by 500 rounds of musket shot and 12 lbs of black powder propellent charge.
One of the original USN “Fat Frigates” could have mounted Carronades, but I can’t find any specifications thus far.
The HMS Victory, now on display in Portsmouth, UK, has the original Carronades on display, but on the sides of the dry dock and not on the deck of the Victory. Poor old gal was sagging badly due to cannon weight so all iron cannon have been removed, set along the dry dock and wood replicas are used for on-board display.

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Old 02-01-2009, 05:36 AM
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Evidently the Yamoto had canister shot for the 18 inch bore turret guns and as a final act, fired canister at the formations of US attack planes; now that is what I’d call a big, big mama shotgun. Reportedly, the canister shot stripped the rifling out of the turret guns thus rendering them useless for the original mission. No US aircraft damage was reported from the canister shot turret gun salvo. But for whatever it is worth, the Yamoto went out with a thunderous roar, most certainly.

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Old 02-01-2009, 07:24 AM
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Emperor Hirohito and his Command Staff on board Musashi on 24 June 1943


"Ten-Go" Operation, April 1945
Japanese battleship Yamato (magazine) blows up after receiving massive bomb and torpedo damage from U.S. Navy carrier planes, north of Okinawa on 7 April 1945. Three Japanese destroyers are nearby.


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Old 02-01-2009, 07:55 AM
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raise the Musashi???? believe it or not plans are underway to raise it. if there's anything left to raise !!!!!

October 23, 2008
Quote:
In the seas of Sibuyan, Romblon, Philippines where lies once the biggest and most powerful Japanese battleship, the Musashi warship, that was sunk on October 24, 1944 during World War II. In the province of Romblon, Allied forces unleashed torpedos and bombs to the Musashi warship that lead to its destruction and hit the bottom of the Sibuyan Sea.

But there is a report that this once sunken biggest and powerful Japanese warship will refloat again and will become a tourist attraction. Right now, negotiations are under way for the plan of salvaging the sunken Japanese warship, the Musashi warship. This has develop because a Switzerland-based company, the Swiss Global Connect, has offered the service to salvage the Musashi warship and refloat it.


The Swiss company sent a letter to Toshihiko Suzuki, the chief executive officer of AIPAC (Asian Countries and Islands Optical Fiber Communication Establishment and Philippines Properties in Asia) through Filipino businessman Antonio Datuin, Ashroff Gaffoor, director of Swiss Global that they are capable of salvaging the giant Japanese warship.

AIPac will be the one to provide the funding to this project since it was reported that they have billions of Euros and dollars that is deposited in BS Bank in Zurich, Switzerland. Toshihiko Suzuki and Kiyoshi Goto will work with the concerned Philippine Agency in salvaging the sunken Japanese warship since they represents the government of Japan. A foundation in Romblon named ROCHAI (Romblon Homeowners and Cultural Association) headed by its chairman, retired General Dominador Resos, will be the project proponent. Resos and the group of Suzuki has been working together on the salvaging project and are planing to make this warship into a tourist attraction.

The sunken Japanese warship, the Musashi warship, will be towed to the Carabao Island once it is refloted and will be converted and develop into a war museum. Carabao Island will be developed into a tourist spot. Residents and locals of this province and nearby province will benefit in this project since internation airport, seaport, hotels and other world class amenities will be develop.

Not only in tourism that the refloating of the sunken Japanese Musashi warship is proposing but this is also a tribute to the friendship of the Filipino and Japanese people. Many people will benefit in this project especially the relatives of the crews of the sunken vessel.

Dubbed as the world’s biggest battleship, Japan’s Musashi with a crew contingent of 3,500 (not 1,023 as some historians claim) to its watery grave some 1,000 meters underwater in the Sibuyan Sea.

but there's opposition from the Philippine gov
Quote:
Raising Musashi could harm environment


By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 19:35:00 10/22/2008

Filed Under: War, Environmental Issues


MANILA, Philippines—Opposition Senator Loren Legarda is against a plan to bring to surface the Japanese warship Musashi, which sank off Romblon province 64 years ago during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea.

Legarda said raising Musashi, among the largest and most heavily-armed battleships ever built, could imperil the marine ecosystem in the area.

“Surely, the warship is now home to marine life off the island of Romblon. Refloating it now would invite damage to the marine ecosystem there," she said in a statement on Wednesday.

Legarda’s warning came after a group of Japanese, headed by a government representative Kiyoshi Goto, offered to refloat the shipwreck found 4,430 feet under water at 13 degrees 07'01" North, 122 degrees 31'59" East, off the Bondoc Peninsula.

Musashi sank during intense air attacks by American forces on October 24, 1944.

The Japanese group said “refloating the warship is in honor of the friendship between the Japanese and the Filipino people."

Legarda insisted that the environmental concerns should be addressed first, even as she acknowledged the historical significance of bringing the battleship to surface.

"If this ship will ever be raised from the bottom of the sea, it should serve as a memorial to those who risked and sacrificed their lives for freedom and love of country," she said.

"Like any war relic, it must serve as a reminder to the present and future generations of the senselessness of war,” she further said.

The Musashi was the second and final Yamato class battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, with the legendary Yamato as its sister ship.

Attacked by American dive bombers, the Musashi capsized to port, bringing down with her about 1,000 of her 2,299 crew.
http://www.etravelpilipinas.com/phil...s-services.htm

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakin...rm-environment
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Old 02-01-2009, 09:26 AM
Seascamp Seascamp is offline
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Memory being imperfect, here is the data on the Carronade. This is from the HMS Victory web site. This is the HMS Victory in dry dock at Portsmouth.


The Carronade: The carronades fitted in the Victory fired a 68 lb. (30.6 kg) ball, using a powder charge of 6.5 lbs. (3 kg) from a barrel 5ft 2" (1.6 m) long, weighing 36 cwt. (1.8 tonnes). A gun crew of 5 men were required to service the gun.
The merits of the standard ship's gun by comparison to the carronade must be made of the use for which each was put. The gun was a high velocity weapon ideal for naval battles at long range. When it was used at close range the powder charge would be reduced to prevent the ball passing right through the hull of the enemy vessel. The carronade was a low velocity, low charge, short barreled weapon firing a large ball at close range (approx. 400yds or 364 m). With low velocity the ball did not necessarily pass through the side of the enemy ship but the action of striking caused massive splinters to be dislodged from the inside walls which whirled around the decks causing death and horrific wounds to the guns' crews. The carronade earned the nickname of 'smasher' or 'devil gun'.

The design of the carronade was unlike the standard gun as it incorporated some novel features. The diameter of an ordinary round shot was such that it was a fairly loose fit in the bore. With the carronade the diameter of the round shot was much more accurately maintained during manufacture and fitted the bore better. If the windage was small the gun had better accuracy and range, also less powder charge was needed to push it out of the barrel for the same range.
The carronade was also the first gun to be fitted with a dispart sight. The ability to aim the gun was further improved by the fitting of an elevating screen to the rear of the gun so dispensing with the quoin or wedge.
The carronade carriage was a novel design. It was a simple block of timber (the sliding bed) with a pair of trunnion brackets at the front, a recoil pin and a plate to take the butt of the elevating screw. The underside of the carronade was fitted with a lug instead of side trunnions and a pin passed through both the trunnion brackets and the lug. The sliding bed sat on a training bed, which was fitted with a pivot pin fastened to a block of wood secured to the deck against the ship's bulwark. The rear of the training bed was supported on two wooden 5" trucks (wheels). A longitudinal slot in the centre of the training bed received the recoil pin from the sliding bed and allowed the carriage to recoil until stopped by the breeching line, which ran through the breeching loop, side rings of the carriage to the ship's side.
The first gun of the Victory to fire at Trafalgar was the larboard (port) carronade. It was loaded with a 6.5 lb. (3 kg) powder charge, a 68 1b. (30.6 kg) round shot and a keg of 500 musket balls and went into the stern of the French flagship Bucentaure. This was one of the main advantages of the weapon, its ability to deliver a massive weight of shot compared to a cannon of the same weight and barrel length.
Where guns and carronades were combined in the ship's armament they became a potent force but on their own they were ineffective against cannon which could out range them. The carronades were made by the Carron Company in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland.
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