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#11
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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. Scamp
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I'd rather be a hammer than a nail, yes I would, I really would. |
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#12
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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.
Scamp
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I'd rather be a hammer than a nail, yes I would, I really would. |
#13
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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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#14
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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:
but there's opposition from the Philippine gov Quote:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakin...rm-environment
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#15
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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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I'd rather be a hammer than a nail, yes I would, I really would. |
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