Turret interior video of 16" naval rifle firing...

[K Frame]

Never seen this video before... Never seen the rifles in recoil. REALLY neat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTW_xpK-Twc

[RocketMan]

I've seen some of those videos listed on YT before but never watched any of them.  Way cool stuff, thanks for posting that.

[MechAg94]

I assuming that air compressor noise was air pumped in to blow fumes out the turret once the breach is open. 

That is a lot of powder being pushed in behind that shell. 

It would be nice to have a turret mounted in my yard, but I probably couldn't afford to hire people to man it.

[MechAg94]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEGrj1Vg19U
On a related note, Drachinifel recently interviewed Captain Larry Seaquist who commanded the USS Iowa in the 80's.  He talked at one point about gunnery practice they did.

[Boomhauer]

A really cool channel is Battleship New Jersey which is hosted by the curator of the museum he does amazing videos and on lots of interesting topics

[WLJ]

Do they make a bump stock for it? Asking for a friend

[MechAg94]

Do they make a bump stock for it? Asking for a friend

If you can carry it, I am sure someone could make an adapter for you.

[AmbulanceDriver]

I assuming that air compressor noise was air pumped in to blow fumes out the turret once the breach is open. 

That is a lot of powder being pushed in behind that shell. 

It would be nice to have a turret mounted in my yard, but I probably couldn't afford to hire people to man it.

Six 105 lb bags.   630 lbs total.   (For the reloaders in the group, that's 4,410,000 grains by weight.   Might need to upgrade your powder scale)

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2013/09/loading-for-a-16-naval-gun-try-these-really-big-powder-sticks/

interesting article on the powder used.   Each "grain" is 1" diameter and 2 1/4" long.

[Brad Johnson]

Watching something that massive move that much that quickly is amazing. The forces involved are hard to comprehend.

Brad

[Hawkmoon]

I thought it was amusing that the guy with the blond crewcut didn't have his ear protection on for the first shot, then he put the muffs on for the reloading procedure. Maybe he thought he wasn't in view for the early part of the video.

There was a scene in the Steven Seagal movie Under Siege showing the firing of one of a battleship's main guns. They showed the process of loading and charging the gun. It wasn't quite as automated, IIRC. I think they had to load each bag of powder individually -- and I think they only used three, not six.

I don't remember if they showed loading it in Battleship.

[K Frame]

"Six 105 lb bags.   630 lbs total."

Slight correction...

Standard for a 16" Mark 6 and 7 naval rifles was 110 pounds per bag, for a 660 pound charge.

[Hawkmoon]

I was wrong about Under Siege -- part of the sequence was below the turret, in the magazine room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mCAd7giD2o

[WLJ]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iowa_16_inch_Gun-EN.svg

[MillCreek]

^^^Holy moly, that is quite a piece of engineering.

[kgbsquirrel]

Never seen this video before... Never seen the rifles in recoil. REALLY neat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTW_xpK-Twc

And believe it or not but that gun has been miniaturized.  The recoil systems and mountings as originally designed were too large and heavy to fit more than two guns per turret.  They fixed that. 

The four recuperators at each corner of the breach box are an amazingly compact design, and the breach itself is its own mechanical marvel.

[230RN]

It's always nice to see another thread on those sixteen inchers.  I love browsing those sites. I was amazed at how small the hole in the breech was for the ignition flame.

I think I understood from someone else on this board a while ago, the last time we had a 16" go-around, that on the back half of the powder bags was a layer of a small amount of black powder to get things going.  Anyone else remember that?

Terry, 230RN

[MechAg94]

And believe it or not but that gun has been miniaturized.  The recoil systems and mountings as originally designed were too large and heavy to fit more than two guns per turret.  They fixed that. 

The four recuperators at each corner of the breach box are an amazingly compact design, and the breach itself is its own mechanical marvel.

75 years or so of development by countries around the world.  Ever since the ironclad with the rotating turret was produced, navies have been improving the gun, mounts, and ammunition (and ships).  Not to mention the armor protecting the entire turret. 

It amazing how far technology jumped in such a short time from the 1860's to 1940's.  I saw a picture noting that aircraft went from the Wright Brother's plane to the Moon in less time. 

[K Frame]

The one video linked below was talking about how they assembled the turrets...

This is a turret from the King George class, the last class of British battleships to see action in WW II, being assembled in the factory floor for testing.

[K Frame]

"I think I understood from someone else on this board a while ago, the last time we had a 16" go-around, that on the back half of the powder bags was a layer of a small amount of black powder to get things going.  Anyone else remember that?"

Yes. I'm probably the one who mentioned that in that thread. IIRC you were asking how the guns were primed for firing.

This site shows some of that information, including a shot showing manufacture of the black powder ignitor components.

http://eerie-indiana.blogspot.com/2014/01/16-naval-gunpowder-bags-as-made-at.html

IIRC that pad held around a pound of black powder, but I may be wrong about the amount.

[K Frame]

And another picture of a turret being assembled in the factory, this one HMS Vanguard, the last British battleship ever built, and which never saw action.