NAVAL GUNS

[Hector MackenzieParticipant @hectormackenzie31067]

I notice that the heavy guns ob battle ships and cruisers, where there are three barrels, the one in the middle is shorter, why is this?…; Macforty

[Hector MackenzieParticipant @hectormackenzie31067]

I

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hector.

I believe this has to do with separating the shells a bit as they fly to the target.

As the shells are supersonic, there is a shock wave effect, and if they are too close together it affects the stability and hence accuracy of the shells in flight. The breech of the centre gun is moved back a touch, so the actual barrels are the same length.

HMS Rodney and Nelson (triple barrel turrets) do not have a shorter centre barrel and this is to do with the large shell size and hence shock wave effect. Both ships did not fire all barrels together in a broadside, but used a 5 and 4 volley, as separating the flight by the small amount that moving the centre barrel rearwards would achieve was not enough.

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Two main reasons. Firstly it helps with the internal machinery arrangements within the turret. Secondly if all the muzzles were equidistant from the front of the turret then the shells could interfere with each other from blast effect if they all fire at once as when firing a broadside.

Snap Ashley!

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop on 02/06/2019 17:42:55

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Great minds and all that….

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

The guns of the Nelson and Rodney are interesting as Ashley says. There were all sort of problems with the mountings, blast effects and accuracy which took years to sort out. It all came good when the Rodney effectively demolished the Bismarck though.

The 16 inch gun fired a heavier shell than the 15 inch but at a lower velocity which apparently affected accuracy.

The British 15 inch mounting, initially introduced in the Queen Elizabeth class of 1914, was outstandingly successful and still good enough that spare mountings were used in HMS Vanguard, our last battlehip commissioned in 1946 32 years later.

Vanguard was scrapped in 1960 and I was a lad making sandcastles on the beach on the Isle of Wight when my Dad said to me ' there goes the last British Battleship'. We watched her cross Sandown Bay and disapper around the headland for scrapping in Scotland.

Colin

[Hector MackenzieParticipant @hectormackenzie31067]

thanks fellas for your responsesIm a wiser guy now……Cheers

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