Thirty million foot/pounds of energy at the muzzle.

[Will Carry]

I just calculated the muzzle energy of a 16inch gun from an Iowa class battleship.

A 2500 lb projectile at 2700 ft/sec. My calculations could be off.

[dats82]

Good to know, but I am afraid that you, sir, have too much time on your hands.

[MacGyver]

The 16 inch guns on the old Iowa class Battleships were amazing!

[mikegideon]

A .45 acp is a million :-)

[Guest mustangdave]

and to think there was an 18 inch Naval rifle on the drawing board to be fitted to the next class of Battle wagon...the Montana class

[VolunteerGuns]

A .45 acp is a million :-)

Man. I thought it was only mine, and then only with +P.

[Caster]

Wow, then imagine some of the ludicrous railway guns of WWII some of which were up to 31 inches.

[Mechanic_X]

The 16 inch guns on the USS Alabama are 45 caliber. I think it is 45×16=barrel length.

[peejman]

I just calculated the muzzle energy of a 16inch gun from an Iowa class battleship.

A 2500 lb projectile at 2700 ft/sec. My calculations could be off.

I get 283 million ft-lbs.

E = 0.5*m*v^2

The 2500lb projectile is it's weight in lbf (pounds-force). This must be converted to mass.

m = 2500lb / 32.2 ft/s^2 = 77.64 lb-s^2/ft (english unit of mass, or a slug).

E = 0.5*77.64*(2700ft/s)^2 = 283,000,000 ft-lbs.

[Will Carry]

I like your's better! The Yamato had 18.1" guns with the same muzzle velocity but a projectile over 3000lbs.

[Caster]

HA!, that's like getting hit by a VW beetle doing close to 2000 MPH!

[MacGyver]

HA!, that's like getting hit by a VW beetle doing close to 2000 MPH!

Which if I recall correctly was exactly how they described the Missouri's 16 inchers during the first Gulf War. "Capable of taking a shell the size of a Volkswagen and dropping it on a tennis court at 25 miles."

Not bad when one HC shell would create a crater 50 feet wide and 20 feet deep. There are stories from Vietnam of the U.S.S New Jersey (BB-62) firing a single shell into the jungle to create a helicopter LZ. It's said that it would clear and area 200 yards in diameter and defoliate trees 300 yards beyond that!

Are there any South Dakota or Iowa class sailors on here?

[mikegideon]

HA!, that's like getting hit by a VW beetle doing close to 2000 MPH!

A VW beetle full of female Walmart shoppers