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Posted

Great timing indeed. I always found it interesting how the shear power of the cannons blasts made the water looked as if something blew up under the surface.

Posted

Great timing indeed. I always found it interesting how the shear power of the cannons blasts made the water looked as if something blew up under the surface.

Or managed to skid the ship a few feet to one side from recoil.

Posted

You know, I've always wondered if those ships now being used as memorials are still deployable. Be nice to think we could still bring them out if we needed them.

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Posted

Or managed to skid the ship a few feet to one side from recoil.

 

it does look like it, but no. 

 

As powerful as the muzzle blast is, or was, the physics of heaving nine 2200lb shells in one direction isn't going to move 45,000 tons of steel in the other direction through the water displacement very much. 

 

Standing on the Flag Bridge when the Iowa fired one of those was pretty impressive!  It kicked the air out of your chest and it felt like it was burning all the hair off of every exposed piece of skin. 

 

Real Artillery is 16"

 

:laugh:

Posted

Well, the physics is more force than just pushing them over the side by hand, you have to take their exit velocity into account as well. After all, a .357 bullet weighs very little but the kick is impressive. :grin:

Still, those BBs were themselves rarely drifting, they were usually moving forwards with their own velocity, and there would be wind effects and current and blah blah blah. I'm sure there is some measurable motion from them, but without a precise setup to measure it that would NOT be effected by the blasts themselves it would be hard to quantify. I'm sure it's small compared to the ship's size, but if you were floating on the opposite side in the water in arm's reach you'd notice it come a little closer.

Posted

On the subject of perfectly timed military photos the picture below is one that has always fascinated me.

 

attachicon.gif020633.jpg

If I remember well, the photographer was killed in the moment when he took that picture. Too close. Well, I would not exactly title this one "The right place, at the right time"...

Posted

One of my great-uncles had served some years as a doctor aboard the french battleship Jean Bart, child he told me that they had to remove the light bulbs from their homes before each shot of the main 380 mm guns otherwise all of them burst throughout the ship.

Posted

You know, I've always wondered if those ships now being used as memorials are still deployable. Be nice to think we could still bring them out if we needed them.

 

I do wonder about that myself.

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