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Michael H. Standart
Moderator
Username: mstandart
Post Number: 11668
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - 6:51 am: | 
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From The Navy Times:
quote:By William Cole - Honolulu Advertiser
Posted : Sunday Jan 21, 2007 16:13:17 EST
FORD ISLAND, Hawaii — Gun turret No. 1 on the battleship Missouri is a rotating, steel-encased enclosure the size of a living room fronted by 16 inches of armor and triple 16-inch guns.
The barrels, each the weight of a space shuttle, could hurl a nearly 1-ton high-explosive round up to 23 miles with an accompanying hellstorm of muzzle fire — enough to incinerate the deck if the guns weren’t pointed broadside. On the receiving end, the shells would blow a hole 20 feet deep the size of a tennis court.
In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, the Mighty Mo sent 784 rounds screaming into Iraqi-occupied Kuwait in a complex orchestra involving more than 75 men per gun turret and a conveyor system sending up the big rounds and bags of powder from several decks below.
For the rest of the story, go to http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/01/gnsmissouri070121/
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart
Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon
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