How much shooting of the big guns and at what?

How much practice do they get ?
4-6 weeks a year ?
ten days out of every month?

and in combat did they do most of the shooting at land based targets or mostly other enemy ships?

can they shoot'em on the run ?
or
do they have to be stationary ?

My perspective is from 1986-1989, when I was a Division Officer on the USS IOWA.

Depended on the Captain. Under Larry Seaquist, we shot whenever possible. we were out of home port 180 days my first year onboard, and probably shot 50 times.

Under Fred Moosally, we spent a lot more time working on engineering maintenance (which was sorely needed), and not much time shooting.

Last ship to ship engagement was 1944, Battle of Surigao Strait. Modern engagement would start with Tomahawks, then Harpoons. 16" would be like knife fight range.

We spent most time on land-based targets. All the 16" engagements in recent history (Korea, Vietnam, Beirut, Desert Storm) have been land-based targets.

Shoot while moving. That is the purpose of the fire control computer.

"The Mk8 Rangekeeper was an electromechanical analog computer whose function was to continuously calculate the gun's bearing and elevation, Line-Of-Fire (LOF), to hit a future position of the target. It did this by automatically receiving information from the director (LOS), the FC Radar (range), the ship's gyrocompass (true ship's course), the ships Pitometer log (ship's speed), the Stable Vertical (ship's deck tilt, sensed as level and cross-level), and the ship's anemometer (relative wind speed and direction). Also, before the surface action started, the FT's made manual inputs for the average initial velocity of the projectiles fired out of the battery's gun barrels, and air density. With all this information, the rangekeeper calculated the relative motion between its ship and the target. It then could calculate an offset angle and change of range between the target's present position (LOS) and future position at the end of the projectile's time of flight. To this bearing and range offset, it added corrections for gravity, wind, Magnus Effect of the spinning projectile, stabilizing signals originating in the Stable Vertical, Earth's curvature, and Coriolis effect. The result was the turret's bearing and elevation orders (LOF).[1] During the surface action, range and deflection Spots and target altitude (not zero during Gun Fire Support) were manually entered."

I don't think they're doing any practice right now. If they do, I volunteer.

Although missiles can be shot down or otherwise defeated, not much will stop a 16" 2,500lb round once it's in route.

do they have a log somewhere that states
what gun was fired , where and at what target?

can we read exactly how many times a particular gun was fired?

quote:

How much practice do they get ?

maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt Big Mo gets any practice of late, having been decommissioned??? (perhaps there's a more accurate word) about 25 years ago.

I was treated to an on-board visit with a tour group in Astoria on it's voyage to retirement in Hawaii.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
do they have a log somewhere that states
what gun was fired , where and at what target?

can we read exactly how many times a particular gun was fired?

Probably, but I doubt it's online. Reach out to the individual Battleship museum / entity would likely be the best route.

Neither vessels are on current active status.

USS Iowa decommissioned in 1990 and standing as static display at Port of Los Angeles
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iowa_(BB-61)

USS Missouri decommissioned in 1992, and is a museum ship at Pearl Harbor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Missouri_(BB-63)

I think Iowa only ever turned her guns on 2 ships in WW2. At least one was a enemy destroyer. I was just seeking such information 3 weeks back. I dont know about the other 3 Iowas.

Interesting. Just 3 days ago I was wondering what the rate of fire was for the 16" guns during WWII. It looks like 2 rounds per minute, but with three guns on a turret, it would be 6 rounds per minute.

I believe there are three turrets per ship - two forward, one aft. That would be nine guns total.

18 rounds per minute possible. 18 tons in the air....

Here is a good right up of what could have been the greatest Navel battleship slug feast since Jutland if Halsey had not “taken the bait” at the battle of Leyte gulf. Where is task force 34 the world wonders

This battle would have seen the Iowa and New Jersey toe to toe with Yamamoto.

Bendable come visit Mobile and see the USS Alabama. Very impressive.

USS KIDD . WW2 destroyer. Pacific theatre action. actually took a hit from a Japanese Kamakazi(?) aircraft. Now a museum ship resting in a floating cradle . Mississippi River, Baton Rouge, La. ....................drill sgt

I would like just once to be nearby when those big guns fired. Alas, I don't give it much hope.

flashguy

Why need TF 34, when TF 77, especially Taffy 3 element, did just fine. A true epic in US Naval history as well as world naval history.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
do they have a log somewhere that states
what gun was fired , where and at what target?

can we read exactly how many times a particular gun was fired?

Ship’s deck log would record firing exercises. As each turret was a division within the weapons department, they’d record # of rounds.

Not as much 16” shooting as you might think - barrel life in WWII era was ~300-350 rounds. Which was extended to ~1,500 by the time I was on the IOWA (changes in propellant casing, adding a polyurethane layer that burned and reduced erosion).

We never changed a barrel in the three years I was on the IOWA. We on loaded 16” rounds a few times, and total capacity was ~1,200 in all three turrets.

On the other hand, we shot shitloads of 5” 38 cal. My GQ station was a secondary battery director officer, and I personally shot (well, controlled; e.g., spotted and corrected) ~250 rounds of 5”

Good info here: http://navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_16-50_mk7.php

per my Dad, who fought in Africa and Italy in WWII a full broadside would shift the Battleship 9 feet sideways in the water and IIRC roll it 20 degrees from level. Note, Dad was Army so his recollection could be a bit off but he did see some volleys going overhead and some landing he was in and it was awe inspiring.

Personally I've always felt they should not have been retired. While the rockets and missiles make these ships mostly obsolete they are still a fantastic moral booster and with modern fire control systems you can drop a nearly unstoppable projectile onto a mailbox at 20 miles or more.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
I would like just once to be nearby when those big guns fired. Alas, I don't give it much hope.

flashguy

I imagine it would be nerve shattering.

We fired jeep mounted 105 Howitzers back in the day. When my turn came to be the rear observer (making sure no one was in the back-blast area) and standing right next to the gun, I actually didn't know if I was dead or alive when the dust cleared. This was nothing compared to the guns on that ship. Here is a pic of one.

The first and last 16" guns fired in WWII were fired by an Alabama class Battleship USS Massachusetts BB59 first in 1942 sinking the Vichy French cruiser Jean Bart off the coast of Casablanca and in 1945 in the waters near Okinawa.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:
a full broadside would shift the Battleship 9 feet sideways in the water and IIRC roll it 20 degrees from level.

Nope and nope.