[norsky]

I had someone on FR a few months ago argue with me and claim that that broadside barrage didn’t move the ship at all. Seriously

That’s crazy, each 16 in super heavy shell was about 48 in long, backed by about 6 bags of gun powder. Wasn’t just shoved to the side, we took quite a list in the opposite direction. Kind of fun. A deep sound, not sharp and piercing like the 5 inch guns.

[grey_whiskers]

Tell the moron to look up “conservation of momentum.”

[LonePalm]

Norsky,
That person might have been me.

During a full broadside, the ship might move sideways but the motion is insignificant at best.

An Iowa-class BB displaces about 57,000 tonnes (long or metric tons). An AP shell weighs about 1.22 tonnes and a full broadside would be just under 11 tonnes.

A full charge for each gun (WWII) is 660 lbs. of SPD 839 propellant. There is not enough energy in 3 tonnes of propellant to move 57,000 tonnes of ship any significant distance.

Hope this helps.

WWG1WGA

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)