July 10, 2022 Story by Boyd Allen
Many top competitors shooters only use a few kernels of stick powder to charge their guns, but that would not be practical when loading huge naval guns. Surprised? The U.S. Navy’s huge 14? The U.S. Navy’s massive 14? Stick-type extruded powders were also used to propel naval guns. These ‘kernels’ could not be trickled — a single stick, or ‘grain, can be more than 2. long.
The U.S.S. Iowa fires 16? main battery. The battleships of the U.S. Navy’s Iowa class were equipped with nine Mark 7 cannons measuring 16 inches in length and three turrets. The huge naval guns measured 50 calibers in length, i.e. The barrels measured 66.7 feet from chamber to muzzle and had a bore diameter of 50 times. In connection to a Benchrest Central discussion, which drifted towards the topic of powders used for large naval guns, Joe McNeil, Joe’s father, was involved in the manufacturing of these propellants as an employee at DuPont, spoke to me. Joe writes: “My father worked for DuPont for over 40 years. He was assigned to the gun powder plants that DuPont ran for the government every time the nation went into war. It cost $1.00 per annum! From 1952 to 1958, his last assignment was at Indiana Ordnance Plant Jefferson, Indiana. He left me a display case containing all the powders from the plant. I have a grain of 16. gun powder. He took me to the Jefferson proving grounds, where they tested the powder in 16? gun. We could see the gun from half a mile away, but it made a lasting impression on us when they fired that gun. To test the performance of the shell and powder, they actually had a set if rings that they fired through. This was a very fond memory of my Dad’s work. “Here are some photos of the gun powder “grains”, made during the Korean War at Indiana Ordnance Works, Joe McNeil’s dad worked. They include: 37MM/AA, 75MMPack Howitzer, 50 Cal. 5010, 20 MM4831, 30 Cal. 4895, 76 MM, 3?, 5?, 90 MM, 4.7?, 240MM, 8?, 280 MM, 175 MM, 155 MM Howitzer, 155 MM Gun M.P., 8? Gun M.P., 12?, 14, 16?. Different ‘grains” are available for different rounds.
16-inch/50-caliber gun projectile plus six propellant bags. Display mockup aboard U.S.S. Iowa (BB-61) in San Pedro, CA. Photo by James Madison, Creative Commons CC BY-SA-4.0 license.
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