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From: military@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: USS Iowa (propellant charge)
Message-ID: <5833@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 22 Apr 89 04:30:46 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 31
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: sun!portal!cup.portal.com!mmm
I heard on TV that the powder used to fire the guns was packed in the 1950's.
Is it really that old?

[mod.note: Yup.  Properly stored, the powder isn't supposed to decompose.
- Bill ]

A friend of mine said the gun barrels on most warships are much older than
the ship itself, some dating back to WW1.  Could that be true?

[mod.note:  (please, folks, indulge me... this is a great interest of mine
8-)  Often, but not always.  HMS Vanguard, the last battleship built
by the Royal Navy, used 15" turrets which were removed from the
WWI-built "Courageous" class large light cruisers (a story in themselves).
Gun design takes many years, and turret construction is also a major
undertaking; the Vanguard would have been delayed by a year or more if
new turrets (even of proven designs) had to be built.

Likewise, the WWII German Gneisenau class battleships used 11" triple
turrets, originally designed and built for the Deutschland class
panzerschiffes (a.k.a. "Pocket Battleships").  This was, in part,
an effort to appease the British (who opposed large guns), and also 
hastened their commissioning.

The Iowa's turrets, though, were contemporary with the ships themselves;
built at about the same time (as were the guns; developed about 1939,
I believe).

- Bill ]