Hey, Barry!
<> now, That's cool... got any pix?<>
Nope, Dammit...I had one on my desk that somebody horked while I was TDY in
Egypt...
Here's the base system:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M107_Self-Propelled_Gun
Here's a blurb on the original project:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_HARP
It's using a 16 inch battleship gun...I was the LAST planner on that
one...the 4 remaining Iowa Class Battleships are essentially moth-balled,
although I believe they cannot be de-militarized completely til 2010...
Nine of the 16 inchers on the big boys...known as the World's Largest
Varmint Rifles...
We made most of the tubes still on them babies & they EACH weigh in at
239,000 pounds apiece...
Fire a projectile the weight of a VW Beetle 32 miles...
Twice as far as the horizon at sea...
Accurate within a football field at that range...
Used to start the final boring reamer on a Sunday night & it wouldn't make
it thru the bore until Wednesday morning...
Hadda listen to the harmonics of the woodpack reamers & keep strining the
chips out of the cutting oil to make sure it was boring straight...
We picked one out of the boring/turning lathe to put it on display near the
Arsenal Museum & you could literally see & hear the building move from the
weight!
Cost to make ONE Gun Tube is in excess of $1 million USD with todays labor
rates...
Here's a pic of the Iowa firing all NINE guns:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/BB61_USS_Iowa_BB61_broadside_USN.jpg
It's said that the entire boat moves about 20 feet in recoil when they
fire...
That's a boat that weighs in EXCESS of 365,000 Tons...moving SIDEWAYS!
Once again we return to the China Syndrome on WDML...
Bob (DAKSY) Smith
DAKSY2K on AIM
2K SY Dakota Sport +
V-6 4 x 4 5 speed
2K05 HD 883C YP
http://home.nycap.rr.com/daksy/
Averill Park, NY
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