Guess how many 16-inch shells are left in storage?
Crewmen load a 16-inch shell aboard the battleship USS WISCONSIN (BB 64) as the vessel is readied for sea trials (Photo: National Archives)
The answer to that would be 15,595 live ones in 10 different variants including HC, armor piercing and practice.
The last battleship salvo was from USS Wisconsin 16 May 1991, with the last battleship transferred to museum life in 2012.
The Army’s last 16″/50cal Gun M1919 coastal artillery battery was disbanded in 1946.
Currently at AAAC, Crane:
Designation/Type Filler Number
D862 High Capacity Explosive D 3,624
D872 Armor Piercing Explosive D 2,430
D874 High Capacity Explosive D 591
D875 Armor Piercing 666 M46 GP Grenades 22
D875 Armor Piercing 400 M43A1 GP Grenades 234
D877 Armor Piercing Explosive D 1,743
D878 High Capacity Explosive D 2
D879 High Capacity Explosive D 411
D881 Practice Tracer only 272
D882 High Capacity Explosive D 6,266
Total 15,595
And the Army is looking to get rid of them, as I detailed in this piece at Guns.com
I thought it was cool that PM picked up the piece, I read PM as a kid.
Anyway, I think they make great conversation pieces. Central City Surplus just redid a 1,900-pound D875 AP shell (and yes, that is a QH-50 DASH in the background).
Guess they gonna have to keep them since the navy reinstated the Iowa and the Wisconsin in the mothball fleet
Um, no both have been museum ships for years. The Navy has gotten rid of everything related to battleship infrastructure at this point
i think if necessary they could reactivate the iowa class
Is there any 16″ shells available to perchance? Thanks
Lots, but they’ve been demilled
Check Indiana Army Surplus. They have them
Lol I actually destroy these at my work we have been disassembling them for awhile now
Hi Zack, would it be possible to get any of those demilled 16” projectiles sent to the USS Iowa museum for display?