The US Navy and its 14 inch guns
I love a big gun.
In 1906 the HMS Dreadnought slipped from the builders dock in the British Isles and into the Atlantic Ocean. It instantly changed naval warfare with its huge battery large 12” naval guns. It could destroy any other ship afloat or on the drawing board in the world. Teddy Roosevelt’s America, home of the Big Stick and the Great White fleet was not to be outdone. In 1910 the BuOrd (US navy Bureau of Ordinance) gave birth to the 14” naval gun, officially styled the 14inch/45calibre naval gun. “14 inch” being the diameter of the shell it fired and the “45 calibre” part denoting how long the barrel was (in this case 52 feet).
That’s a heck of a gun. In fact its our “Weapon of the Month” this month.
It was designed for a half dozen battleships whose names ring through history such as the USS Arizona and USS New York. The gun was also used for massive railway cannon sent to France in World War one to defend Paris from the German Army’s Big Bertha cannon.
Till next time