Quote:
Originally Posted by TopHatter
Dread, can you tell us more about raising the guns, on what occasions, what is the "normal" elevation and how is it determined etc?
Personally I think the battleships look their most majestic when the guns are at a relatively high - not neccessarily full - elevation.
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The guns are normally raised about a 30 degree angle for show purposes and for open houses so too many people don't climb on the barrels and fall off.
In their "at sea" position they are locked down at 0 degrees. Load position (officially called Battery position) is 3 degrees up angle for loading projectiles and powder bags.
The guns can elevate a full 45 degrees but engineers in WW II decided to restrict them to 42 degrees after reviewing the flattening of rollers on the Texas at Normandy. A 45 degree angle was obtained by Missouri however in Korea by flooding the trim tanks and settling down on a sand bar to gain at least a 3 degree list.
Not too many people agree with me on that because they haven't read it in any book. But the NAVORD reps I worked with and a couple of Chief GM's confirmed that.
It's not highly advertised because they do not want to try to make that an optional procedure. Besides, if you miss-judge the tide when you settle down, you may REALLY be settled down.