In front of you is turret number 1. It houses three 16-inch/50cal guns. No larger gun was ever put to sea by the US Navy and they were just as effective in the Persian Gulf as they were nearly 50 years earlier during World War II.

The turret is one of the most heavily armored parts of the ship. The top is made of 7.25 inches of steel, the sides, nine and a half inches; the back, twelve, and the front, seventeen inches on top of another 2.5in backer plate with concrete sandwiched in between. All sitting on top of an armored barbette up to 17.3” thick.

Each complete turret weighs more than 2,200 tons, the size of an entire World War Two Destroyer, and has five different levels that all rotate as one. Up to 80 men manned the turret, and thirty of them worked inside the top gunhouse.

At every level a different task was carried out to prepare the gun for firing. The lowest level had the powder magazines, deep inside the ship. Above that two stories of shell decks held hundreds of projectiles. Another level had all of the machinery for rotating the turret and elevating its barrels.

There were two main kinds of projectiles fired. The 1900lb high capacity ones were for unarmored targets, primarily shore bombardment while the heavier 2700 pound armor piercing shells were for sinking other battleships. Their 23-mile range was accurate within fifty feet. Up to six 110lb powder bags were needed for each shot and a well drilled crew could fire two rounds per barrel per minute.

Inside the turret you are standing in the turret officer’s booth. Watch your head for the periscopes but feel free to look out of them. Look for the open doors that lead into the gun pits. Here you can see where the projectile was loaded into the breach of each of the guns. In the center compartment, a projectile is positioned ready for loading. Each projectile is 16 inches in diameter, while barrels are 50 times 16” long meaning they are 50 calibers long, 800 inches, over 66 feet which is where the guns get their name. 16”/50caliber.

Under normal conditions, the firing solution is determined from a plotting room deep within the ship’s armored citadel. However, many redundancies have been put in place so if that is not possible, a firing solution can be computed using the comparatively small electromechanical analog computer, called the Mark 3 Rangekeeper, and the small fire control switchboard in the 16” gun house. The computed firing solution can then be directed to any of the other guns in any of the turrets. You can find that rangekeeper just to the left of the center passageway.

If you would like to see more of one of the Gun Turrets, please inquire with any staff member about our interactive Turret II Experience.