Book Description

The IOWA class are the most heavily armored U.S. war ships ever constructed . In 1981, a part of a program to increase U.S. Naval power, reactivation and modernization of the four BB-61 class ships in the inactive reserve fleet commenced, beginning with BB-62. The 16-in guns carried by the ships are the largest guns ever put to sea by the U.S. Navy and are the largest in existence in the world today. Reactivation of the 16-in turrets was accomplished with few major problems because of the care with which they were preserved when deactivated. The reactivation effort basically involved cleaning, reassembling, adjusting, and testing each component of the turret individually until all components were operating and then testing the entire gun as a unit. Reactivation of the 16-in guns rekindled thinking about basic major caliber gun system operation. Studies and design improvements have been completed on measuring the muzzle velocity of the projectile, and reducing the wear of the gun barrel through addition of a wear reducing jacket on the propellant charge.