Buckshot Bear Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 In the WWII submarine warfare book that I am currently enjoying reading, the subs have 4-inch/50-caliber gun deck guns. I couldn't work out what "4-inch/50-caliber guns" where till I googled.....still a bit puzzled about the 50 caliber designation that the barrel is '50 calibers long'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-inch/50-caliber_gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 I saw this somewhere else, which I can't find at the moment, but the Navy has different nomenclature it is not like an M2 50, considerably larger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 16 minutes ago, Buckshot Bear said: still a bit puzzled about the 50 caliber designation that the barrel is '50 calibers long'. You have a 4-inch (10cm) cannon. And the barrel is 50 calibers long. So 4 inches times 50. The barrel is 200 inches (5 meters) long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C. W. Knight # 47289L Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 1943 vintage Coast guard Cutter that went to VN in '69 had a 5"38. 5" projectile. . Never measured the bbl but that could be right. Mostly just called the 5" gun. Just an Old Coastie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 6 minutes ago, Alpo said: You have a 4-inch (10cm) cannon. And the barrel is 50 calibers long. So 4 inches times 50. The barrel is 200 inches (5 meters) long. ^^^^ Correct-A-Mundo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 US Navy had a 5" 38 caliber gun and a 5" 25 caliber gun. 38 caliber, 5 X 38 = 190 inches. 5 X 25 =125 inches. The Mark VII, 16" 50 caliber is a whopping 800inches long. A very old method for stating gun size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Bear Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 16 minutes ago, Alpo said: You have a 4-inch (10cm) cannon. And the barrel is 50 calibers long. So 4 inches times 50. The barrel is 200 inches (5 meters) long. Ah that now makes sense explained like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 We had a thread about a week ago on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 1 minute ago, Utah Bob #35998 said: We had a thread about a week ago on this. An Alpo question, wasn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactus Jack Calder Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 3 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said: In the WWII submarine warfare book that I am currently enjoying reading, the subs have 4-inch/50-caliber gun deck guns. I couldn't work out what "4-inch/50-caliber guns" where till I googled.....still a bit puzzled about the 50 caliber designation that the barrel is '50 calibers long'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-inch/50-caliber_gun From the reference given, I calculated that the barrel of a 4”- 50 would be 4”x50 = 200” long or 16’ - 8”. I served on the USS Guadalcanal LPH 7. It was armed at the time with three 5”- 50’s. The barrel would have been 5” x 50 = 250” or 20’ - 10” long. Not being a Gunner’s Mate, but having seen the Guns I could believe that. I know we manhandled many 5”- 50 shells below decks during “Underway Replenishment at Sea”. A fun exercise to say the very most. CJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactus Jack Calder Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 1 minute ago, Cactus Jack Calder said: From the reference given, I calculated that the barrel of a 4”- 50 would be 4”x50 = 200” long or 16’ - 8”. I served on the USS Guadalcanal LPH 7. It was armed at the time with three 5”- 50’s. The barrel would have been 5” x 50 = 250” or 20’ - 10” long. Not being a Gunner’s Mate, but having seen the Guns I could believe that. I know we manhandled many 5”- 50 shells below decks during “Underway Replenishment at Sea”. A fun exercise to say the very most. CJ Obviously I was slow In responding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chantry Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 14 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said: In the WWII submarine warfare book that I am currently enjoying reading, the subs have 4-inch/50-caliber gun deck guns. I couldn't work out what "4-inch/50-caliber guns" where till I googled.....still a bit puzzled about the 50 caliber designation that the barrel is '50 calibers long'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-inch/50-caliber_gun Here is a link to more information then you'll ever want to know about naval guns: http://www.navweaps.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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