Quote:
Originally Posted by Torplexed
Accounts of the battle of Leyte Gulf suggest that possibly a few of Yamato's 18 inch shells punched through some of the American destroyers without exploding. The fuze delays on Japanese shells were literally ten times longer than in most foreign fuzes. That greatly increases the chances for through-and-throughs if you don't hit something solid. Still having a 14, 16 or 18 inch diameter object weighing 1800 to 3400 pounds, plow thru your ship even with out detonating, could mess you up badly. However, being able to train massive 18 inch batteries on a target as small as a submarine would be exceedingly difficult. That what quick-firing secondary batteries were designed for.
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Interesting that this considerations are somewhat similar to the 'stopping-power' issues reagarding pistol and revolver ammo.