"A year ago this was just a good idea"

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by baggygreen

knowing nothing about the history of the iowa class, i presume the chopper pad at the stern is an aftermarket addon?

love those photos, but surely one of those shells cant do as much damage as a tomahawk, and therefore not as much damage as this new railgun. Nor can it have the range.

On the other hand, 10 shots in a day isnt much at all. the Iowa could put out a lot more than 10 shots, i presume! so i suppose its a case of 6 on one hand, half-a-dozen on the other

Yes, the upper picture is the '80s version of the Iowa, with helo pad and all kinds of modern anti-missile weapons.

The 16" HC shell carries 405 lbs of powder, and theoretically they can fire two rounds per minute until they're all gone. Even at one salvo every two minutes they can put a devastating amount of explosive into a target.