Two questions for post-refit Iowa class vets (if any are here)...

Refractory period?

It sounds like you have some knowledge so I hope you don’t mind a follow up question or two.

How long does it take to evacuate all the gas from the barrel? Is it like a tank barrel where they use fans to draw the poisonous air out?

Do they need to let the barrel cool down after each shot? Is loading the next round the limiting factor on rate-of-fire or is it something like heat dissipation?

Just wondering… Not building a battleship of my own or anything…

To reload. I, too asked about that. :slight_smile:

The vids linked up-thread answer a lot of these kinds of questions. They’re worth watching.

Part of the post-firing cycle includes a short blast of air to push the gun gasses out the muzzle. It seems to take only a couple seconds.

Rate of fire is 30 seconds per shot per barrel. The whole process seems to be running at the speed of big complicated machinery operated by individual men. There are a lot of steps to each firing cycle and even if each step only takes 2 seconds it still adds up to a bunch of seconds. Take note that the feed systems for powder and for shells also have to sustain that rate from the gun breech all the way back to the dregs of the magazines. That’s a lot of heavy objects moving a long ways.

Heat dissipation would be negligible in 30 seconds and can’t be reasonably expected to be part of the equation.