I may be wrong but I think the black powder used in the 16 inch guns was just the starter for the main charge.
At least, the "History of Fort Tildon N.Y." says in an article about a 16 inch gun;
"Powder Charge:
The nitrocellulose powder charges were contained in cloth bags that were made from a special raw silk known as "cartridge cloth". This cloth burns without leaving any smouldering residue in the barrel which would present a safety hazard when loading the subsequent round.
The number of powder charges loaded, along with the elevation of the barrel, would determine the range of the gun. Depending on the specific type of gun and the projectile used the powder charge would vary, but for maximum range the charge would be six bags of powder (648 or 672 pounds) for the Navy MkII M1 gun, to four or eight bags of powder (total charge of 832 pounds) for the Army MkII and MkIII guns."
Follow this link for some interesting information about big guns
http://www.geocities.com/fort_tilden/16ingun.html
Wikipedia says of the 16 inch guns powder:
"The propellant consists of small cylindrical grains of smokeless powder with an extremely high burning rate. A maximum charge consists of six silk bags, each filled with 110 pounds of propellant." Thats 660 pounds of powder! :shocked2:
A link to the Wikipedia site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16"/50_caliber_Mark_7_gun
Global Securitys site says:
"The powder for the 16-inch guns is contained in silk bags. Six bags are the standard charge to fire a projectile. Each bag of the type of powder involved in the Iowa explosion contained about 94 pounds of propellant pellets. These pellets are stacked vertically in the bag in eight layers. Each bag also contains a trim layer that consists of a variable number of propellant pellets placed horizontally on the top layer of vertically stacked pellets when necessary to standardize the weight of the charge. Additionally, a pad containing black powder is sewn to the base of the bag. The powder bags are transported and stored in metal containers-three bags per container. The bags are removed from the containers prior to firing and are loaded into a gun separately from the projectiles."
The site can be found at
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/turrets.htm
A good friend of mine was in Korea during that war and personally saw one of the Iowa class battleships maintain a 4 hour barrage of a small island. It then steamed away. The entire island was gone!
Before we get back to GOEX and its acquisition and while I am still BS'ing about 16 inch guns I came across this tidbit about being on board when the 16 inchers were firing:
WHEN BIG GUNS FIRE:
When the North Carolina fired its guns, crew members descended into a scorching, blinding hell. The force of the blast of the 16-inch guns could literally move the ship through the water. Doors blew open, debris rained down and in the mess, dinner was limited to stew and sandwiches.
"[T]he thunderous blast of the 16-inch guns struck the chest like the blow of a baseball bat. The sharp crack of the five-inch was skull splitting, even more painful to the ears. Like waiting for the other shoe to drop, the next 16-inch salvo could not be anticipated. No matter how one might try to brace his body in advance, there was no way to avoid bruises inflicted on elbows, knees and shins, as the entire ship lurched in angry recoil with every main battery salvo. Dust and debris would burst from every crack and corner, asbestos lagging would fly from piping, and insulation would tear loose from the overhead. Every object not bolted down would bounce or ricochet as though kicked by angry gremlins.
Topside, solid sheets of flame with great clouds of searing gas and smoke erupted from the gun muzzles with every salvo. Often as not, much of this was carried by the wind back across the ship, to envelop men at exposed stations and be sucked inside through the ventilation system. At the end of such a day, all hands suffered from throbbing headaches, and most were virtually deaf. Red-rimmed eyes smarted from the pall of smoke. Every man's entire body was grimy with dust and the abrasive residue of burned gun powder. All of this could be, and was, endured . .There was no pleasure whatever in it; only the grim satisfaction of helping our Marines survive to win the battle ashore."
-- -- Captain Ben Blee (Ret.) Lieutenant, Combat Intelligence Officer, Asst. Combat Information Center Officer and Senior Watch Officer" (from the following link)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/warship/guns/journal_print.html
