Q&A · 1:05:17-1:05:34

What heavy battleship guns could do to a modern ship

A heavy-gun hit is described less as a neat internal explosion than as catastrophic kinetic damage to a lightly protected modern warship.

Question

If an Iowa-class battleship got a modern warship in gun range, what would its guns do?

Short answer

The shells would likely inflict devastating kinetic damage, potentially passing through and shredding the ship rather than simply exploding inside it.

Notes

A large shell would likely shred a modern warship and might pass through rather than behave like a conventional magazine explosion. Modern structures can be highly exposed to old-style heavy ordnance. Armour and damage effects should not be treated as interchangeable across eras.