Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 4:10:09-4:11:05

An extreme battleship uses salvo rhythm to offset slow guns

A deliberately extreme design exercise turns an enormous displacement allowance into a lesson about calibre, barrel count, and sustained salvo timing.

18-inch GunsAlternate HistoryBattleshipsNaval GunneryWarship Design
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Question

How could a 400,000-ton battleship be armed?

Short answer

He proposes eighteen 18-inch guns in six triple turrets, firing alternating nine-gun salvos so the number of barrels compensates for each gun's slow rate of fire.

Notes

At 400,000 tons, the hypothetical ship would make Yamato look small. The design sketch concentrates on main-battery volume: six triple turrets carrying eighteen 18-inch guns. The calibre's low rate of fire is offset with alternating half-broadsides of nine guns to sustain a regular salvo rhythm. The exchange is an extreme thought experiment about how barrel count can compensate for slow individual weapons, not a complete claim that such a ship would be practical.