USS Pennsylvania battleship armored gun house - photo

**Altair** · Sep 30, 2021, 12:56 PM

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) armored gun house at the Bethlehem Steel factory, c. 1915.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...l_fullsize.jpg

Previously:

USS Pennsylvania drydocked - photo
15-inch Italian battleship guns - photo
Regunning a battleship - photo
1917 naval gun bore machining - photo
WWII salvaging the USS Arizona - photo

**bruce.desertrat** · Sep 30, 2021, 04:24 PM

Pretty shoddy construction...you can see where it bent just from them standing on it!

**Isambard** · Sep 30, 2021, 05:43 PM

Specs of the turret:
The faces of the gun turrets were 18 inches (457 mm) thick
The sides were 9–10 inches (229–254 mm) thick and
The turret roofs were protected by 5 inches (127 mm) of armor.

Apparently the 14 inch guns, could not be elevated independently.

**TrickieDickie** · Oct 4, 2021, 03:00 PM

It impresses me we had the industrial technology at that time to manufacture such massive pieces.

**mklotz** · Oct 4, 2021, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by TrickieDickie

It impresses me we had the industrial technology at that time to manufacture such massive pieces.

Massive indeed. Battleship turrets were not mechanically attached to the ship. They depended on their immense weight to keep them in place. If the ship turns turtle when it sinks, the turrets simply fall off.

When I toured the Iowa here in LA the tourguide mentioned that each turret weighed more than one of the destroyers that screened the battleship when underway.