How much noise inside a turret when a 7 inch Brooke shell hits it?

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
So if I was in the turret on the USS Monitor how much noise would a 7 inch Brooke rifled shell make when it hit the turret? How about a 10 inch colubiad shell?

I am assuming I would flinch when either shell hit. I suspect a 15 inch shell would make a bit of noise when it hit a turret as well.
 
Back in the Dark Ages when I was in Marine Corps Bootcamp, my head was inside of a bucket while the DI played the Marine Corps Hymn on the outside of it with a stick. I would imagine that it would be something like that. I've read where the greatest danger to a member of a gun crew was being too close or touching the turret wall when a round hit it, the percussion from a impact could be deadly. Inside of an ironclad that had iron over wood, the greatest risks were from flying wooden splinters.
 
As @redbob stated The spalling of metal and wood was the biggest danger. The cannon inside going off would be louder than a round hitting the turret.
 
I'll bet a great percentage of Civil War veterans couldn't hear it thunder after the war.

I researched all the CW veterans buried in the cemetery where I volunteer (there are 37 we know of) and two of those reported being hard of hearing due to cannon fire. That's 5% just in my small sample. I bet you're right.
 
Once again, back in the Dark Ages when firing a 155MM Self Propelled Howitzer; it was actually quieter within the turret than outside of it. A portion of the blast wave/sound went sideways out the muzzle brake and came around the gun, and since you had the top, side and rear hatches open to clear the smoke; the sound came back through them. This coupled with 33+ years of being exposed to sirens on fire apparatus, it's no wonder that my hearing isn't what it once was.:whistling:
 
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I think I read somewhere that the ears of mortar boat crews actually bled. I would think a monitor turret would be very similar.
Horrible duty. Can't imagine the damage to their hearing and brains.
 
I imagine one would have life long hearing problems afterwards. My late grandfathers hearing was injured due to the premature detonation of a round aboard a navy ship. I bet the hits Monitor took would have been akin to having your head inside a ringing church bell...

There’s an old joke that runs along the lines of, if you ask an veteran wether he was in the infantry, cavalry, or artillery, if he answers “what?” then he’s an artilleryman.
 
According to one description, the sound of the big MLR used in the Royal Navy was "a coughing roar" quite unlike the sounds of modern artillery - plus of course you are much closer to the muzzle.
 
I would think the noise of your own gun going off would be equally if not more deafening?

I'm not sure it would. The muzzle will be outside of the turret, so I would think that the muzzle blast and sound would primarily be projected away from the turret. However, I'm sure there is someone at CWT that has had some military experience ( naval guns perhaps?) that could comment on it.
 
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