Massive Gun Exploded

[@miqsm]

clearly a ploy by Big Breech to switch loading mechanisms

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Lol.

[@osmacar5331]

Oh shush you XD

[@zaxmaxlax]

You had me choke on my coffee 😂

[@DaysofElijah317]

Epic comment 😂

[@hancehanson4000]

​@@TheHistoryGuyChannelis this excerpt *(short) from a longer, more in-depth previous video? PS: "Big-Breech" was hilarious, i couldn't help sniggering.

[@RLD_Media]

World’s biggest squib.

[@The_BroadSword]

💀

[@AflacMan13]

How... the heck did they MUZZLE load that???

[@DARTHNECRION]

I can only barely begin to imagine. Perhaps a comically-large system of pulleys, harnesses, ropes, and a steam-driven winch? lol

[@bernardkung7306]

@@DARTHNECRION According to Wikipedia, the forward turret (this one) used a fairly new, automatic hydraulic loader, which operated quickly enough that the crew likely didn't notice that the second shell didn't go deep enough into the barrel. The aft turret was manually reloaded, so the two systems could be compared.

[@Cyberleader135]

It looks like there’s a diagram in the video, it actually reminds me of how the old arm style missile launchers were reloaded

[@jeffbybee5207]

Yes if you see the drawing where the cannon is tilted down and a shell and powder charges are being pushed into the muzzle by a hydrolically driven rammer from below the deck

[@AflacMan13]

Wow! Awesome! Thanks for the information ya'll. :-) I learned something new today. Cool.

[@kh40yr]

Never heard of that one. Ever. Thank you! USS Iowa, April 1989. I have a buddy who lived that one. He couldn't hear for 4 days, then slowly it returned. He was soo worried during that time, that it caused mid grade pneumonia.

[@iowafarmboy]

​@@JHimminy yes. The Iowa was modernized during the 80s and saw combat during the 1st golf war. Before being retired for good in the 90s.

[@theforerunnerreclaimer]

​​@JHimminy Iowa-class battleships remained in commission until the gulf war ended, and a few were modernized in the late 80s

[@vito7428]

​@@JHimminyIowa.....was still very much afloat in 89....several of them even Hell one of the Iowa class ships even saw combat during the Gulf War in 1991

[@bb-6359]

​@@JHimminy don't know why you're being skeptical. The Iowa's were all modernized and reactivated in the 1980's, and even saw combat again in the Gulf War. There was a turret explosion in 1989 on the reactivated USS Iowa, which this person was referencing. A simple Google search would have saved you the embarrassment.

[@theforerunnerreclaimer]

@@JHimminy The 1989 Turret No. 2 explosion on the USS Iowa is a real thing, and yes, the USS New Jersey and USS Iowa were overhauled, refit, and modernized in 1984. Google is free

[@bedeckt]

those drawings already look scary. imagine seeing a giant chunk of metal broken off like that

[@rubberneckinc.8937]

Thank you History Guy for helping us learn something new everyday. History is so important and needs to be learned by all & remembered.

[@Ancient_Yuletide_Carol]

Slight correction: this happened January 2nd , 1879.

[@Howie-du7ov]

I guess Thunderer lived up to her name that day! 😮

[@theemmjay5130]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@David-s3g6o]

Me too.

[@randyneilson7465]

"Where's your lieutenant sailor?" "Blown up sir!"

[@roryvonbrutt7302]

"stripes" hahaha

[@eldonhoward7925]

Wow! 700 pounds!

[@toestr2120]

You gotta wonder how a modern ship would fare against a 700lb projectile.

[@Julianna.Domina]

Quite well, all things considered, I imagine. It'd be hitting with kinetic force, likely punching a large hole in the side. But modern ships have excellent anti-flooding/sinking construction & equipment, to the point that an empty warship, stripped of all her crew and equipment, can still survive multiple hits from modern anti-ship missiles

[@farmerned6]

@@Julianna.Domina punching a small hole the shell detonates AFTER punching through the Armour

[@MaxStevenson-ih5ji]

it would destroy part of it and possibly sink it. depends on ship and where its struck, etc. but a modern navy ship would wreck this with missiles before it got within the 3 mile range.

[@SMGJohn]

​@Julianna.Domina Almost no ships today have armour anymore, being hit with a shell that big would obliterate anything but an aircraft carrier, but if you hit an aircraft carrier with a salvo of those things, there be no more aircraft carriers.

[@kappatalis5]

Quite a fair bit, like when the Belgrano was bearing down on the British fleet in the Falklands they were concerned that if it got within range to use its main guns it would tear the fleet to shreds, not to say anything of the exocet armed destroyers (They didn't let it get that close)

[@theltlexay]

As miserable as it is, those eleven men probably saved hundreds of sailors that otherwise might have been killed by further muzzleloader accidents.

[@Cleric4521]

I guess more than just the men needed new breeches after that explosion.

[@jonathanstiefvater5064]

A comprehensive history of battleship evolution would be fascinating.

[@paulqueripel3493]

Drachinifel has a whole series.

[@ieuanhunt552]

Look up Drachinifel and you will have enough KZbin to eat food to from here till hell freezes over.

[@xaenon]

@@paulqueripel3493 best answer.

[@jacqirius]

In any way, if you actually have a 700 pound projectile stuck in a muzze loader you will most likely have to build another one before getting that thing out. "Nigel, bring me the comically large cork screwer"

[@JayAdams-ml5jf]

The crew's sudden death is kind of a HUGE indicator that they didn't know it had mis-fired.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Seems crazy to have a muzzle loader that size. Were these still smoothbore?

[@amazoniancustodian]

I seem to recall hearing that Spanish ones were rifled. It is always best to ask some research, though

[@Voron_Aggrav]

no, a quick gander at Wikipedia would say they were Rifled, you'll wanna find the "Devastation-Class Ironclad" the HMS Thunderer was the second ship of the class, having only 1 sister ship, same named as the Class, and the Guns were rifled with the Woolwich Pattern,

[@pudgeboyardee32]

These were very dangerous but many nations that switched to breech loading 2 or 3 piece ammo tended to have a different issue with similar results. The French infamously chose a kind of propellant that crystallized over time in storage which made the powder bags more volatile and much more sensitive to ignition sources. Large enough vibrations could cause these charges to cook off in magazines 3, 4 or 5 decks deep. Land based munitions had the same problem but the idea was the cheap powder would be used up first and then navies would buy better supplies. Instead they just refused to fire rounds with those bags and they sat in magazine turrets for years. This was exactly what should not have been allowed to happen. The charges aged and broke down. Some would be used to disastrous results while others never even made it up the elevator into the gun itself before they destabilized and exploded. Ships and many men were lost to instances like that. Those failures changed almost everything about naval weapons operation, ammo R&D, arms storage procedure, and timely ammo procurement. Navies have come a long way from the days of packing boats so full of gunpowder they become gigantic air/fuel frag grenades. A fireship would be unthinkable now and thank god for that

[@therealrobinc]

It still could not prevent friendly fire. Just ask the US NAVY missile shooting down their own F/A-18 in the Red Sea.

[@davidsoulsby1102]

Apparently both of the paired guns were fired, one worked the other didn't. Thats how they didn't notice, there was a load bang and recoil. just for only one barrel

[@C0mmanderX]

How do you not notice a squib load from a muzzleloader?

[@CarlinComm]

Wow, what a horrible way to end the day.

[@billt6116]

I hate to tell them, Breech loaders can do the same. Just ask the US battleship Iowa!

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Different situation, but yes.

[@steve-qc8hd]

By January 1879 the Royal Navy were belatedly about to adopt Breach loader again, The 1860 HMS Warrior and other ships had Armstrong 7 inch 110 pounder Breech Loaders but action at Kagashima and Shimonoseki in 1863 and 1864 had done for them, effectively technology was wanting for the Armstrong factory product, although other nations like Sweden Germany and Austria had already developed fairly effective breach-loaders the Austrian 15cm M 1861 was a prime example - even though it looked like some-one had Black and Deckered a M1856 muzzle-loader. the M1861 were still on the muster in WW1. By 1870 the French were beginning to produce 24 cm and 28cm breech-loaders as were the Russian with 30.5 cm M1867 guns, so the British needed a good kicking.

[@HarrowsThoms]

They just don't make 'em like that anymore. The Brits should build HMS Thundererer, an upscaled and modernized version of her, solely for the meme of it all.

[@TheVideoNorm]

Think of how popular it would be at children's parties. Or my house on weekends.

[@LongdistanceRider22]

Weapons were fired simultaneously

[@toddanderson6775]

So they did not swab.the barrell after each round to keep powder from going off

[@joashhappy5739]

his voice is oddly satisfying

[@Jordan-rb28]

700 pound shells..... that gun was the world's biggest grenade ever

[@DwaineMoon-i4t]

Cool history lesson. Thanks

[@skeetrix5577]

I really didn't know that at that time in history humanity already invented massive shells like this, and we're actually able to move them around to lead them into the barrel on a moving ship lol guess I need to learn up more on my mid to late 19th century technology

[@gordenrussell7266]

I should think that the men would notice that the second loading isn't going in as far as usual.

[@narabdela]

Did you not hear what was said in the video?

[@Emerott]

I guess they switched to breechloading guns because they are easier to load and fire faster, not because of some accident. But you have to develop the technology first...

[@cromwellington441]

Breach loading guns had been around for a while by then, Britain hadn’t adopted the technology due to previous issues with earlier breach loaders, leading to a general mistrust in them for a while

[@barahng]

The irony of the ship's name is not lost on me 😂

[@daniellewis3330]

Dudes had to cover their ears and eyes when it shot, so they ended up not noticing the biggest possible error. *OSHA Intensifies*

[@i.l.l.l.l.]

Twelve and a half inches...? A foot and an inch...?

[@fuelaholic]

12.5 inches

[@robr2389]

Wow. Hadn't heard of this one before. Tragedy. Am aware of the US Navy tragedy with that battleship. New Jersey, Iowa, Missouri? One of them, I think. Had an explosion in one of those 16" gun turrets as I recall. I was active duty when that happened. Submariner teaching school. FINALLY got shore duty after SEVEN years of sea duty.😅🤣🤣😅

[@Concerned-Nihilist]

If they didn't notice, one of the enormous Parrot guns had not fired, the Navy may have wanted to reduce the crews daily rum rations.

[@HolzMichel]

a ship living up to its name

[@disconnected22]

Muzzleloader, 700 lbs. Christ.

[@zzbudzz]

A 12.5 inch muzzle loader...wow!!

[@impaler331]

700 pound projectile is just obscene and thats not even the biggest is it?

[@Finlandiaperkele]

Iowa fired 2000lb projectiles

[@drider43]

The various versions of the 16-inch guns in WWII could fire shells of between 1800 and 2700 lbs up to a range of around 23-25 miles.

[@MaxStevenson-ih5ji]

@@drider43 yeah ww2 was peak naval gun era. the range on this is like ~3 miles.

[@rhpsoregon]

I bet they scratched that ship name from their books. Talk about cursing a ship even before it's launched.

[@johnd8892]

Looks like one of the same guns preserved on the seafront at Williamstown , Victoria, Australia.

[@WilliamSear-yp9zr]

Damn good narrating. 🤙🤙🤙

[@zyme4569]

The Thunder Child is more unlucky.

[@davidthefirst6195]

Thunder Child was doing ok if it wasn't for those pesky heat rays

[@DerpRulesAll]

USS Iowa: "Hold my muzzle"

[@TheNynjspider]

How do you muzzle load a 400lb shell?

[@willausterman3104]

They were 700lbs and the answer is very carefully

[@davejames1452]

These guns are still littered around Portsmouth 😊

[@BillSmith-fx7xx]

It is amazing that it did not sink itself !

[@AlexKS1992]

Definitely a squib load and considering the casualties it could’ve been much worse.

[@chadhowell417]

MUZZLE LOADER?! WOOOOOOW!!!!!!

[@TankUni]

Appropriately named.

[@memesintensifies8013]

Common muzzle loading L

[@asylumlover]

IN MEMORIAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@simongrey3806]

That doesn't seem to make sense. How do you double charge a muzzle loader?

[@marcs4563]

Worlds biggest squib!

[@davidstuck2866]

how in the world do you load a 12.5" diameter, 700 pound shell into the muzzle of a likely 15 foot long gun? and more importantly, how do you get that shell all the way down onto the powder charge?! you would likely need a hydraulic ram to ensure the shell was fully seated. and I find it hard to believe they had such an apparatus.

[@AdamantLightLP]

They did

[@trainman1209]

They double loaded it? You mean they put 2 700 lb shells in it?

[@tomrogers9467]

Renamed to HMS Blunderer.

[@OrcasIslandBrian]

Huh, the ram rod didn't go all the way in. Lolz send it!

[@trevorslater2746]

Der so when they loaded and rammed the next shell nothing was noticed ,hold on that didn't go in very much etc ,Dopey boys just got into a routine 😮

[@Mondo762]

I hate it when that happens.

[@The_kayotic]

Massive? You know what else is massive? LOW TAPER FADE

[@Idahomie]

so,where was the commanding officer at the time. probably it was tea time'...this sounds like the arrogant british royal command. And now they produce useless autos that drain their owners pocket books.

[@trevdestroyer8209]

What des the commanding officer have to do with this he doesn't operate guns

[@TomFynn]

"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow." Lt. Cmdr. Susan Ivanova, B5

[@davefellhoelter1343]

as I recall the US lost some cabinet and congress members in a similar demonstration.

[@donphillips4492]

12.5 inch gun?? huge. lmao!!

[@rob1129]

I imagine it blew half the ship apart !

[@steve-qc8hd]

No it wrecked the gun and some component in the turret most injuries were burns, most deaths due to over pressure. some fragments of the shell were found in the turret, (so probably the squib - the not fired first shell) which gives an idea of the forces involved, but effectively the damage was confined to the gun and sliding cradle the turret itself and the other gun were relatively unaffected.. it was repaired at Malta and returned to service, going into reserve in 1881 and back to fleet in 1885, then re-fitted with Breech loading 10 inch guns and continued to serve to 1892 when continuing boiler problems put her into reserve then as a guard ship and even as late as 1902 was and emergency reserve ship, stricken in 1907 with the Fishers scrapping and sold for scrap on September 13th 1909

[@johnwyman6126]

How in the world can someone double load a muzzle loader?

[@GeroldAtkins]

Ouch!

[@mertaydin1421]

You know what else is massive?

[@red_d849]

hms thunderer thundered that day

[@bigsarge2085]

💥💥💥

[@WayneGlensky-vx5er]

Massive you say?

[@MikyalNasr]

Yk what else is massive

[@Springfield1795]

@MikyalNasrDEEZ NUTZ

[@Desequick]

⁠@MikyalNasr LOOOOOWWWWWWWW

[@PsRohrbaugh]

700 lbs almost enough to handle my mom 😂

[@filster1934]

This isn't the channel to try and be cool. Besides, who would say that about their OWN mother??

[@mrfloor1845]

this would be cool to have in WARTHUNDER

[@kaizersoze]

its inconceivable!

[@Goji1153]

Wanna know what else is MASSIVE LOW TAPER FADE

[@LangLebeDasKaisertumOestereich]

You know what Else is massive?

[@percpete]

wild first

[@pseudotasuki]

Misfires are dangerous. It's likely what killed Brandon Lee, too.

[@HughJass-313]

😂😂

[@avidnongetit8710]

The creator of this video skips yoo much Historical fact to sound intelligent and authoritative. The eleven dead were the crew who fired the gun.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

How much historical information do you expect in a short limited to one minute?

[@filster1934]

Most of us are intuitive enough to know the eleven killed were the gun crew. Maybe you should use this short video to do more research on your own?

[@AdamantLightLP]

Midwit comment.

[@bwint7234]

1972 huh... disappointed that even you have turned to just script reading. Unsubscribe