My concept of the "ultimate gun", the 24in/45 BLR

My concept of the biggest gun suitable for shipboard use (on super-large ships) is the 24in/45 BLR. By my calculations, a single gun would weight 400 tons. It is possible that it could be lighter, but that is a workable figure, based on one example gun. The 21in/45 would weight 268 tons. A 20in/45 gun would weigh 231.5 tons. A 16.5in/45 would weigh 130 tons.

     Caliber = 24.0 inch (61.0 cm) 
     Shell weight = 7472 lbs (3390 kg) 
     Muzzle velocity = 2574 fps (785 m/s) 

     Relative ballistic performance: 1.00 

     Muzzle energy = 1043.7 megajoules = 384592.8 foot-tons 

     Relative muzzle energy: 0.87 

     Barrel length: 45 calibers 


     Elevation          Range        Time      Velocity   Fall Angle 

       2.5 deg        5600 yards     6.9 sec   2358 fps     2.7 deg 
       5.0 deg       10700 yards    13.6 sec   2185 fps     5.6 deg 
       7.5 deg       15200 yards    20.1 sec   2049 fps     8.8 deg 
      10.0 deg       19200 yards    26.4 sec   1944 fps    12.1 deg 
      12.5 deg       22900 yards    32.5 sec   1864 fps    15.5 deg 
      15.0 deg       26300 yards    38.5 sec   1804 fps    18.9 deg 
      20.0 deg       32200 yards    50.0 sec   1734 fps    25.7 deg 
      25.0 deg       37100 yards    61.0 sec   1712 fps    32.0 deg 
      30.0 deg       41100 yards    71.5 sec   1721 fps    37.8 deg 
      35.0 deg       44200 yards    81.5 sec   1749 fps    43.0 deg 
      40.0 deg       46300 yards    91.0 sec   1787 fps    47.8 deg 
      45.0 deg       47300 yards    99.9 sec   1830 fps    52.2 deg 
      50.0 deg       47000 yards   108.2 sec   1873 fps    56.4 deg 


          Armor Penetration - Vertical Belt Armor 

               (Relative armor quality, 1.00) 

               Maximum penetration: 44.56 inches 


     Elevation          Range            Belt       Deck 

       1.2 deg        2800 yards         42 in
       2.3 deg        5100 yards         40 in
       2.5 deg        5600 yards          ...        1 in 
       3.4 deg        7600 yards         38 in
       4.4 deg        9500 yards          ...        2 in 
       4.7 deg       10100 yards         36 in
       6.2 deg       12800 yards         34 in
       6.3 deg       13000 yards          ...        3 in 
       7.8 deg       15700 yards         32 in
       8.2 deg       16400 yards          ...        4 in 
       9.7 deg       18800 yards         30 in
      10.3 deg       19700 yards          ...        5 in 
      12.0 deg       22200 yards         28 in
      12.6 deg       23100 yards          ...        6 in 
      14.7 deg       25800 yards         26 in
      15.4 deg       26700 yards          ...        7 in 
      17.9 deg       29800 yards         24 in
      18.7 deg       30700 yards          ...        8 in 
      20.8 deg       33000 yards          ...        9 in 
      22.0 deg       34200 yards         22 in
      22.8 deg       35000 yards          ...       10 in 
      24.8 deg       36900 yards          ...       11 in 
      26.9 deg       38700 yards          ...       12 in 
      27.1 deg       38900 yards         20 in
      28.9 deg       40300 yards          ...       13 in 
      31.0 deg       41800 yards          ...       14 in 
      33.0 deg       43100 yards          ...       15 in 
      33.4 deg       43300 yards         18 in
      35.1 deg       44300 yards          ...       16 in 
      37.2 deg       45300 yards          ...       17 in 
      39.3 deg       46100 yards          ...       18 in 
      40.5 deg       46500 yards         16 in
      41.4 deg       46700 yards          ...       19 in 
      43.6 deg       47200 yards          ...       20 in 
      45.8 deg       47300 yards          ...       21 in 
      47.5 deg       47300 yards         14 in
      48.1 deg       47300 yards          ...       22 in 


     Maximum range = 47300 yards at 46.4 deg elevation