USS Texas vs. Battery Hamburg

“ Watching film footage of a battleship firing in no way gives you any clue to the true nature of the effect of a main battery salvo. Even one turret firing causes minor damage aboard a ship. Toilets crack, the deck ignites, and woe to anyone forward of a safe zone. If they survive the blast concussion, bones shatter, eardrums rupture, and heads ache long afterwards. The air becomes thick with yellowish-brown smoke from each salvo as men rush to swab the deck before the next round in an effort to prevent fires. It requires the explosion of several hundred pounds of gunpowder, hand loaded into the breach of each gun to propel a 1,300-pound projectile onto a target miles away. Aboard Texas, the main guns were fired electronically, but loaded manually. A sustained firefight led to coordinated frenzy, as men loaded the guns, swept the decks, and braced for the next round.”
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/uss-texas-battery-hamburg-1944