Eli5 how the guns on large navy ships actually work? They are just shooting really large bullets at other ships in the sea? Like, does it use combustion to accelerate the projectile?

Question

Eli5 how the guns on large navy ships actually work? They are just shooting really large bullets at other ships in the sea? Like, does it use combustion to accelerate the projectile?

In: 9

Answer 1

Mostly, yes. They’re cannons, similar to artillery cannons. The main difference from a very large version of a handgun, aside from size, is that the ‘bullet’ part itself often also has explosives, so it explodes when it hits the target.