Uploaded April 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The heaviest turbolaser turrets on an Imperial star destroyer MKI (Imperator) are fifty meters in diameter and easily an order of magnitude larger than the [real world] turrets mounted on the US Iowa battleships, which carried 16 inch (cal) guns.
Considering the Imperator's turbolasers sheer size they must each weigh more than ten thousands metric tons. Because they are both an order of magnitude larger and several orders of magnitude more advanced than Iowa's cannons, they must also be many* orders of magnitude more effective within their optimum range (i.e capable of megaton+ yields).
Footage is from
Rogue One: a Star Wars Story
World of Warships
Note the Iowa's guns could blast an area of thousands of square meters with a single explosive shell. The guns could also fire special low yield nuclear devices known as "Katie shells" with a yield of ~20 kilotons (several orders of magnitude more energetic than the standard shells which had a sub kiloton yield).
The high res image of the ISD I was made by FractalSponge, see more of his work at fractalsponge.net
The ISD turret is similarly voluminous overall to the Iowa battleship.
Fair Use
How big are turbolasers?
Turbolaser size
The heaviest turbolaser turrets on an Imperial star destroyer MKI (Imperator) are fifty meters in diameter and easily an order of magnitude larger than the [real world] turrets mounted on the US Iowa battleships, which carried 16 inch (cal) guns.
Considering the Imperator's turbolasers sheer size they must each weigh more than ten thousands metric tons. Because they are both an order of magnitude larger and several orders of magnitude more advanced than Iowa's cannons, they must also be many* orders of magnitude more effective within their optimum range (i.e capable of megaton+ yields).
Footage is from
Rogue One: a Star Wars Story
World of Warships
Note the Iowa's guns could blast an area of thousands of square meters with a single explosive shell. The guns could also fire special low yield nuclear devices known as "Katie shells" with a yield of ~20 kilotons (several orders of magnitude more energetic than the standard shells which had a sub kiloton yield).
The high res image of the ISD I was made by FractalSponge, see more of his work at fractalsponge.net
The ISD turret is similarly voluminous overall to the Iowa battleship.
Fair Use
How big are turbolasers?
Turbolaser size
