Re: Weapons sizes
And measuring cannons by the weight of their ammo dates back at least to the 16th century. At a time when cannons fired spherical projectiles, there was a direct correlation between the diameter and weight of the projectile (cast from metal of a given density).
As for WWII era, British were not happy to designate all of their artillery pieces by the weight of the shot, so some of them were designated by the barrel diameter.
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