138 dB C-weighted is approximately equal to 30,000 Watts of sound power.  Wow!

The Chrysler Air Raid Siren is the loudest sound signaling device ever built. [ Article ]

The threshold of pain is 130 dB, anything above that level causes immediate ear damage.  The Chrysler Air Raid Siren produces that level of sound nearly 200 feet in front of the projectors.

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The Chrysler Air Raid Siren is approximately fourteen times louder than a jackhammer!

To give some perspective, the sound level on the deck of an aircraft carrier 50 feet from a military jet aircraft taking-off using an afterburner has been measured at 130 dB. The Chrysler Air Raid Siren measures 138 dB at 100 feet (nearly twice the sound level at twice the distance).

Most popular air raid and warning sirens today produce a sound level of 127 dB at 100 feet and provide a typical one-mile radius coverage area.  At 138 dB the Chrysler Air Raid Siren is approximately two times as loud and will provide a two and one-half mile radius coverage area with the same sound level at the distant edge.  The most powerful siren available for purchase today (American Signal's Tempest™ T-135-AC™) produces a sound level of 135 dB at 100 feet.  The 3dB higher output of the Chrysler Air Raid Siren, at 138 dB, represents twice as much sound energy output.

Siren coverage is based on a 10 dB loss factor.  That's to say, for every doubling of distance from the siren the sound level will be reduced 10 dB.  [ Siren Coverage Standards ]

This is the loss chart for the Chrysler Air Raid Siren:

[ Chrysler Air Raid Siren Effective Coverage Area ]