EOC 12-inch 45-calibre naval gun

Naval gun
EOC 12 inch 45-calibre naval gun
12"/45 41st Year Type
41st Year Type on Mikasa
TypeNaval gun
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
In service1906-1952
Used byUnited Kingdom
Brazil
Empire of Japan
WarsWorld War I
Production history
DesignerElswick Ordnance Company
Specifications
Barrel lengthBore 45 feet (13.716 m) (45 cal)
Shell850 pounds (385.6 kg)
Calibre12-inch (304.8 mm)
Muzzle velocity2,700 feet per second (823 m/s) - 2,800 feet per second (853 m/s)
Maximum firing range18,850 yards (17,240 m)

The EOC 12 inch 45 calibre gun were various similar 12-inch wire-wound naval guns designed and manufactured by Elswick Ordnance Company to equip ships that the parent company Armstrong Whitworth built and/or armed for several countries before World War I.

History

Brazil service

Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes's guns firing

Elswick supplied its 12-inch 45-calibre guns for the Minas Geraes-class battleships completed by itself and Vickers in 1910 for Brazil.

UK service

Section of barbette and gunhouse of HMS Agincourt

When World War I began, Elswick were completing the battleship Sultân Osmân-ı Evvel for the Ottoman Empire, originally begun as Rio de Janeiro for Brazil. It was armed with 14 of a slightly later version of Elswick's 12-inch 45-calibre guns. The battleship was completed as HMS Agincourt and served in the Royal Navy in World War I, with its guns designated BL 12 inch Mk XIII.[1] The gun's performance was similar to the standard Royal Navy equivalent gun, the BL 12 inch Mk X designed by Vickers.

Japan service

Elswick supplied its 12-inch 45-calibre guns to the Imperial Japanese Navy, and they were also manufactured under licence in Japan. In Japanese service from 1908 they became 12"/45 41st Year Type and later after the navy metricised in 1917, 30 cm/45 41st Year Type. They equipped the following ship classes:

  • Katori-class battleships commissioned 1906
  • Ibuki-class battlecruiser commissioned in 1907 & 1911
  • Tsukuba-class battlecruisers commissioned 1908
  • Battleship Mikasa as re-gunned in 1908
  • Satsuma-class battleships commissioned 1910 & 1912
  • Kawachi-class battleships commissioned 1912

Surviving examples

  • On the Japanese battleship Mikasa, Yokosuka, Japan

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Notes

  1. ^ Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. This was the thirteenth model of BL 12-inch gun in British service.

References

  • Tony DiGiulian, Brazil 12"/45 (30.5 cm) Elswick Pattern L
  • Tony DiGiulian, Britain 12"/45 (30.5 cm) Mark XIII
  • Japanese 12"/45 (30.5 cm) Armstrong 12"/45 (30.5 cm) 41st Year Type 30 cm/45 (12") 41st Year Type

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to EOC 12 inch /45 naval gun.
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