Vickers 10-inch 45-calibre naval gun

Vickers 10 inch /45 naval gun
Type 41 10-inch (254 mm) /45-caliber naval gun
BL 10 inch Mk VII
Vickers 10 inch /45 naval gun; Type 41 10-inch (254 mm) /45-caliber naval gun; BL 10 inch Mk VII
	Forward port gun turret on Japanese battleship Aki
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1904–37
Used by	Imperial Japanese Navy ; Royal Navy; Italy Navy
Wars	World War I
Production history
Designer	Vickers
Manufacturer	Vickers
Specifications
Mass	22 tons
Barrel length	450-inch (11.430 m) bore (45 calibres)
Shell	IJN service : 518 pounds (235 kg); RN service : 500 pounds (227 kg)
Calibre	10-inch (254 mm)
Elevation	-5 / +30 degrees
Traverse	+80 / -80 degrees
Rate of fire	1.5 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	2,657 ft/s (810 m/s)
Effective firing range	26,900-yard (24,597 m) at 30° elevation

The Vickers 10 inch naval gun was used on battleships and armoured cruisers built during the first decade of the 20th century. They were used as the Type 41 10-inch /45-caliber aboard the British-built semi-dreadnought Katori-class and Satsuma-class battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

History

Japanese service

The Type 41 10-inch (254 mm) naval gun was designed by Vickers specifically for the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was of a very similar design to the Vickers-built Mark VII guns produced initially for the Chilean Navy and later used in Royal Navy service.

The Katori class used these weapons as secondary armament. The Satsuma class was originally intended to be built with all 12-inch (300 mm) guns, which would have made this class the first true all big gun dreadnought class in the world; however, budgetary constraints forced the Japanese navy to use a mixture of 12 and 10-inch guns, as per the previous Kashima class.

The gun was officially designated as "Type 41" from the 41st year of the reign of Emperor Meiji on 25 December 1908. It was further re-designated in centimeters on 5 October 1917 as part of the standardization process for the Imperial Japanese Navy to the metric system.

After the scrapping of both the Katori class and the Satsuma class under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1923, the guns were salvaged and used in coastal artillery batteries. The guns formerly on the Aki were re-used in fortifications around Tokyo Bay.

The Type 41 10-inch gun fired a 518-pound (235.0 kg) shell with either an armor-piercing, high-explosive or general-purpose warhead.

United Kingdom service

Vickers supplied 5 of their 10-inch 45-calibre guns for use on the battleship Libertad that they were building for Chile. Britain took the ship over in 1903 as HMS Triumph, and the guns were designated BL 10 inch Mk VII in UK service. These guns fired a 500-pound (226.8 kg) projectile using 146 pounds 12 ounces (66.56 kg) of cordite MD propellant.[1]

Italian service

Each of the Pisa-class armoured cruisers was fitted with four of these guns.[2]

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Notes

Treatise on Ammunition 10th edition 1915
Friedman, pp. 236–38

References

Brown, D. K. (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development, 1860-1905. Book Sales. ISBN 1-84067-529-2.
Brown, D. K. (2003). The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development, 1906-1922. Caxton Editions. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-84067-531-3.
Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
Gardiner, Robert; Lambert, Andrew (eds.). Steam, Steel and Shellfire: The Steam Warship, 1815-1905. Conway's History of the Ship. Book Sales. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-78581-413-9.
Hodges, Peter (1981). The Big Gun: Battleship Main Armament, 1860-1945. United States Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-917-0.
Parkes, Oscar (1990) [1957]. British Battleships. United States Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
DiGiulian, Tony. "Japanese 15.2 cm/40 (10") Type 41". NavWeaps.com.

External links

Tony DiGiulian, British 10"/45 (25.4 cm) Marks VI and VII

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[1] Treatise on Ammunition 10th edition 1915

[2] Friedman, pp. 236–38

British Empire naval weapons of the First World War
Monitor guns	BL 9.2-inch Mk VI BL 9.2-inch Mk VIII BL 9.2-inch Mk X BL 9.2-inch Mk XII BL 12-inch Mk VIII US 14-inch 45 cal. BL 15-inch Mk I BL 18-inch Mk I
Capital ship main armament	Vickers 10-inch 45 cal. EOC 10-inch 45 cal. BL 12-inch Mk VIII BL 12-inch Mk IX BL 12-inch Mk X BL 12-inch Mk XI & XII EOC 12-inch 45 cal. Mk XIII BL 13.5-inch Mk V BL 13.5-inch Mk VI EOC 14-inch 45 cal. Mk I BL 15-inch Mk I
Armoured cruiser main armament	BL 7.5-inch Mk I BL 9.2-inch Mk X BL 9.2-inch Mk XI
Secondary armament and light cruiser main armament	QF 12-pounder 18 cwt QF 14-pounder Maxim-Nordenfelt QF 14-pounder Mk I & II QF 4-inch Mk III BL 4-inch Mk VII QF 4-inch Mk V BL 4-inch Mk IX BL 5.5-inch Mk I QF 6-inch Mk I – III BL 6-inch Mk VII BL 6-inch Mk XI BL 6-inch Mk XII BL 6-inch Mk XIII-XVIII BL 7.5-inch Mk II – Mk V
Destroyer and small cruiser armament	QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mk II QF 4-inch Mk III BL 4-inch Mk VIII QF 4-inch Mk IV BL 4.7-inch Mk I
Merchant ship armament	QF 4.7-inch Mk I – IV QF 4.7-inch Mk V*
Submarine guns	BL 4-inch Mk XI QF 4-inch Mk XII
Anti-aircraft guns	QF 2-pounder "pom-pom" Mk II QF 3-inch 20 cwt QF 4-inch Mk V
Light weapons	.303 Vickers machine gun QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss QF 3-pounder Vickers QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss
Torpedoes	18-inch Mk V – VIII 21-inch Mk II 21-inch Mk IV
Mines	Spherical Mk I, II and III Vickers Elia mine Type H mine
Anti-submarine weapons	Type A Depth charge Type B Depth charge Type C Depth charge Type D Depth charge Type E Depth charge Type F Depth charge Type G Depth charge Cruiser Mine 7.5-inch howitzer
Landing guns	QF 12-pounder 8 cwt