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EOC 12 inch 45-calibre naval gun
12"/45 41st Year Type
Mikasa kobu shuho
41st Year Type on Mikasa
Type Naval gun
Place of origin United Kingdom
Service history
In service 1906-1952
Used by United Kingdom
Brazil
Empire of Japan
Wars World War I
Production history
Designer Elswick Ordnance Company
Specifications
Barrel length Bore 45 feet (13.716 m) (45 cal)

Shell 850 pounds (385.6 kg)
Calibre 12-inch (304.8 mm)
Muzzle velocity 2,700 feet per second (823 m/s) - 2,800 feet per second (853 m/s)
Maximum firing range 18,850 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 firing a broadside

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[]

Gunhouse and barbette, side section (Warships To-day, 1936)

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 :

Surviving examples[]

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[]

External links[]


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