Vickers 10-inch 45-calibre naval gun

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 battleships and the natively-built Satsuma-class battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

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 Italian 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

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.

Italian service

The first two of the Pisa-class armoured cruisers were each fitted with four of these guns.

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

• EOC 10-inch /45 naval gun : EOC equivalent

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. (2001). 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