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Vickers 14-inch/45 naval gun

Vickers 14-inch 45-calibre naval gun 14"41st Year Type 14" 43rd Year Type 36 cm 41st Year Type
Gun being installed on Haruna, Kobe, October 1914
Type	Naval gun
Service history
In service	1913-1945
Used by	Imperial Japanese Navy
Wars	World War I, World War II
Production history
Designer	Vickers
Designed	1910
Manufacturer	Vickers Kure Arsenal Japan Steel Works
No. built	100
Specifications
Mass	86,000 kilograms (86 t)
Length	54 ft 0.4 in (16.469 m)
Barrel length	52 ft 6 in (16.002 m) (45calibres)
Shell	673.5 kg (1,485 lb)[1]
Calibre	14-inch (355.6 mm)
Elevation	-3° to +43°[2]
Rate of fire	2 rpm
Muzzle velocity	775 m/s (2,540 ft/s)[1]
Maximum firing range	35,450 m (38,770 yd)[1]

The Vickers 14-inch 45-calibre gun was designed and built by Vickers and initially installed on the battlecruiser Kongō which it was building for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Guns similar to this Vickers design were also later built in Japan to arm Kongō's sister ships and subsequent Japanese-constructed "super-dreadnoughts" which were all built in Japan. Japanese-built versions of the guns were designated 14-inch 41st Year Type, and from 1917 when the Navy went metric they were redesignated 36 cm 41st Year Type.

The original design for the Kongō class featured 12-inch (304.8 mm) 50-caliber guns. Cdr Katô Hirohasu of the Imperial Japanese Navy pushed for the adoption of the new 14-inch gun that was currently under development. After trials of the new gun, which were witnessed by both the Japanese Navy and Royal Navy, the Japanese made the decision on 29 Nov 1911 to use the new gun in Kongō despite her keel having already been laid down on 17 January 1911, and the resulting need to quickly make a large number of alterations to the design, so as to not prolong the construction.^[3]: 142

This gun armed the following Japanese warships:

• Kongō-class battlecruisers, launched 1912–1913:
  • Kongō
  • Hiei
  • Kirishima
  • Haruna
• Fusō-class battleships, launched 1915:
  • Fusō
  • Yamashiro
• Ise-class battleships, launched 1916–1917:
  • Ise
  • Hyūga

• List of naval guns

• 14-inch/45-caliber gun US equivalent
• 340mm/45 Modèle 1912 gun French equivalent
• EOC 14-inch 45-calibre naval gun Elswick Ordnance (Britain) equivalent
• BL 14-inch Mk VII naval gun more modern British equivalent

• Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
• Tony DiGiulian, Japan 14"/45 (35.6 cm) Vickers Mark "A" - 14"/45 (35.6 cm) 43rd Year Type - 14"/45 (35.6 cm) 41st Year Type - 36 cm/45 (14") 41st Year Type

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vickers 14 inch/45 naval gun.

• Japan 36 cm/45 (14") 41st Year Type - NavWeaps