12-inch/35-caliber gun explained

12"/35 caliber Mark 1 & 2 Naval Gun
Origin:United States
Type:Naval gun
Is Ranged:YES
Is Artillery:YES
Service:1896
Wars:
Designer:Bureau of Ordnance
Manufacturer:US Naval Gun Factory
Number:
  • Mark 1: 8 (Nos. 1–8)
  • Mark 2: 7 (Nos. 9–14, 57)
Variants:Mark 1 and Mark 2
Weight:
  • (with breech)
  • (without breech)
Part Length: bore (35 calibers)
Cartridge: armor-piercing
Rate:1 rounds per minute
Range: at 15° elevation (max elevation of turrets)
Max Range: at 30° elevation
Elevation:
  • Marks 1:-3° to +15°
  • Marks 2:−5° to +15°
  • Marks 3:−3° to +14°
Traverse:−150° to +150°

The 12"/35 caliber gun (spoken "twelve-inch-thirty-five–caliber") were used for the primary batteries of the United States Navy's "New Navy" monitors and and the battleships and .

Mark 1

The Navy's Policy Board call for a variety of large caliber weapons in 1890, with ranges all the way up to 16adj=on0adj=on, led to the development of the 12adj=on0adj=on/35 caliber gun. The Mark 1, gun Nos. 1–8, was constructed of gun steel, having a tube, jacket, ten hoops and a locking ring. The Mod 0, the original design, had the inner hoop starting from the breech and running out to the muzzle, with the Mod 1 being hooped from breech to muzzle.

Mark 2

The Mark 2, gun Nos. 9–14 and 57, was of similar construction to the Mark 1 but with seven hoops starting from the breech and running out to the muzzle. The Mark 2 Mod 1 and Mod 2 were also given a new nickel-steel liner.

Incident

Gun No. 9, mounted in Iowas forward turret in the left-hand position, was damaged on 9 April 1903, off Pensacola, Florida, when the chase, forward of the "D" hoop, was blown off during target practice. The gun had been assembled in 1895 at the US Naval Gun Factory. The gun had fired 127 rounds with the accident happening on the 128th round. No one inside the turret were injured, but fragments of the chase were driven through the deck under the muzzle killing three men on the deck below; four others were slightly wounded. The gun was removed and sent back to the Naval Gun Factory to be examined by a special board. Their theory was that a pressure wave had built up from the burning of older smokeless powder used.

Naval Service

ShipGun InstalledGun Mount
Mark 1: 12"/35 caliber (Nos. 5–8)Mark 1: 2 × twin turrets
Mark 1: 12"/35 caliber (Nos. 1–2)Mark 1: 1 × twin turret
Mark 1: 12"/35 caliber (Nos. 3–4)Mark 2: 2 × single turrets
Mark 2: 12"/35 caliber (Nos. 9–14) (No. 9 replaced with No. 57)Mark 3: 2 × twin turrets

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

References

Books

. Norman Friedman . Naval Weapons of World War One . Seaforth Publishing . 2011 . 978-1-84832-100-7 .

Online sources

External links