| Bofors 120 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/50 | |
| Type: | Naval gun |
| Origin: | Sweden |
| Is Ranged: | Yes |
| Is Artillery: | Yes |
| Service: | 1952 – 1985 |
| Used By: | |
| Designer: | AB Bofors |
| Design Date: | 1950 |
| Manufacturer: | AB Bofors |
| Number: | 54 |
| Part Length: | L/50 (including breach) |
| Cartridge: | 120 × 835 mm R |
| Cartridge Weight: | 23.35 – 23.5 kg |
| Caliber: | 120mm |
| Barrels: | 2 × |
| Action: | Automatic extraction with integrated autoloader |
| Rate: | 2 × 42 rounds/min |
| Elevation: | -9°/+85°, 25°/s |
| Traverse: | 360°, 22°/s |
| Ref: | Bofors 1958, AMKAT Marinen, 1977[1] |
Bofors 120 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/50 (full English name: Bofors 120 mm Automatic Gun L/50 In Naval Twin Turret),[2] also known as Bofors 120 mm gun model 1950 and the like, was a Swedish twin-barreled 120mm caliber fully automatic dual purpose naval gun turret system designed by Bofors from the end of the 1940s to the early 1950s to meet a request from the Dutch Navy.[3] Besides the Dutch Navy, the weapon was also adopted by the Swedish and the Colombian Navy.[3]
The Dutch were the initial users of the Bofors 120 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/50. As part of rebuilding the Dutch Navy post WWII, the Dutch Navy had requested several naval gun systems to be developed by Bofors for their next generation of naval-vessels,[4] one being a twin-barreled 120 mm dual-purpose gun for the then planned Holland-class destroyers.[3] This request led to the creation of the Bofors 120 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/50.
The gun entered active service with the Dutch Navy in 1954 mounted on the Holland-class destroyers. Even before the first Holland-class destroyer had been completed the Dutch Navy decided to order yet another class of destroyer armed with the Bofors 120 mm L/50, the Friesland-class destroyer. The Dutch really liked the design and decided in the mid 1970s to save two turrets from the Holland-class destroyer HNLMS Gelderland (D811) when she was decommissioned in 1973, and then fit them to the new Tromp-class frigates under construction.
Following the Dutch example, the Swedish Navy decided to acquire the new 120 mm system being developed for them and fit it to a new generation of destroyers in 1950. In Swedish service the weapon was fitted to the Halland-class destroyers HSwMS Halland (J18) and HSwMS Småland (J19), both of which entered service in 1956. The weapon was initially designated 12 cm automatkanon m/50 (12 cm akan m/50),[5] "12 cm autocannon m/50", but around 1970 the weapon was redesignated to 12 cm torndubbelautomatpjäs m/50 (12 cm tdblapjäs m/50), "12 cm turret double automatic (artillery)piece m/50".[6] [7]
The gun was in use until the Halland-class destroyers were taken out of service.
In Colombian service the Bofors 120 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/50 was fitted to the destroyers and, both of which were Swedish built Halland-class destroyers. Unlike the Swedish Halland-class destroyers, the Colombian version carried three Bofors 120 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/50 turrets instead of two.