The 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval gun was a Japanese low-angle weapon introduced during World War I.
History
It served as the secondary armament in a number of Japanese dreadnoughts and as the main armament in light cruisers and some auxiliary ships. It was also the most common Japanese coast-defense gun during World War II. "Third year type" refers to the Welin breech block on this gun. Breech-block design began in 1914, the third year of the Taishō period. This breech-block design was also used on Japanese 40 cm (16 inch), 20 cm (8 inch), 15.5 cm (6 inch), 12.7 cm (5 inch), and 12 cm (4.7 inch) naval guns.[2]
This gun was not mounted aboard submarines. Submarine cruisers used the shorter-barreled 14 cm/40 11th Year Type naval gun.[3]
- single casemate mounts
- 20x1 Ise-class battleship (removed during conversion to hybrid carrier)
- 20x1 Nagato-class battleship
- single pedestal mounts
- 7x1 Sendai-class cruiser
- 7x1 Nagara-class cruiser
- 7x1 Kuma-class cruiser
- 4x1 Tenryū-class cruiser
- 2x1 light cruiser Yūbari (also had twin mounts)
- 4x1 aircraft carrier Hōshō
- twin mounts
- 3x2 seaplane carrier Nisshin
- 2x2 Jingei-class submarine tender
- 2x2 Katori-class cruiser
- 2x2 minelayer Okinoshima
- 2x2 light cruiser Yūbari (also had single mounts)
- (uncertain mount)
See also
Weapons of comparable role, performance and era
- BL 5.5 inch Mark I naval gun : British equivalent
- Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1910 Naval gun : French equivalent
Gallery
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A 3rd Year Type gun used for coastal defense. -
A captured gun after the Battle of Enogai. -
A turret mounted gun captured on Tarawa. -
One of the three surviving Piti Guns on Guam.
Notes
References
- Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.