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Naval Historical Center #NH 80528
| Bore |
14" 355.6mm |
| Ammunition type |
Bagged APC and HC shells |
| Weight of projectile | 1500 lbs 680 kg |
| Velocity | 2700 feet per second 823 meters per second |
| Maximum elevation | 30 degrees |
| Range | 36,300 yards 33,190 meters |
| Firing cycle | 45 seconds |
| Penetration |
13.6" at 12,000 yards 34.5 cm at 11,000 m |
This gun was the main armament for the New
Mexicos
and Tennessees.
The gun was initially a flop, with a salvo dispersion of 1352 yards
(1236 m) at 23,959 yards (21,908 m) versus 558 yards at 24,850 yards
for the contemporary 16"/45. It
took five years to trace the high dispersion to the failure of shells
to remain properly seated after being rammed into the gun, due to a
design that left considerable dead space in the powder chamber.
With the problem identified and simple fixes put into place, the gun
became as accurate as any other in the American arsenal.
The
original Mark 7 were gradually replaced on these warships with the Mark
11, which had a chromium plated
bore and other improvements.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015 by Kent G. Budge. Index
