6-inch/30-caliber gun

Last updated
6"/30 caliber Mark 1, 2, and 3
USS Atlanta 6inch gun LOC cph 3b07972.jpg
Atlanta, 6-inch/30 caliber gun.
Type Naval gun
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1885
Used by United States Navy
Wars
Production history
Designer Bureau of Ordnance
Designed1883
Manufacturer U.S. Naval Gun Factory
No. built
  • Mark 1: 1
  • Mark 2: 20
  • Mark 3: 109
VariantsMark 1, Mark 2 Mod 1 – Mod 3, Mark 3 Mod 0 – Mod 9
Specifications
Mass
  • Mark 1: 11,010 lb (4,990 kg) (without breech)
  • Mark 2: 10,430 lb (4,730 kg)
Length
  • Mark 1: 189.7 in (4,820 mm)
  • Mark 2: 193.53 in (4,916 mm)
  • Mark 3 Mod 0 and Mod 3: 196 in (5,000 mm)
  • Mark 3 Mod 1: 226 in (5,700 mm)
  • Mark 3 Mod 2 and Mod 8: 256 in (6,500 mm)
Barrel  length
  • 30 Caliber: 180 in (4,600 mm) bore (30 calibers)
  • 35 Caliber: 210 in (5,300 mm) bore (35)
  • 40 Caliber: 240 in (6,100 mm) bore (40)

Shell
Caliber 6 in (152 mm)
Elevation
  • Mark 3: −7° to +12° (early units)
  • Mark 3: −10° to +12° (later units)
Traverse −150° to +150°
Rate of fire
  • As commissioned: 0.66 rounds per minute (bag guns)
  • After 1906: 7.3 rounds per minute (bag guns)
  • As commissioned: 1.5 rounds per minute (case guns)
  • After 1906: 7.6 rounds per minute (case guns)
Muzzle velocity
  • 1,950 ft/s (590 m/s) 30 caliber
  • 2,000 ft/s (610 m/s) 35 caliber
  • 2,150 ft/s (660 m/s) 40 caliber
Effective firing range
  • 9,000 yd (8,200 m) at 15.3° elevation
  • 18,000 yd (16,000 m) at 30.2° elevation

The 6"/30 caliber gun Mark 1 (spoken "six-inch-thirty-caliber") were used for the primary battery of the United States Navy's dispatch vessel Dolphin with the Mark 2 being used in the secondary batteries for its "New Navy" protected cruisers Atlanta, Chicago, and Boston and the Mark 3 used for the primary and secondary batteries in the succeeding early protected cruisers in addition to secondary batteries in the "Second Class Battleships" Maine and Texas. [1] [2]

Contents

Design

The 6-inch/30 caliber Mark 1, 2, and 3 guns were developed before the Spanish–American War and still used black powder or brown powder, in later years they were not considered strong enough to withstand the higher chamber pressures generated by the newer smokeless powder adopted around 1898 and were obsolete before the start of World War I. [1]

The Mark 1, gun No. 1, was constructed of tube, jacket, 16 hoops, an elevating band and integral trunnions with a screwed on muzzle bell. The Mark 2 also trunnioned with the Mark 2 Mod 1 only having 10 hoops, jacket, and chamber liner and the Mod 2 the same but with a full-length liner. All Mark 1 and Mark 2 guns were constructed to a length of 30 calibers. In 1895 all Mark 2s were ordered to be converted to rapid-fire, fixed ammunition. This was done in 1898–1902 with gun No. 2 being delivered in November 1898 for use in Atlanta. [1] [2]

The Mark 3 was trunnioned as the Mark 1 and Mark 2, but was built in three different caliber lengths, 30, 35, and 40, in eight different Mods, Mod 0 – Mod 6 and Mod's 8 and 9. Mod 0 was 30 caliber with Mod 1 being 35 caliber. All 30 and 35 caliber Mods had a liner, 10 hoops, and a jacket. Mod 2 was 40 caliber with only eight hoops. Mod 3 was again 30 caliber but introduced the use of case (semi-fixed) ammunition. The Mod 4 was experimental in that it eliminated the trunnions and used a threaded sleeve. Mod 5s were reworked Mod 1s making them capable of handling case ammunition. As with the Mod 5 the Mod 6 were Mod 2s reworked to handle case ammunition. The Mod 7 was skipped and no drawings exist for this Mod. The Mod 8 was another Mod 2 rework, this time removing the trunnions and using a threaded sleeve. The last Mod was the Mod 9, using a Mod 3 gun and giving it a full-length liner. [1] [2]

ShipGun InstalledGun Mount
USS Dolphin (PG-24) Mark 1: 6"/30 caliberMark 1: 1 × shifting pivot
USS Atlanta (1884) Mark 2: 6"/30 caliberMark 2: 6 × muzzle pivot mount
USS Boston (1884) Mark 2: 6"/30 caliberMark 2: 6 × muzzle pivot mount
USS Chicago (1885) Mark 2: 6"/30 caliberMark 2: 8 × muzzle pivot mount
USS Maine (ACR-1) Mark 3: 6"/30 caliberMark 3: 6 × central-pivot
USS Texas (1892)
  • Mark 3: 4 × 6"/30 caliber
  • Mark 3: 2 × 6"/35 caliber
Mark 4: 6 × central-pivot w/single-piece slide
USS Newark (C-1)
  • Mark 3: 6"/30 caliber (as built)
  • Mark 3: 6"/40 caliber (refit 1901–1902)
Mark 3: 12 × central-pivot
USS Charleston (C-2) Mark 3: 6"/30 caliberMark 3: 6 × central-pivot
USS Baltimore (C-3) Mark 3: 6"/30 caliberMark 3: 6 × central-pivot
USS Philadelphia (C-4) Mark 3: 6"/30 caliberMark 3: 12 × central-pivot
USS Columbia (C-12) Mark 3: 6"/40 caliberMark 3: 2 × central-pivot
USS Minneapolis (C-13) Mark 3: 6"/40 caliberMark 3: 2 × central-pivot
USS Yorktown (PG-1) Mark 3: 6"/30 caliberMark 4: 6 × central-pivot w/single-piece slide
USS Petrel (PG-2) Mark 3: 6"/30 caliberMark 4: 6 × central-pivot w/single-piece slide
USS Concord (PG-3) Mark 3: 6"/30 caliberMark 4: 6 × central-pivot w/single-piece slide
USS Bennington (PG-4) Mark 3: 6"/30 caliberMark 4: 6 × central-pivot w/single-piece slide

Preserved weapons

At least five guns of this type are preserved:

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Navweaps 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Friedman 2011, pp. 179–180.
  3. Hartshorn 2015.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4-inch/50-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 4″/50 caliber gun was the standard low-angle, quick-firing gun for United States, first appearing on the monitor Arkansas and then used on "Flush Deck" destroyers through World War I and the 1920s. It was also the standard deck gun on S-class submarines, and was used to rearm numerous submarines built with 3-inch (76 mm) guns early in World War II. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile 4 inches in diameter, and the barrel was 50 calibers long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">16-inch/50-caliber Mark 2 gun</span> *Naval gun *Coastal defense gun

The 16"/50 caliber Mark 2 gun and the near-identical Mark 3 were guns originally designed and built for the United States Navy as the main armament for the South Dakota-class battleships and Lexington-class battlecruisers. The successors to the 16"/45 caliber gun Mark I gun, they were at the time among the heaviest guns built for use as naval artillery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6-inch/53-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 6"/53 caliber gun formed the main battery of some United States Navy light cruisers and three US submarines built during the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8-inch/55-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 8"/55 caliber gun formed the main battery of United States Navy heavy cruisers and two early aircraft carriers. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun barrel had an internal diameter of 8 inches (203 mm), and the barrel was 55 calibers long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8-inch/30-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 8"/30 caliber gun formed the main batteries of the United States Navy's "New Navy". They were a US naval gun that first entered service in 1886, and were designed for use with the first three protected cruisers, Atlanta, Boston and Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8-inch/35-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 8"/35 caliber gun Mark 3 and Mark 4 were used for the main batteries of the United States Navy's first armored cruisers and the secondary batteries for their first battleships, the Indiana-class. The 8"/40 caliber gun Mark 5 initially armed the Pennsylvania-class armored cruisers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10-inch/31-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 10"/31 caliber gun Mark 1 Mod 1 and the 10"/35 caliber gun Mark 1 Mod 2 were both used for the primary batteries of the United States Navy's Amphitrite-class monitor Miantonomoh. The 10"/30 caliber gun Mark 2 was used as main armament on the remaining Amphitrite-class monitors, the monitor Monterey, and the armored cruiser Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12-inch/35-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 12"/35 caliber gun were used for the primary batteries of the United States Navy's "New Navy" monitors Puritan and Monterey and the battleships Texas and Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8-inch/45-caliber gun</span> *Naval gun *Coastal artillery *Railway gun

The 8"/45 caliber Mark 6 gun were used for the secondary batteries of the United States Navy's last pre-dreadnought battleships and refitted in older armored cruisers main batteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12-inch/40-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 12"/40 caliber gun were used for the primary batteries of the United States Navy's last class of monitors and the Maine-class and Virginia-class pre-dreadnought battleships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10-inch/40-caliber gun Mark 3</span> Naval gun

The 10"/40 caliber gun Mark 3 was used for the main batteries of the United States Navy's last generation of armored cruisers, the Tennessee-class. The Mark 3s were the last, and most powerful, 10-inch (254 mm) guns built for the US Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6-inch/40-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 6"/40 caliber gun Mark 4 were used for the secondary batteries of the United States Navy's Indiana-class and Illinois-class battleships. They were also used as the main battery on the Cincinnati-class protected cruisers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">13-inch/35-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 13"/35 caliber gun Mark 1 was used for the primary batteries on eight of the first nine battleships in the United States Navy, Indiana-class, Kearsarge-class and Illinois-class; USS Iowa (BB-4) used the 12-inch (305 mm)/35 caliber gun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4-inch/40-caliber gun</span> *Naval gun *Coastal artillery

The 4"/40 caliber gun was used for the secondary batteries on the United States Navy's battleship Iowa, Columbia-class protected cruisers, and the armored cruiser New York, and was the primary batteries on the gunboats Nashville, Wilmington, and Helena.

The 5"/31 caliber gun were used in the secondary batteries of the United States Navy's "New Navy" protected cruiser Chicago and later mounted in Panther during the Spanish–American War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5-inch/40-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 5″/40 caliber gun were used in the secondary batteries of the United States Navy's early battleships, armored cruisers, protected cruisers, unprotected cruisers, and auxiliary cruisers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5-inch/50-caliber gun</span> *Naval gun *Coastal gun

The 5"/50 caliber gun was the first long barrel 5-inch (127 mm) gun of the United States Navy and was used in the secondary batteries of the early Delaware-class dreadnought battleships, various protected cruisers, and scout cruisers. They were also refitted in the secondary batteries of the armored cruiser New York and the New Orleans-class protected cruisers. They were later used on cargo ships, store ships and unclassified auxiliaries during World War II as well as in emergency coastal defense batteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12-inch/50-caliber Mark 7 gun</span> Naval gun

The 12"/50 caliber Mark 7 gun was a United States Navy's naval gun that first entered service in 1912. Initially designed for use with the Wyoming class of dreadnought battleships, the Mark 7 also armed the Argentine Navy's Rivadavia-class battleships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6-inch/50-caliber gun</span> *Naval gun *Coastal defence

The 6"/50 caliber gun Mark 6 and Mark 8 were used for the secondary batteries of the United States Navy's Maine-class and Virginia-class battleships, as well as the Pennsylvania-class and Tennessee-class armored cruisers. They were also used as the main battery on the St. Louis-class protected cruisers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Škoda 10 cm K10</span> Naval gun

The Škoda 10 cm K10 was a 100 mm (3.9-inch) naval gun of the Austro-Hungarian Navy used as tertiary armament on semi-dreadnought battleships and as primary armament on scout cruisers and destroyers during World War I. After World War I, variants of the Škoda 10 cm K10 were widely produced in Italy as the 100/47 series of guns, which served in a number of roles, on a wide variety of ships, with a number of navies.

References

Further reading