15 cm/50 41st Year Type

15 cm/50 41 Year Type Agano twin turrets closeup 300px.jpg Twin turrets on Agano, October 1942 Japan Naval gun, coastal defence yes yes 1913–1945 Imperial Japanese Navy World War IWorld War II 1908 8360 kg ton 7.8 m ft 7.6 m ft 100 lb kg 6 in mm on 4 6 (effective) 850 m/s ft/s Kongō & Fusō: 18000 m yd at 30°Agano: 21000 m yd at 45°Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.189. Kongō & Fusō: -5 to +30Agano: -5 to +55 Kongō & Fusō: -70 to +70Agano: -150 to +150 The 15 cm/50 41st Year Type gun 50口径四十一式15cm砲 50-kōkei yonjū-ichi shiki 15-senchi hō was a naval gun used by the Imperial Japanese Navy before and during World War II. It had a 152 mm in bore with a length of 7.6 m ft (50 calibre) and fired 45.4 kg lb shell for a distance of 18000 m yd (in single mount version) or 21000 m yd (in the later twin mounts). The gun was first used in single casemates on the Kongō-class battlecruisers and Fusō-class battleships and later in the Agano-class light cruisers in twin mountings. History The Type 41 was a Japanese version of the Vickers "Mark M", originally introduced by Vickers-Armstrong (Barrow) as the secondary battery for the Kongō-class. These original guns were designated by the Japanese Navy as the "Mark II", whereas the Japanese-designed copy (adopted from 1912) were designated as the "Mark III". In the 1930s, the Kongō-class were modernized, at which time these guns were replaced by new 12.7 cm/40 DP guns. The old guns were placed in storage and were reused on the Agano-class. Some were taken to Guam and were used for coastal defense batteries. In the Agano-class, the gun could elevate to 55° for anti-aircraft fire; however, its manual loading method allowed a rate of fire of only about 6 rounds per minute, which significantly limited its utility as an anti-aircraft weapon. See also Weapons of comparable role, performance and era BL 6 inch Mk XI naval gun : British Empire equivalent naval gun 6"/50 caliber gun : US equivalent References Bibliography Naval Weapons of World War Two Campbell, John Naval Institute Press 1985 0-87021-459-4 Friedman Norman Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory Seaforth Publishing Barnsley, UK 2011 978-1-84832-100-7 Norman Friedman Friedman External links Tony DiGiulian, Japanese 6"/50 (15.2 cm) Vickers Mark M 6"/50 (15.2 cm) Mark II and Mark III 15 cm/50 (6") 41st Year Type Category:World War II naval weapons Category:Naval guns of Japan Category:152 mm artillery