Type 10 120 mm AA gun

Type 10 120 mm dual-purpose gun
A damaged dual purpose 120 mm gun from a four gun battery on Guam.
Type Anti-aircraft / coastal defense gun
Place of origin Japan
Service history
In service 1921-1945
Used by  Empire of Japan
Wars Second World War
Production history
Produced 1921-1945
No. built approx 2000
Specifications
Weight 8.5 tons
Barrel length 5.4 m (17 ft 9 in) L/45
Caliber 120 millimetres (4.7 in)
Breech Semi-automatic horizontal sliding-wedge
Carriage Fixed pedestal
Elevation -5 to +75 degrees
Traverse 360 degrees
Rate of fire 10 to 12 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity 825 m/s (2,710 ft/s)
Effective firing range Horizontal: 16,000 m (17,000 yd)
Vertical: 8,500 m (27,900 ft)
Maximum firing range Vertical: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)

The Type 10 or 12 cm/45 10th Year Type naval gun was a Japanese 120 mm calibre dual purpose anti-aircraft and coastal defense gun used during the Second World War. It was derived from the 12 cm/45 3rd Year Type naval gun. The Type 10 number was designated for the year the gun was accepted,the 10th year of Emperor Taishō's reign, 1927 in the Gregorian calendar.[1]

Description

The weapon was originally designed for ship use and was produced in large numbers during 1944. The gun was adapted for land use as a dual-purpose gun. The gun fired either high explosive or incendiary shrapnel shells that weighed 20.6 kilograms, with a complete round weighing 32.4 kilograms.[2]

It served as the secondary armament on a number of Japanese aircraft carriers and cruisers and as the primary armament on smaller ships.

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

References

  1. ↑ War Department TM-E-30-480 Handbook on Japanese Military Forces September 1944 p 400
  2. ↑ Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.194-95.

Bibliography

  • War Department TM-E-30-480 Handbook on Japanese Military Forces September 1944
  • Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.

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