| Type 41 12-inch 40-calibre BL 12 inch Mk IX gun |
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Forward guns of IJN Fuji |
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| Type | Naval gun |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom, later license-produced in Japan |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1900-1945 |
| Used by | Royal Navy Imperial Japanese Navy Regia Marina |
| Wars | Russo-Japanese War World War I |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Elswick Ordnance Company |
| Designed | 1898 |
| Manufacturer | Elswick Ordnance Company Vickers Woolwich Arsenal |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 49 long tons (50 t) |
| Barrel length | 40-foot-5-inch (12.32 m) bore (40 calibres) |
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| Shell | 850 pounds (390 kg) separate charges and shell |
| Calibre | 12 inches (305 mm) |
| Breech | Welin interrupted screw |
| Elevation | −5/+15 degrees |
| Traverse | +150/−150 degrees |
| Rate of fire | 1 round per minute |
| Muzzle velocity | Japanese service : 2,400 ft/s (732 m/s) UK service: 2,481 ft/s (756 m/s)[1], 2,612 ft/s (796 m/s) (King Edward VII class) |
| Effective range | 15,000 yards (14 km); 15° elevation |
The Armstrong Whitworth 12 inch naval gun of 40 calibres length was designed by, and manufactured mainly by, Armstrong's ordnance branch, Elswick Ordnance Company. It was intended for the Royal Navy’s Royal Sovereign class battleships, but budgetary constraints delayed their introduction. The first units were instead supplied to Japan. It later entered service with the RN as the 12 inch Mark IX
As the Type 41 12-inch (305 mm)/40 caliber naval gun it was the standard main battery on several early United Kingdom-built pre-dreadnought battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
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The Type 41 12-inch naval gun was produced by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, as a slightly modified version of the “EOC G pattern” 12-inch guns used on contemporary Royal Navy battleships. Japan purchased a total of 44 of these weapons for use of the Fuji and Shikishima class battleships, and the Mikasa.
In combat at the Battle of the Yellow Sea in the Russo-Japanese War, Japanese battleships Asahi, Shikishima and Mikasa all had one of their main guns taken out of action due to bore prematures. The cause was traced to faulty fuses, and the problem was rectified prior to the Battle of Tsushima.
The gun was officially designated as “Type 41” from the 41st year of the reign of Emperor Meiji on 1908-12-25. It was further re-designated in centimeters on 1917-10-05 as part of the standardization process for the Imperial Japanese Navy to the metric system.
The Type 41 12-inch gun fired an 850-pound (390 kg) shell, with either an armor piercing, high explosive or general purpose warhead.
The gun entered service with the Royal Navy as BL 12 inch gun Mark IX[2] on the following ships :
The gun was in service mounted on the three M-class submarines from 1920 to 1932.
Four guns were mounted on railway carriages and used by the British army in World War I on the Western Front.
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Armstrongs also sold versions of their 12 inch 40-calibre gun to Italy, to arm the Regina Margherita class (commissioned 1905) and Regina Elena/Vittorio Emanuele-class (commissioned 1908) battleships. The version for the Vittorio Emanuele class fired a heavier 417 kg (920 lb) shell.
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