| Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun | |
|---|---|
| Type | Naval gun Coast defense gun |
| Place of origin | Empire of Japan |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1918-1945 |
| Used by | Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Wars | World War I World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1914 |
| Variants | Type 11 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 3 metric tons |
| Length | 5.550 meters |
| Barrel length | 5.4 meter bore |
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| Caliber | 120 millimetres (4.72 in) |
| Action | manual |
| Breech | single motion interrupted screw |
| Elevation | -7° - 33° |
| Traverse | +/- 120° |
| Rate of fire | 5-6 rounds per minute |
| Muzzle velocity | 2,707 ft/s (825 m/s) |
| Effective range | 15000 meters |
The Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun was a Japanese naval artillery and coast defense gun used on destroyers and submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. It was an indigenous development of the British-designed QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I - IV, which had been previously produced in Japanese as the “Type 41”, under license from Elswick Ordnance Company, part of Armstrong Whitworth. It should not be confused with the later Type 3 12 cm AA Gun developed by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1943.
Designed in 1914, the Type 3 120mm gun was used as the main armament on Kawakaze, Momi, Minekaze, Wakatake, Kamikaze and Mutsuki class destroyers in single mountings.
The type was re-designated in the metric system from October 5, 1917.
A re-design in 1922 with a shorter gun barrel and improved horizontal sliding breech-blocks was designated the Type 11, and was used on submarines and the Otori and Chidori class torpedo boats.
The gun, which was manually loaded, normally fired a 20.3 kilograms (45 lb) High-explosive shell or an illumination shell. After 1943, anti-submarine shells also become available.