Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...
from the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
through the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
Design and development
The 20.3 cm/45 Type 41 naval gun was a designation applied to existing foreign produced
EOC 8 inch 45 caliber
The EOC 8 inch 45 caliber were a family of related 45 caliber naval guns designed by the Elswick Ordnance Company and manufactured by Armstrong for export customers before World War I. In addition to being produced in the United Kingdom licensed ...
Pattern S, U, W guns which had been produced by
Armstrong Armstrong may refer to:
Places
* Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places
Antarctica
* Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands
Argentina
* Armstrong, Santa Fe
Australia
* Armstrong, Victoria
Canada
* Armstrong, British Columbia
* Armstrong ...
of Great Britain and Ansaldo of Italy and a license-produced Japanese variant. Licensed production of Japanese guns based on Pattern S drawings began in 1902 and in 1908 a modified version with a different rifling pattern and a resized propellant chamber was produced. Ships produced before 1902 in foreign shipyards most likely had Pattern S, U, W guns. While ships produced or refit after 1902 in Japanese shipyards most likely have Japanese-built guns. These weapons were officially designated as Type 41 on 25 December 1908, and re-designated again on 5 October 1917 in centimeters.Friedman, pp. 74–75
The first ship armed with these guns was the
protected cruiser
Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...
completed in 1898 by Armstrong and armed with Pattern S guns.Friedman, p. 275 The last ships armed with these guns were probably the ''Ibuki''-class armored cruisers built between 1905 and 1911. This series of guns also armed the armored cruisers , , , , , , and . Many of these ships were disarmed under the conditions of the
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was a treaty signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. It was negotiated at the Washington Nav ...
or subsequent London Naval Treaty and their guns converted into coastal artillery batteries, including installations at
Tokyo Bay
is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...
,
Tarawa
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati ''
Wake Island
Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of T ...
during World War II.
Gallery
File:Takasago 8 inch gun centre pivot plan diagram.jpg, A single 8 inch gun on center pivot mounting for Japanese cruiser Takasago commissioned 1898.
File:Asama class 8 inch gun turret plan.jpg, A diagram of a twin 8 inch gun turret of Japanese Asama class cruiser.
File:Asama class 8 inch gun turret right elevation.jpg, Right elevation diagram of a twin 8 inch gun turret of Japanese Asama class cruiser.
File:Nisshin1905.jpg, Damage to Japanese armored cruiser Nisshin after a direct hit by a 12-inch shell during the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905. The explosion injured future Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto
was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until he was killed.
Yamamoto held several important posts in the IJN, and undertook many of its changes and reor ...
.
File:8-inch-japanese-gun-betio.jpg, One of the four destroyed Japanese eight-inch guns on
Betio
Betio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa, and the country's main port. The settlement is located on a separate islet at the extreme southwest of the atoll.
Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964 ...
caused by naval gunfire and air strikes.
File:20.3 cm45 Type 41 naval gun.jpg, Possibly one of the same guns from a different angle.
Notes
References
* Bishop, Chris (eds) ''The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II''. Barnes & Nobel. 1998.
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