12-inch/50 Mark 8 (305 mm)

12-inch/50 Mark 8 cannons on the USS Alaska

Description

The 12-inch/50 Mark 8 is a 305 mm naval gun that was developed by the United States Navy in the early 1900s. It was first installed on the USS South Carolina, a pre-dreadnought battleship that was commissioned in 1910. The gun was highly regarded for its accuracy and power, and was used in a variety of combat scenarios, including in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• USS Alaska

General info

The gun fires 305 mm rounds at a maximum range of over 24 km and could fire up to 2 rounds per minute.

Available ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		1,000 m	2,500 m	5,000 m	7,500 m	10,000 m	15,000 m
Mk.17 HC	HE	68	68	68	68	68	68
Mk.18 AP	APCBC	621	582	524	475	434	374

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (s)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Mk.17 HC	HE	808	426.38	0	0.1	35.31	79°	80°	81°
Mk.18 AP	APCBC	762	517	0.035	17	7.73	48°	63°	71°

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

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History

After the Wyoming-class dreadnoughts were completed in 1912, the United States Navy halted construction of 12-inch guns in favour of larger 14-inch and later 16-inch guns for their battleships. However, they began to re-evaluate their naval forces after the rise of German "pocket battleships" such as the Admiral Graf Spee and Scharnhorst along with the planned Japanese B-65 which were all designed to counter the 8-inch gun heavy cruisers codified by the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. As a result, the United States began construction of what became the Alaska-class large cruiser to counter these threats. The 12-inch was thus revived as the 12-inch/50 Mark 8. Designed to fire a new armour-piercing "super heavy" shell to better penetrate deck armour while retaining side plate penetration capabilities, this gun had superior characteristics to the pre-Treaty 14-inch guns. The 12"/50 Mark 8 was only used on the USS Alaska and USS Guam.

Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Wikipedia] 12-inch/50-caliber Mark 8 gun
• [NavWeaps] USA 12"/50 (30.5 cm) Mark 8