12-inch/50 Mark 8 (305 mm)

Description

Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Compile a list of air, ground, or naval vehicles that feature this weapon system in the game.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• USS Alaska

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

Describe the shells that are available for the weapon and their features and purpose. If it concerns autocannons or machine guns, write about different ammo belts and what is inside (which types of shells).

Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: {{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}. Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.

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
12-inch Mk.17 HC	HE	68	68	68	68	68	68
12-inch 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%
12-inch Mk.17 HC	HE	808	426.38	0	0.1	35.31	79°	80°	81°
12-inch 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

Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against notable opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.

Pros:

Cons:

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

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

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

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.