United States of America
12"/45 (30.5 cm) Mark 5 and Mark 6
Updated 18 September 2008
This weapon was used on the last pre-dreadnoughts and the first dreadnoughts of the US Navy.  The arrangement of the gun turrets on the first US dreadnought, USS South Carolina (B-26), with one turret firing over the other (superfiring) at each end of a compact superstructure, was far more efficient than that of any of the "pre-dreadnought" designs, and, for that matter, of HMS Dreadnought herself.  In less than a decade, the use of superfiring turrets became the standard for all nations' capital ships.

During target practice in 1916, USS Michigan (B-27) cracked the chase hoops on two of her guns.  An investigation of similar guns on USS South Carolina (B-26) showed that copper deposits from the projectile driving bands had narrowed down the bores, which slowed the projectiles and thus greatly increased the barrel pressures (copper choke).  Lapping heads for guns 12" (30.5 cm) and larger were issued to all ships for removing these deposits.  Later, these were replaced by wire and pisaba brushes.

Under the provisions of the Washington Naval Limitation Treaty of 1922, most of the ships armed with these guns were scrapped during the mid-1920s.  Many of their guns were then transferred to the US Army where they were employed as coastal artillery.  At the end of World War II, some of these guns were sold to Brazil where they may still be in service.

A note on sources:  Appendix D of "U.S. Battleships:  An Illustrated Design History" by Norman Friedman states that the USS Connecticut (B-18) and USS Mississippi (B-23) classes carried 12"/40 (30.5 cm) guns.  Other sources disagree and state that they carried 12"/45 (30.5 cm) guns.  Through an analysis of several photographs and, ironically, aided by notes in another book by Dr. Friedman, "US Naval Weapons," I have concluded that these ships actually carried the 12"/45 (30.5 cm) gun and that Dr. Friedman in "U.S. Battleships" is in error.

In 1908 AP projectiles were fitted with a longer ballistic cap of 7crh which improved their penetration ability at longer ranges.

Constructionally, the Mark 5 was essentially a lengthened 12"/40 (30.5 cm) Mark 4.  The Mark 6 was very similar except that it had seven hoops vs. six in the Mark 5.  It is not clear if any Mark 6 guns were actually used in service.

The data that follows is specifically for the 12"/45 (30.5 cm) Mark 5 Mod 9.
WNUS_12-45_mk5_Delaware_pic.jpg

Aft turrets of USS Delaware B-28 about 1913
Note the practice guns atop each barrel
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 54666
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Click here for additional pictures
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Gun Characteristics
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Designation 12"/45 (30.5 cm) Mark 5 and Mark 6
Ship Class Used On Connecticut (B-18), Mississippi (B-23), South Carolina (B-26), Delaware (B-28) and Florida (B-30) Classes
Date Of Design about 1903
Date In Service 1906
Gun Weight 53 tons (54 mt)
Gun Length oa N/A
Bore Length 540 in (13.716 m)
Rifling Length N/A
Grooves (72) 0.075 in deep x 0.2736 in (1.91 mm x 6.95 mm)
Lands 0.25 in (6.35 mm)
Twist Most Mark 5 mods:  Increasing RH 0 to 1 in 25
Mark 5 Mod 10:  Uniform RH 1 in 32
Mark 6:  Increasing RH 0 to 1 in 25
Chamber Volume N/A
Rate Of Fire 2 - 3 rounds per minute
Note:  Early mods had "hook" rifling, where the grooves were not uniformly shaped.  The values given above for grooves and lands are for the later "rib" rifling.
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Ammunition
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Type Bag
Projectile Types and Weights AP - 870 lbs. (394.6 kg)
Common - 870 lbs. (394.6 kg)
Bursting Charge AP - 24.0 to 24.7 lbs. (10.9 to 11.2 kg) Explosive D
Common - N/A
Projectile Length N/A
Propellant Charge 310 lbs. (140.6 kg) SPD
Muzzle Velocity 2,700 fps (823 mps)
Working Pressure 17 tons/in2 (2,681 kg/cm2)
Approximate Barrel Life 175 rounds
Ammunition stowage per gun Connecticut class:  60 rounds
Mississippi class:  71 rounds
Others: 100 rounds
Note:  Common was obsolete by 1915 and no longer in production.
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Range
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Elevation With 870 lbs. (394.63 kg) AP Shell
Range @ 15 degrees about 20,000 yards (18,290 m)
Range @ 47 degrees
(as coastal artillery)		 30,000 yards (27,432 m)
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Armor Penetration with 870 lbs. (394.6 kg) AP Shell
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Range
Side Armor
Deck Armor
6,000 yards (5,490 m)
16.6" (422 mm)
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9,000 yards (8,230 m)
12.2" (310 mm)
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12,000 yards (10,920 m)
9.9" (251 mm)
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This data is for face-hardened Harvey plates from "Ordnance Data Sheets" of 1905 and is for the older shell design.
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Range
Side Armor
Deck Armor
6,000 yards (5,490 m)
15.6" (396 mm)
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9,000 yards (8,230 m)
13.1" (333 mm)
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12,000 yards (10,920 m)
10.8" (274 mm)
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This data is from "Elements of US Naval Guns" of 1918 and is for the 7crh projectile.  Data is corrected for angle of fall and may also refer to harder armor than that used for the 1905 data.
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Mount / Turret Data
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Designation Two-gun Mounts
   Connecticut (2) :  Mark 6
   Mississippi (2), South Carolina (4) and Delaware (5):  Mark 7
   Florida (5):  Mark 8
Weight Mark 6
   427 tons (434 mt)

Mark 7
   Mississippi:  414 tons (421 mt)
   South Carolina and Delaware:  437 tons (444 mt)

Mark 8
   443 to 450 tons (450 to 457 mt)
Elevation -5 / +15 degrees
Train N/A
Rate of Train N/A
Gun Recoil N/A
Loading Angle Mark 6:  0 degrees
Mark 7 and Mark 8:  Any angle
Notes:

1) As in all US pre-dreadnought designs, these turrets had endless chain hoists running on unenclosed rails direct from the lower chambers to the loading position.  After an accident on USS Missouri (B-11) in April 1904 that saw a flare-back from a gun breech go straight to the handling room and which killed five officers and twenty nine men, automatic shutters were installed to separate the ends of the hoists.  In April 1906, exposed switch gear on USS Kentucky (B-5) caused a powder burn that killed 10 officers and men.  As a result, all electrical equipment that might cause a spark hazard were removed from all USN mountings between 1907 and 1908.  Bulkheads were installed in the turrets between guns and breech gas ejectors were fitted to prevent flarebacks.  These changes became standard on subsequent designs.

2) The Mark 7 introduced all-electric power to USN turrets, although electric motors were widely used in previous designs.

3) The Mark 8 was similar to the Mark 7 and was the last US large-caliber turret design to have a mark number.

4) The thickness of the armor protection was the main difference in turret weights between the different mark numbers.

5) USS South Carolina (B-26) was the first US battleship to have two-stage projectile and powder hoists.  Cars now carried both shell and powder from lower to upper handling room, where they were rammed by hand through flap-covered openings into upper hoist cars, which in turn carried them to the guns.  Training was by two 25 hp motors and each gun had a 15 hp motor for elevation.  A 10 hp motor drove a chain rammer carried on an extension of the cradle.  All electric motors were duplicated by manual hand drives as a backup.  In the upper handling room, ammunition was transferred between hoists by a rammer powered by a 10 hp electric motor.

6) The hoists for the South Carolina class were developed by the Washington Navy Yard and proved to be satisfactory.  However, the ones for the Delaware class (B-28) were designed by Bethlehem Steel and proved so troublesome that they were removed.  Improvised fittings in their place consisted of rope whips.

4) These turrets used the "grass-hopper" counter recoil system whereby a spring box, located under the gun pit, was connected via two heavy, pivoted arms to the gun yoke.  See 10"/40 (25.4 cm) datapage for a sketch.
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Data from
"U.S. Battleships:  An Illustrated Design History", "Battleship Design and Development 1905-1945", "The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon Systems 1991/92" and "US Naval Weapons" all by Norman Friedman
"The Big Gun:  Battleship Main Armament 1860-1945" by Peter Hodges
"A Treatise on Rifling of Guns" by Carl F. Jeansén
"Battleships" by Paul Stillwell
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"Naval Ordnance - A Text Book" revised in 1915 by Lt. Cmdr. Roland I. Curtain and Lt. Cmdr. Thomas L. Johnson
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"The Engineer" 27 April 1917 (as quoted in Warship International No. 1, 1994)
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Special help from Leo Fischer