Naval cannons
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.
The gun fires 305 mm rounds at a maximum range of over 24 km and could fire up to 2 rounds per minute.
| 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° | |||
Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.
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.
Summarise and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.
Pros:
Cons:
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.
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| USA naval cannons | |
|---|---|
| 20 mm | 20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mk.II · 20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mark V · 20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mark 24 |
| 25 mm | 25 mm/87 Mk.38 |
| 28 mm | 1.1 inch/75 Mk.1 |
| 37 mm | AN-M4 |
| 40 mm | Bofors L/60 Mark 1 · Bofors L/60 Mark 2 · Bofors L/60 Mark 3 |
| 76 mm | 3 inch/23 Mk.4 · 3-inch/50 Mk.10 · 3-inch/70 Mk.37 · 3-inch Mark 10 · 3 inch Mk.33 · 3-inch Mk.34 |
| 102 mm | 4 inch/50 Mk.9 |
| 127 mm | 5 inch/25 Mk.11 · 5 inch/25 Mk.13 AA · 5 inch/38 Mk.12 · 5-inch/50 Mk.5 · 5 inch/51 Mk.7 · 127 mm/54 Mark 18 |
| 152 mm | 6 inch/47 Mk.16 · 6 inch/47 DP Mk.16 · 6 inch/53 Mk.12 · M81 |
| 203 mm | 8 inch/55 Mark 9 · 8 inch/55 Mark 12 · 8 inch/55 Mark 14 · 8 inch/55 Mark 16 |
| 305 mm | 12-inch/45 Mk.5 · 12 inch/50 Mk.7 · 12 inch/50 Mk.8 |
| 356 mm | 14 inch/45 Mk.8 · 14 inch/45 Mk.12 · 14 inch/50 Mk.11 |