120 mm/45 3rd Year Type (120 mm)

Description

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Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Chidori
• IJN Momi
• IJN Mutsuki
• IJN Satsuki

General info

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Available ammunition

Comparison with analogues

• 120 mm/45 10th year type (120 mm) - Japanese cannon with same shell characteristics. Typically found on cruisers as secondary armament.
• L45 (120 mm) - German cannon which is found on K-2 ships causing this ship to be one of most feared in its battle rating. It has a slower velocity of 808 m/s but makes up with a bigger explosive mass of 2.7 kg of TNT per shell.
• 4.7 inch/45 Mk.XII (120 mm) - British cannon typically found on destroyers. Comparable velocity to the L45, however, it packs a bigger explosive mass of 3 kg of TNT per shell.

Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

Cons:

History

The Imperial Japanese Navy was always looking for better weapons during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and frequently looked to western sources to copy and improve upon. One of these weapons is the 120 mm/45-calibre 3rd Year Type cannon. Designated for their Welin breech blocks and with built-up guns later replaced by monobloc barrels, the 3rd Year Type came from a design in 1897 but only began seeing production and service on ships after World War I due to the frequent changes of the Fleet Plans of the Imperial Japanese Navy due to political interference from the Japanese Diet (Parliament). The 3rd Year Type 120 mm gun was mounted on a number of interwar destroyers and gunboats, notably the Chidori-class gunboats, along with Etorofu and Shimushu-class escort ships, the Hashidate-class gunboats, the military survey ships of the Tsukushi class and the destroyers of the Kamikaze, Kawakaze, Minekaze, Momi, and Mutsuki classes. It was also used in significant numbers as a coastal defense weapon during World War II. The gun was also the basis for two variants, the 120 mm/45 10th year type which is an anti-aircraft variant, and the 12cm 11th year type naval cannon used on submarines and torpedo boats.

Media

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See also

• 120 mm/45 10th year type - Later derivative

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
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