3-inch Mark 10 (76 mm)

3-inch Mark 10 on PC-451

Description

3-inch Mark 10 is an American anti-air gun with a good muzzle velocity, an excellent selection of rounds, and a very good killing potential against motor torpedo boats and aircraft alike.

It was originally introduced in 1914 to the US Navy and its modernised derivatives remain in use to this day in the Spanish Navy. The gun seen an extremely wide use, including coastal patrol vessels, submarines, cruisers, battleships, carriers and even merchant ships.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Asagao (YTE-01)
• Carmi (PC-466)
• LCS(L)(3)
• PC-451
• USS Candid
• USS Detroit
• USS Hoquiam
• USS Raleigh
• USS Trenton

General info

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

Available ammunition

3-inch Mark 10 features an excellent choice of ammunition, which includes HE, proximity-fuse HE-VT and a dedicated armour-piercing round.

• HC Mk.27 - best used against torpedo boats, but it will also destroy any aircraft with a single hit, and it's the round of choice when trying to disable anti-air guns on bluewater vessels (however ill-advised it might be).
• AP Mk.29 - dedicated armour-piercing round with a very good penetration for the calibre, it's best used to ammo-rack enemy vessels. The round will travel 8 meters after fusing, making it extremely prone to overpenetration when used against Motor Torpedo Boats, so for such a small targets HE ammunition is generally a better choice, unless you face them head-on.
• AA Mk.31 - One of the best anti-air rounds in this calibre range, primarily thanks to its proximity fuse. Below 548 meters, it will work like a regular HE round, making it possible to load these rounds instead of the HC Mk.27 and still effectively engage coastal vessels, even if the explosive filler is 29% smaller than in the dedicated HE shell.

Comparison with analogues

Compared to its peers, 3-inch Mark 10 is overall an average gun. The biggest downside is its horizontal targeting speed, while the biggest upside is the selection of the shells for the gun.

HE

Cannon		Sample Ship	Ammo	Calibre (mm)	Muzzle velocity (m/s)	Sustained rate of fire (rounds/min)	Targeting speed (°/s)		Vertical guidance (°)	TNT equivalent (kg)	TNT equivalent per minute (kg)	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
							Horizontal	Vertical
	3-inch Mark 10	USS Raleigh	HE	76	825	17	8.5	15	85	0.5	8.5	8
	3 inch Mk.33	Geniere	HE	76.2	823	6	20	26	85	0.5	3	8
	3-inch Mk.34	USS Asheville	HE	76.2	823	49.8	20	26	85	0.5	24.9	8
	34-K (76 mm)	Soobrazitelny	HE	76.2	845	27	12	8	85	0.483	13.04	8
	39-K (76 mm)	Tashkent	HE	76.2	845	20	18	11	87	0.483	9.66	8
	76 mm/60 AK-176M	MPK Pr.12412	HE	76.2	845	20	30	26	85	0.616	12.32	10
	AK-726 (76 mm)	SKR-7	HE	76.2	980	16.2	26	30	85	0.616	9.98	10
	3 inch 12pdr 12 cwt QF Mk.V (76 mm)	HMS Churchill	HE	76.2	823	17	25	25	70	0.5	8.5	8
	76 mm/45 QF 3in 20cwt (76 mm)	HMS Valhalla	HE	76.2	762	12	13	10	40	0.32	3.84	6
	Type 88 AA (75 mm)	Type 5	HE	75	720	20	21	20	50	0.42	8.4	5
	8 cm/40 3rd Year Type (76 mm)	Type K-8 No.13 late	HE	76.2	685	20	11	10	75	0.48	9.6	8
	8 cm/60 Type 98 (76 mm)	IJN Agano	HE	76.2	902	25	18	16	85	0.399	9.98	7
	76 mm/40 Ansaldo mod.1917 (76 mm)	RN Aquila	HE	76.2	690	15	11	10	75	0.65	9.75	10
	76 mm/62 OTO-Melara Compact (76 mm)	Sparviero	HE	76	925	85.7	51	30	85	1.08	92.57	15
	76 mm/62 SMP 3 (76 mm)	Albatros	HE	76.2	930	8.57	34	60	85	0.864	7.40	15
	75 mm/50 model 1922	Duguay-Trouin	HE	75	850	15	19	18	85	0.45	6.75	8

AP / SAP

Cannon		Sample Ship	Ammo	Calibre (mm)	Muzzle velocity (m/s)	Sustained rate of fire (rounds/min)	Targeting speed (°/s)		Vertical guidance (°)	TNT equivalent (kg)	TNT equivalent per minute (kg)	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack @ 5000 m (mm)
							Horizontal	Vertical
	3-inch Mark 10	USS Raleigh	APCBC	76	823	17	8.5	15	85	0.13328	2.27	57
	3-inch Mk.34	USS Asheville	APHE	76.2	823	49.8	20	26	85	0.0637	3.17	62
	34-K (76 mm)	Soobrazitelny	APHEBC	76.2	816	27	12	8	85	0.119	3.21	65
	39-K (76 mm)	Tashkent	APHEBC	76.2	816	20	18	11	87	0.119	2.38	65
	Type 88 AA (75 mm)	Type 5	APHEBC	75	720	20	21	20	50	0.150	3	55
	76 mm/40 Ansaldo mod.1917 (76 mm)	RN Aquila	APHE	76.2	690	15	11	10	75	0.319	4.79	20
	76 mm/62 OTO-Melara Compact (76 mm)	Sparviero	SAP	76	925	85.7	51	30	85	0.6552	57.46	32

Usage in battles

3-inch Mark 10 engaging enemy vessel

The designated role for the 3-inch Mark 10 is anti-air, and thanks to the excellent vertical guidance along with access to the HE-VT shells and a good rate of fire it can fulfil that role very competently. When controlled by AI the guns will engage enemy planes at a very considerable distance, making it possible to score kills long before your vessel gets in any danger.

But the gun is also widely used as a primary weapon on coastal vessels, where it's role is to engage enemy boats. And here it remains relatively competent, owning it to an acceptable rate of fire while having a good explosive filler. Rounds are not large enough to sking enemy vessels with a single hit, but they will do very considerable damage.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Access to HE-VT shells
• Good penetration of the AP shells

Cons:

• Very slow targeting speed compared to its peers

History

The 3"/50 Mark 10 was a successor to the Mark 6, introduced in 1915 as an anti-aircraft gun, but also considered dual-purpose. Before the adoption of the variable-time fuse, the gun was considered ineffective, as the gun lacked stopping power against surface combatant, and with the manual guidance and loading it lacked rate of fire and precision in the anti-aircraft role. The advent of HE-VT shells and a new Mark 51 director system made it relevant again.

The gun seen a whole series of upgrades during the interwar period, WW2 and into the Cold War.

Media

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

See also

• 3 inch Mk.33 (76 mm)
• 3-inch Mk.34 (76 mm)

External links

• [NavWeaps] 3"/50 (7.62 cm) Mark 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22
• [Wikipedia] 3-inch/50-caliber gun