3"/23 caliber gun

3"/23 caliber gun
A 3"/23-caliber gun being fired aboard the United States Navy submarine chaser USS SC-291 sometime between 1918 and 1920.
Type	Naval gun Anti-aircraft gun
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	US Navy
Wars	World War I
Production history
Manufacturer	Bethlehem Steel (Mark 11) Driggs-Schroeder (Mark 13) Poole Engineering and Machine Company (Mark 14)
Variants	Mark 9, 13, and 14
Specifications
Weight	Mark 9: 749 pounds (340 kg) (with breech) Mark 13: 531 pounds (241 kg) Mark 14 Mod 0: 593 pounds (269 kg) (with breech) Mark 14 Mod 1: 658 pounds (298 kg) (with breech)
Length	Mark 9: 77.05 inches (1.957 m) Mark 14: 79 inches (2.0 m)
Barrel length	Mark 9: 69 inches (1.8 m) bore (23 calibres) Mark 14: 71 inches (1.8 m) bore (23.5 calibres)
Shell	16.5 lb (7.5 kg)
Caliber	3-inch (76 mm)
Elevation	-15° to +65° or +75°
Traverse	365°
Rate of fire	8 – 9 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	1,650 feet per second (500 m/s)
Effective firing range	8,800 yards (8,000 m) at 45.3° elevation (WW I) 10,100 yards (9,200 m) at 45° elevation (WW II) 18,000 feet (5,500 m) at 75° elevation (AA)

The 3"/23 caliber gun (spoken "three-inch-twenty-three-caliber") was the standard anti-aircraft gun for United States destroyers through World War I and the 1920s. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile 3 inches (76 mm) in diameter, and the barrel was 23 calibers long (barrel length is 3" x 23 = 69" or 1.75 meters.)^[1]

Description

Plan and left elevation diagrams

The built-up gun with vertical sliding breech block weighed about 531 pounds (241 kg) and used fixed ammunition (case and projectile handled as a single assembled unit) with a 13-pound (6 kg) projectile at a velocity of 1650 feet per second (500 m/s).^[2] Range was 10100 yards (9235 meters) at 45 degrees elevation.^[2] Ceiling was 18000 feet (5500 meters) at the maximum elevation of 75 degrees.^[2]

History

The 3"/23 caliber cannon was the first purposely-designed anti-aircraft cannon to reach operational service in the US military, and was a further development of a 1 pounder cannon concept designed by Admiral Twining to meet the possible threat from airships being built by various navies.^[3]

A partially retractable version was mounted as a deck gun on the US L-class, M-1 (SS-47), AA-1 class, and O-class submarines.

When World War II began, the 3"/23 caliber gun was outdated, and surviving United States destroyers built during the World War I era that were armed with the 3"/23 caliber were rearmed with dual-purpose 3"/50 caliber guns. Where there was no air threat during World War II, the 3"/23 caliber gun was employed in the surface to surface role for use against submarines, and was mounted on submarine chasers, armed yachts, and various auxiliaries.^[2] Some major warships carried 3"/23 caliber guns temporarily while awaiting installation of quad 1.1"/75 caliber guns.^[2]

The 3"/23 caliber gun was mounted on:

• United States L-class submarines
• USS M-1 (SS-47)
• AA-1-class submarines
• United States O-class submarines
• Caldwell-class destroyers^[4]
• Wickes-class destroyers^[4]
• Clemson-class destroyers^[4]
• SC-1-class submarine chasers
• SC-497-class submarine chasers (varied over time)

Notes

1. Fairfield 1921 p.156
2. Campbell 1985 p.146
3. "New American Aerial Weapons" Popular Mechanics, December 1911, p. 776.
4. Fahey 1939 p.14

References

• Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
• Fahey, James C. (1939). The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, War Edition. Ships and Aircraft.
• Fairfield, A.P. (1921). Naval Ordnance. The Lord Baltimore Press.
• Lenton, H.T.; Colledge, J.J. (1968). British and Dominion Warships of World War II. Doubleday and Company.
• DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com 3"/23 caliber gun

External links