7-inch/44-caliber gun

The 7"/44 caliber gun Mark 1 (spoken "seven-inch-forty-four--caliber") and 7"/45 caliber gun Mark 2 (spoken "seven-inch-forty-five--caliber") were used for the secondary batteries of the United States Navy's last generation of pre-dreadnought battleships, the Connecticut-class and Mississippi-class. The 7-inch (178 mm) caliber was considered, at the time, to be the largest caliber weapon suitable as a rapid-fire secondary gun because its shells were the heaviest that one man could handle alone.

7"/44 caliber Mark 1 and 7"/45 caliber Mark 2 Naval Gun
USS Minnesota (BB-22), cropped photo showing close up of port side 7"/45 caliber guns.
Type
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1906
Used by United States Navy
Wars
  • World War I
  • World War II
Production history
DesignerBureau of Ordnance
Designed1900
ManufacturerNaval Gun Factory
No. built
  • Mark 1: 1
  • Mark 2: 111
VariantsMark 1 and Mark 2
Specifications
Mass
  • Mark 1: 29,621 lb (13,436 kg) (with breech)
  • Mark 2: 28,700 lb (13,000 kg)
Length
  • Mark 1: 316 in (8,000 mm)
  • Mark 2: 323 in (8,200 mm)
Barrel length
  • Mark 1: 308 in (7,800 mm) bore (44 calibers)
  • Mark 2: 315 in (8,000 mm) bore (45 calibers)
Shell165 lb (75 kg) armor-piercing (Naval shell)
152 lb (69 kg) armor-piercing (Army/Marine shell)
Caliber7 in (178 mm)
BreechMark 1: Welin breech block
Recoil
  • 19 in (480 mm) (nominal)
  • 21 in (530 mm) (maximum)
Elevation-7° to +15° (shipboard mount)
+40° (tracked mount)
Traverse−150° to +150° (shipboard mount)
Rate of fire4 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity2,700 ft/s (820 m/s)
Effective firing range16,500 yd (15,100 m) at 15° elevation (shipboard mount)
24,000 yards (22,000 m) at 40° elevation (Army/Marine tracked mount)
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