United States of America
14"/45 (35.6 cm) Marks 1, 2, 3 and 5
Updated 20 September 2010
The first USN weapon in this caliber, it proved to be a reliable weapon although early units suffered from droop as the hoops were not adequately locked together.

The Mark 1 ran through fourteen modifications, the most notable being Mod 6 with the introduction of down-swinging breech plugs for confined turret spaces and Mod 12 which had an increased chamber size to allow for larger charges and thus higher muzzle velocities.  The original design of Mark 1 Mod 1 was A tube without liner, jacket, eight hoops and a screw box liner.  The drooping problem was rectified by adding four hoop-locking rings and replacing the foremost hoop of the outer layer with a longer one.  Most guns were also relined during this modification.

The Mark 2 was very similar to the Mark 1, the Mark 3 introduced a longer slide and had only three hoop locking rings and the Mark 5 was of simpler construction with only five hoops.  These guns were interchangeable and most battleships had a combination of Mark numbers.

There is a myth that these guns were used at Fort Drum in the Philippines.  Actually, those guns were Army 14"/40 (35.6 cm) Model 1909, which were unusual for US guns in being wire-wound.

These guns were rebuilt and redesignated in the 1930s.  See the 14"/45 (35.6 cm) Mark 8 data page for information.
WNUS_14-45_mk1_New_York_pic.jpg

USS New York B-34 in 1915
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # 19-N-13046
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Click here for additional pictures
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Gun Characteristics
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Designation 14"/45 (35.6 cm) Marks 1, 2, 3 and 5
Ship Class Used On New York (B-34), Nevada (B-36) and Pennsylvania (B-38) classes
Date Of Design About 1910
Date In Service 1914
Gun Weight Without Breech:  140,670 lbs. (63,807 kg)
With Breech:  142,492 lbs. (64,633 kg)
Gun Length oa 642.5 in (16.318 m)
Bore Length 630 in (16.002 m)
Rifling Length 542.7 in (13.530 m)
Grooves 84
Lands N/A
Twist Mark 1 Mods 1 to 6:  Increasing RH 1 in 50 to 1 in 32 at the muzzle
Mark 1 Mod 7 to 14:  Uniform RH 1 in 32
Marks 2, 3 and 5:  Uniform RH 1 in 25
Chamber Volume Original Design:  15,332 in3 (251.2 dm3)
Mark 1 Mod 12:  18,200 in3 (298.2 dm3)
Rate Of Fire about 1.25 - 1.75 rounds / minute
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Ammunition
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Type Bag
Projectile Types and Weights Early AP - 1,400 lbs. (635.0 kg)
AP Mark 8 Mods 3, 7, 8 and 11 - 1,402 lbs. (635.9 kg)
Common - 1,400 lbs. (635.0 kg)
Bursting Charge Early AP - 31.5 lbs. (14.3 kg) Explosive D
AP Mark 8 - 34.3 lbs. (15.6 kg) Explosive D
Common - about 84.0 lbs. (38.1 kg) Explosive D
Projectile Length AP - 49.44 in (125.6 cm)
Common - about 46.5 in (118.1 cm)
Propellant Charge Original charge:  365 lbs. (165.6 kg) SPD

Enlarged chamber:  420 lbs. (190.5 kg) SPD
Muzzle Velocity With original charge:  2,600 fps (792 mps)

With enlarged charge:  2,700 fps (823 mps)
Working Pressure 18 tons/in2 (2,835 kg/cm2)
Approximate Barrel Life N/A
Ammunition stowage per gun 100 rounds
Notes:

1) The AP Mark 8 had a thin cap and a very small windshield.  Common was obsolete by 1915 and no longer in production.

2) Bourrelet diameter was 13.977 inches (35.5 cm).

3) Propellant was in four bags.

4) The New York class used padeyes attached the shell bases for handling.  These were removed before firing.
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Range
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Elevation
With 1,400 lbs. (635 kg) AP
MV = 2,600 fps (792 mps)
Striking Velocity
Angle of Fall
7.4 degrees
13,000 yards (11,890 m)
1,645 fps (501 mps)
10.1
8.2 degrees
14,000 yards (12,800 m)
1,595 fps (485 mps)
11.4
8.6 degrees
14,500 yards (13,260 m)
1,571 fps (479 mps)
12.1
15 degrees
23,000 yards (21,030 m)
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Note:  Time of flight for MV = 2,600 fps (792 mps)
   13,000 yards (11,890 m):  19.2 seconds
   14,000 yards (12,800 m):   21.1 seconds
   14,500 yards (13,260 m):   22.0 seconds
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Armor Penetration with 1,400 lbs. (635 kg) AP Shell
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Range
Side Armor
Deck Armor
6,000 yards (5,490 m)
17.2" (437 mm)
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9,000 yards (8,230 m)
14.4" (366 mm)
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12,000 yards (10,920 m)
11.9" (302 mm)
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16,000 yards (14,630 m)
8.9" (226 mm)
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20,000 yards (18,290 m)
6.7" (170 mm)
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Note:  This data is for face-hardened (Harvey) plates and is from BuOrd table "Elements of US Naval Guns" of 17 May 1918.
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Mount/Turret Data
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Designation Two-gun Turrets
   New York (5) and Nevada (2)

Triple Turrets
   Nevada (2) and Pennsylvania (4)
Weight Two-gun Turret
   New York Class:  506 tons (514 mt)
   Nevada Class:  532 tons (541 mt)

Triple Turret
   Nevada Class:  748 tons (760 mt)
   Pennsylvania Class:  714 - 724 tons (725 - 736 mt)
Elevation -5 / +15 degrees
Rate of Elevation 4 degrees per second
Train about -150 / +150 degrees
Rate of Train 1.7 degrees per second
Gun Recoil 40 in (102 cm)
Loading Angle 0 degrees
Notes:

1) The two-gun turrets were individually sleeved but the triple turrets were not.  All turrets were electrically powered with hydraulic drive gears for training and elevation.

2) The New York class used a 25 hp motor for training while the later ships used a 50 hp motor.  Each gun on the New York class had a 15 hp motor for elevation.  The Nevada class had a 30 hp elevation motor for each gun in the two-gun turrets, while the triple turrets on this class and the Pennsylvania class had a single 40 hp elevation motor.

3) The New York class stored projectiles point-downwards in the shell rooms.  These were moved by man-powered block and tackle on a chain trolley to a lower handling room just below the rotating structure.  A lower hoist, powered by a 10 hp motor, ran between the lower shell handling room and an upper shell handling room located within the rotating structure.  This upper handling room held 15 projectiles per gun.  Each gun in the two-gun turrets had a bucket hoist which ran between the upper shell handling room to the loading position.  The bucket hoists were powered by 40 hp motors.  Projectiles were stored, handled and hoisted point-downwards at all times until they reached the loading station.  Each gun had an endless chain hoist for the powder charges, both powered by a single 11 hp motor.  The powder hoists went to a handling room directly below the gun house from where the charges were passed by hand through hand-ups to the guns.  A powered rammer was used for the projectiles while the charges were hand loaded into the guns.  Breech mechanisms were hand operated and the breech plugs swung sideways.

4) The two-gun turrets on the Nevada class had pusher shell hoists within the rotating structure, each with its own 30 hp motor.  These ran between the shell handling room to the loading position.  The shells were stowed on their bases and parbuckled from the fixed structure to the handling room.  The lower charge hoists were powered by a 10 hp motor.  These went to a handling room directly below the gun house.  From there, upper hoists powered by 7.5 hp motors delivered the charges to the guns.

5) The triple turrets were supplied by two shell and three powder hoists.  The left shell hoist supplied the center gun.  These hoists were similar to the ones in the two-gun turrets used on the Nevada class, except that in the Pennsylvania class the shell hoists were powered from a single 60 hp motor and the powder hoists were each powered by a 10 hp motor.  The powder hoists ran directly to the gun house where the charges were transferred to enclosed powder trays.

6) The distance between gun axes on USS Texas was measured at 87.25 inches (221.6 cm) by the assistant curator in 2009.  The distance between gun axes on the triple turrets was about 59 in (150 cm).
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Data from
"Naval Weapons of World War Two" by John Campbell
"Powder and Propellants:  Energetic Materials at Indian Head, Maryland, 1890-2001 - Second Edition" by Rodney Carlisle
"US Battleships:  An Illustrated Design History", "Battleship Design and Development 1905-1945" and "US Naval Weapons" all by Norman Friedman
"Battleships:  United States Battleships, 1935-1992" by W.H. Garzke, Jr. and R.O. Dulin, Jr.
Seacoast Fortifications of the United States:  An Introductory History" by Emanuel Raymond Lewis
"Round Shot to Rockets:  A History of the Washington Navy Yard and the United States Naval Gun Factory" by Taylor Peck
"Battleships" by Paul Stillwell
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"Naval Ordnance - A Text Book" revised in 1915 by Lt. Cmdr. Roland I. Curtain and Lt. Cmdr. Thomas L. Johnson
"Navy Ordnance Activities:  World War, 1917-1918" by Navy Dept, United States, Bureau of Ordnance
"Range and Ballistic Tables 1935" by U.S. Department of Ordnance and Gunnery
"U.S. Explosive Ordnance:  Ordnance Pamphlet 1664 - May 1947" by Department of the Navy
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Special help from Lee McIntire, William Jurens and Steve Blake
Off-site Resources

See USS Texas website for USS Texas Armament
See Tom Scott's USS Texas website for Operation of 14" and other guns and for how the 14" (35.6 cm) shells were stored
Be certain to click on the animation link

Page History

15 August 2008 - Benchmark
19 January 2009 - Updated ammunition information
26 November 2009 - Added axes measurement for two-gun turrets
20 September 2010 - Added information on USS Texas turret arrangements, updated links to Tom Scott's website