RB-Model 350L24 Lufa USS Arizona, USS Pennsylvania

The 14inch / 45 caliber gun is an American 356 mm naval cannon from the interwar period and both world wars. The weapon was developed around 1910 and entered service with the US Navy in 1914. The gun was designed by the Bureau of Ordnance and was produced by two entities: the Washington Navy Yard and the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The total weight of the gun - in its first version - was 64,800 kilograms, and its barrel was 16 meters long. The maximum rate of fire of this gun was 1-2 shots per minute, and the initial velocity of the shells was around 830 m / s. In turn, the maximum range was approx. 21,000 meters (in the original version of the tower) and approx. 31,500 meters in the modernized tower. The presented gun was the first 356 mm cannon to be used by the US Navy, and what's more, it turned out to be a successful gun, also operated by the Royal Navy. It is also worth adding that in the course of its long service, it was subjected to modernizations, which were mainly aimed at reducing its weight and the use of a new tower with a greater lifting angle. The presented gun was used on such battleships as: USS New York (BB-34), USS Texas (BB-35), USS Nevada (BB-36) or USS Arizona (BB-39).