Japanese
10"/45 (25 cm) Vickers
10"/45 (25 cm) 41st Year Type
25 cm/45 (10") 41st Year Type
Updated 18 April 2009
These guns were a Vickers design, manufactured in Britain and were probably similar to other Vickers 10" (25.4 cm) guns.

When the Japanese pre-dreadnoughts Satsuma and Aki were laid down in 1905, they were intended to be armed entirely with 12"/45 guns, which would have made them the first "all big-gun" battleships in the world.  However, the cost of the Russo-Japanese War nearly ruined Japan so these ships were completed with twelve 25 cm (10") guns in the amidships turrets as a cost saving measure.

Redesignated as 41st Year Type on 25 December 1908.  Redesignated in centimeters on 5 October 1917.

After these ships were scrapped in the 1920s their guns were then used as coastal artillery.  Twin turrets from Aki were used around Tokyo Bay.

Actual bore diameter was 25.4 cm (10.0").
WNJAP_10-45_Vickers_Aki_pic.jpg

IJN Aki in December 1915
The 10" (25 cm) guns were in the amidships turrets
BfZ Photograph
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Images at The Vickers Photographic Archive

See 4928

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Gun Characteristics
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Designation 12"/45 (25 cm) Vickers
12"/45 (25 cm) 41st Year Type (Model 1908)
25 cm/45 (10") 41st Year Type (Model 1908)
Ship Class Used On Satsuma and Katori Classes
Date Of Design about 1905
Date In Service 1909
Gun Weight 22 tons (22.5 mt)
Gun Length oa N/A
Bore Length about 450.0 in (11.430 m)
Rifling Length N/A
Grooves N/A
Lands N/A
Twist N/A
Chamber Volume N/A
Rate Of Fire about 1.5 rounds per minute
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Ammunition
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Type Bag
Projectile Types and Weights AP - 518 lbs. (235 kg) AP Shell
Bursting Charge N/A
Projectile Length N/A
Propellant Charge 152 lbs. (69 kg)
Muzzle Velocity 2,657 fps (810 mps)
Working Pressure N/A
Approximate Barrel Life N/A
Ammunition stowage per gun N/A
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Range
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Elevation With 518 lbs. (235 kg) AP Shell
Range @ 30 degrees about 26,900 yards (24,600 m)
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Mount / Turret Data
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Designation Twin Mount
  Katori (2) and Satsuma (6)
Weight  N/A
Elevation about -5 / +30 degrees
Elevation Rate N/A
Train About +80 / -80 degrees
Train Rate N/A
Gun recoil N/A
Loading Angle N/A
Note:  Mountings used for coastal artillery had their maximum elevation increased to +35 degrees.
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Data from
"Battleships and Battlecruisers: 1905-1970" and "Battleships of the World:  1905-1970" both by Siegfried Breyer
"Naval Weapons of World War Two" by John Campbell
Page History

05 September 2006 - Benchmark
05 January 2009 - Added the number of mountings on Katori
18 April 2010 - Corrected picture caption