The main gun for most post-Mutsuki class Japanese destroyers save for the Akizuki, Matsu and Tachibana classes. Had four major variants denoted A, B, C, D respectively (A being the oldest), the main differences between the variants being the weight and the gun's elevation angle. Type A was limited to 40deg. elevation and was quite useless when it came to the AA role. Maximum elevation angle was raised to 75deg. for the B- and D-types while the C-type was capable of 55deg. Unfortunately, the firing rate at high elevation angles was very low since the loading sequence required hand ramming, which made Japanese destroyers vulnerable to aerial attacks. | The main gun for most post-Mutsuki class Japanese destroyers save for the Akizuki, Matsu and Tachibana classes. Had four major variants denoted A, B, C, D respectively (A being the oldest), the main differences between the variants being the weight and the gun's elevation angle. Type A was limited to 40deg. elevation and was quite useless when it came to the AA role. Maximum elevation angle was raised to 75deg. for the B- and D-types while the C-type was capable of 55deg. Unfortunately, the firing rate at high elevation angles was very low since the loading sequence required hand ramming, which made Japanese destroyers vulnerable to aerial attacks. |