The 254 mm 45 caliber Pattern 1891 was a Russian

naval gun Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. T ...

developed in the years before the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

that armed

coastal defense ship Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...

s and

pre-dreadnought Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appl ...

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

s during the Russo-Japanese War and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Guns salvaged from scrapped ships found a second life as

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

. It is believed none were in service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

The 254 mm 45 caliber Pattern 1891 was the product of an agreement between the Imperial Russian

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

to standardize calibers and ammunition during 1892. The gun originally envisioned in 1892 was a 45 caliber gun, with a shell, a muzzle velocity of and a

brown powder Brown powder or prismatic powder, sometimes referred as "cocoa powder" due to its color, was a propellant used in large artillery and ship's guns from the 1870s to the 1890s. While similar to black powder, it was chemically formulated and formed hy ...

propellant charge. In 1893 a new scaled up 45 caliber gun, weighing , with a Army shell, a muzzle velocity of and a

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powder Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formula ...

propellant charge was specified. The weights and dimensions of the new gun were expected to be as close to the original specifications as possible to remain compatible with the ships they were intended to arm. This compromise in design objectives was to have negative effects on the finished product. Testing in 1895 found that the guns were too lightly built to be able to achieve the specified muzzle velocity even with lower power brown powder. Stress cracks were found and the barrels already produced had to be sent back to the factory to be strengthened and weight grew from to . The strengthened barrels were not ready until 1897 and after testing in 1899 a lower muzzle velocity of with reduced charges was accepted. Barrel life was estimated to be 250 rounds. The elevation range for the

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...

s of the

Ushakov The House of Ushakov is the name of an old and influential Russian nobility, Russian noble family, whose members occupied many important positions within the Russian Empire. Notable people with the surname Ushakov or Ushakova (feminine form) incl ...

, Seniavin, Rostislav was -5° to +15°. The elevation range for gun turrets of the

Apraksin The Apraksin family is an ancient Russian nobility, Russian noble family, first mentioned in the 14th century, whose members held significant military positions throughout Russian history. They were awarded with the hereditary title of Count in the ...

, Pobeda, Peresvet and

Oslyabya Rodion Oslyabya (; monastic name: ''Andrey'' or ''Rodion''; secular name: ''Roman''; died 1380 or after 1398) was a Russian monk from the Trinity Lavra of Sergius of Radonezh who became famous for his part in the Battle of Kulikovo. Life Mo ...

was -5° to +30°. The rate of fire was 120 seconds for Admiral Seniavin, 107 seconds for Ushakov, 93 seconds for Apraksin, but only 80 seconds for Peresvet, Oslyabya and Pobeda.

Construction

The 254 mm 45 caliber Pattern 1891 is believed to be constructed in the same manner as the larger 305mm 40 caliber Pattern 1895 guns of the same period. They were constructed of an A tube and three layers of reinforcing hoops and a jacket. By 1901 the

Obukhov State Plant Obukhov State Plant (also known Obukhovski Plant, ) is a major Russian metallurgy and heavy machine-building Factory, plant in St. Petersburg, Russia. Predecessors In 1854, the mining engineer P.M. Obukhov invented a new procedure to make ...

had delivered 30 guns of which 27 were installed on ships. In addition to the guns installed on ships some were employed as

, including one battery of five guns at Port Arthur in 1904 and another in the Moon sound area in 1917.

Naval use

Coastal defense ships

* Admiral Ushakov-class - This class of three ships primary armament consisted of four, 254 mm 45 caliber guns, in twin

s, fore and aft of the ships

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

. Except for ''General Admiral Graf Apraksin'', whose rear turret only had one gun.

Pre-dreadnought battleships

* Peresvet-class - This class of three ships primary armament consisted of four, 254 mm 45 caliber guns, in twin gun turrets, fore and aft of the ships superstructure. * Rostislav - This ships primary armament consisted of four, 254 mm 45 caliber guns, in twin gun turrets, fore and aft of the ships superstructure.

Ammunition

Ammunition was of loading bagged charge and projectile type. The projectiles weighed and the charge weighed . The gun was able to fire: *

Armor Piercing Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate armour protection, most often including naval armour, body armour, and vehicle armour. The first, major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the t ...

High Explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

Photo gallery

File:254_mm_45_caliber_model_1891_Durlacher_Kuivasaari.JPG, 254 mm 45 caliber model 1891 coastal gun on Durlacher mount in Kuivasaari. Manufactured by Obukhov in 1906, serial number 114. File:General-Admiral_Apraksin_Kronstadt_1901.jpg, Apraksin in Kronstadt 1901. File:AdmiralUshakov&ImperatorAleksandrII1902.jpg, Admiral Ushakov and Imperator Aleksandr II in 1902. File:Peresvet1901.jpg, Peresvet in Toulon, 1901. File:Russian Battleship Rostislav.jpg, Rostislav.

References

Notes

External links

* http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNRussian_10-45_m1891.php * http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/208155x54503/8330/a0.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:254 mm 45 caliber Gun Pattern 1891 Artillery of the Russian Empire Russo-Japanese war weapons of Russia Artillery of the Soviet Union Coastal artillery Naval guns of Russia 254 mm artillery Obukhov State Plant products Military equipment introduced in the 1890s