The EOC 10 inch 40 calibre guns were a family of related guns designed by the

Elswick Ordnance Company The Elswick Ordnance Company (sometimes referred to as Elswick Ordnance Works, but usually as "EOC") was a British armaments manufacturing company of the late 19th and early 20th century History Originally created in 1859 to separate William ...

and produced by

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Tyne and Wear, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomot ...

in the 1890s for export customers. EOC 10 inch 40 calibre guns were the primary armament of

armoured cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a pre-dreadnought battles ...

ironclads An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship protected by steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The firs ...

and

Pre-dreadnought battleship 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 appli ...

s built or refit during the 1890s. These guns and their licensed derivatives armed ships of the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

, the Italian

Regia Marina The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origin ...

and

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

. They served in 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 ...

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

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 ...

History

Development of the 10 inch 40 calibre guns began in the early 1890s at the Elswick Ordnance Company, a subsidiary of Armstrong Whitworth, in Elswick,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. They were developed for export customers and had the EOC designations of ''Pattern P'', ''Pattern P1'' and ''Pattern R''. They were

built-up gun A built-up gun is artillery with a specially reinforced barrel. An inner tube of metal stretches within its elastic limit under the pressure of confined powder gases to transmit stress (mechanics), stress to outer cylinders that are under tension. ...

s with an A tube and reinforced with two rows of

hoops Hoop or Hoops may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Hoops'' (TV series), an American animated series Characters Hoops, a pink cat from Hallmark Media's Hoops & Yoyo Music * Hoops (band), an American indie pop ban ...

. Originally they had a semi-automatic screw breech mechanism, which opened the breech as the gun recoiled. However, this was found unsatisfactory and was replaced by a hand worked breech.Friedman, 2011 p68 The Italian designations for the EOC 10 inch guns were ''Cannone da 254/40 A Modello 1893'' and ''Cannone da 254/40 A Modello 1899''. The ''Modello 1893'' version was a trunnion-less gun, while the ''Modello 1899'' had trunnions. Italian single gun mounts were electrically powered, while twin mounts were hydraulically powered. In addition to guns imported from the UK, licensed versions were produced by the (Armstrong factory) at

Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Antiquity Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia ...

, Italy. In 1908 the Japanese designated EOC 10 inch guns as ''10 inch 40 calibre Type 41.'' Later in 1917, they were re-designated in centimetres as ''25 cm 40 calibre Type 41''. In addition to guns imported from UK and Italy, four licensed versions were produced at the

Kure Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Kure Naval District was established at Kure, Hiroshima in 1889, as the second of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the ...

beginning in 1908. The Kure guns differed from the British and Italian guns in using different rifling.

Naval use

Argentine Navy

* - Three of the four ships of this class purchased by Argentina had a primary armament of two Pattern P guns in single

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 fore and aft of the

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 ...

Italian Navy

* - The two ships of this class had a primary armament of four 254/40 A guns in twin turrets fore and aft of the superstructure. Both ships saw action during the

. * ''Giuseppe Garibaldi''-class cruisers - The three ships of this class purchased by Italy had a mixed primary armament of one 254/40 A gun in a single turret fore and two EOC 8 inch 45 calibre guns in a twin turret aft of the superstructure. All three ships saw action during the Italo-Turkish War and

. * ''Enrico Dandolo'' - This ironclad ship had a primary armament of four 254/40 A guns in twin turrets ''en echelon'' amidships after an 1895-1898 refit.

Japanese Navy

* ''Giuseppe Garibaldi''-class cruisers - One of the two ships of this class purchased by Japan the ''Kasuga'' had a mixed primary armament of one Pattern R gun in a single turret fore and two EOC 8 inch 45 calibre guns in a twin turret aft of the superstructure. The other ship the ''Nisshin'' had two EOC 8 inch 45 calibre guns in twin turrets fore and aft of the superstructure. Both ships participated in the

Battle of the Yellow Sea The Battle of the Yellow Sea (; ) was a naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 10 August 1904. In the Russian Navy, it was referred to as the Battle of 10 August. The battle foiled an attempt by the Russian fleet at Lüshunkou (Port ...

and the

Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known in Japan as the , was the final naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 27–28 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait. A devastating defeat for the Imperial Russian Navy, the ...

during the

Spanish Navy

* ''Giuseppe Garibaldi''-class cruisers - The single ship of this class purchased by Spain, the ''Cristóbal Colón'', was designed to carry two Pattern R guns, but the Spanish Ministry of Marine claimed they were faulty and removed them, leaving it with ten QF 6-inch guns in

casemates A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mea ...

. ''Cristóbal Colón'' was beached during the battle of

Battle of Santiago de Cuba The Battle of Santiago de Cuba was a decisive naval engagement that occurred on July 3, 1898 between an United States, American fleet, led by William T. Sampson and Winfield Scott Schley, against a Restoration (Spain), Spanish fleet led by Pascu ...

during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

but sank when US Navy tried to salvage it.

Army use

As the

First World War 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 ...

settled into

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising Trench#Military engineering, military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from a ...

on the Italian Front, the light field guns that the combatants went to war with were beginning to show their limitations when facing an enemy who was now dug into prepared

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

positions.

Indirect fire Indirect fire is aiming and firing a projectile without relying on a direct line of sight between the gun and its target, as in the case of direct fire. Aiming is performed by calculating azimuth and inclination, and may include correcting ...

interdiction Interdiction is interception of an object prior to its arrival at the location where it is to be used in military, espionage, and law enforcement. Military In the military, interdiction is the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy f ...

and

counter-battery fire Counter-battery fire (sometimes called counter-fire) is a battlefield tactic employed to defeat the enemy's indirect fire elements ( multiple rocket launchers, artillery and mortars), including their target acquisition, as well as their command ...

emphasized the importance of long-range heavy artillery. In order to address the Italian Army's lack of long-range heavy artillery, surplus 254B, 254/40, 305/17, 305/40, and 305/46 naval guns were converted to land use. These guns were mounted on the same "De Stefano" carriage for land use and the resulting guns were classified by their size in millimetres 254, their length in calibres 40 and lastly by their carriage type DS which stood for De Stefano or 254/40 DS. The De Stefano carriage was a clever, but strange looking monstrosity which looked something like a child's four-wheeled toy-horse when the gun barrel was elevated. The carriage was a large four-wheeled box-trail design with two non-steerable wheels on the front and two

caster A caster (or castor) is an undriven wheel that is designed to be attached to the bottom of a larger object (the "vehicle") to enable that object to be moved. Casters are used in numerous applications, including shopping carts, office chairs, t ...

ing wheels at the rear. The wheels were fitted with detachable

grouser Grousers are devices intended to increase the traction of continuous tracks, especially in loose material such as soil or snow. This is done by increasing contact with the ground with protrusions, similar to conventional tire treads, and analogo ...

s designed by Major Crispino Bonagente for traction on soft ground and was towed in one piece by a Pavesi-Tolotti

artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked. Traction There are two m ...

. When not on the move the grousers were removed and the steel wheels rode on an inclined set of steel rails when in firing position. The steel rails were mounted on a firing platform made of wooden beams which allowed the gun 360° of traverse. When the gun fired recoil which was not absorbed by the recoil mechanism was transmitted to the wheels and the carriage rolled up the inclined rails and then rolled back into firing position. The box trail carriage was tall and wide enough that the breech of the gun was accessible at high angles of elevation without a pit being dug and the gun crew had a bucket and hoist for ammunition handling.

Ammunition

Ammunition was of separate loading bagged charge and projectile type. The bagged

ballistite Ballistite is a smokeless propellant made from two high explosives, nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. It was developed and patented by Alfred Nobel in the late 19th century. Military adoption Alfred Nobel patented Ballistite in 1887 while li ...

charge weighed and projectiles weighed between . The gun was able to fire:

armour-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 ...

, armour piercing capped, and

common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

shells.

Gallery

File:Garibaldi NH 88672.jpg, ARA ''Garibaldi'' File:St Bon 10 inch gun turret plan.jpg, Top view of a twin 10-inch gun turret File:Erbeutete_Kanone_bei_Cervignano_22.11.17._(BildID_15611297).jpg, A 254/40 gun on a De Stefano carriage. File:Trient. Italienische 254mm Kanone. (BildID 15640641).jpg, A 254/40 gun in traveling position showing its castering rear wheels and Bonagente grousers. File:Itl.Küstengeschütz.Cervignano, (Mitte Mai 1918.) (BildID 15664915).jpg

Footnotes

References

* *

External links

* http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNJAP_10-40_EOC.php * http://www.historicaleye.it/pozzuoli-dai-cantieri-armstrong-alla-breda-sofer/ * http://oldbritishguns.com/elswick-ordnance-co {{DEFAULTSORT:EOC 10 inch 40 caliber World War I naval weapons Naval guns of Argentina Naval guns of Italy Naval guns of Japan Russo-Japanese war weapons of Japan 254 mm artillery