15 cm/50 41st Year Type
Introduction The  was a naval gun used by the Imperial Japanese Navy before and during World War II. It had a  bore with a length of  (50 calibre) and fired  shell for a distance of  (in single mount version) or  (in the later twin mounts). The gun was first used in single casemates on the Kongō-class battlecruisers and Fusō-class battleships and later in the Agano-class light cruisers in twin mountings.
History The Type 41 was a Japanese version of the Vickers "Mark M", originally introduced by Vickers-Armstrong (Barrow) as the secondary battery for the Kongō-class. These original guns were designated by the Japanese Navy as the "Mark II", whereas the Japanese-designed copy (adopted from 1912) were designated as the "Mark III".In the 1930s, the Kongō-class were modernized, at which time these guns were replaced by new 12.7 cm/40 DP guns. The old guns were placed in storage and were reused on the Agano-class. Some were taken to Guam and were used for coastal defense batteries.In the Agano-class, the gun could elevate to 55° for anti-aircraft fire; however, its manual loading method allowed a rate of fire of only about 6 rounds per minute, which significantly limited its utility as an anti-aircraft weapon.
See also ===Weapons of comparable role, performance and era===* BL 6 inch Mk XI naval gun : British Empire equivalent naval gun* 6"/50 caliber gun : US equivalent
References
Bibliography * *
External links * Tony DiGiulian,  Japanese 6"/50 (15.2 cm) Vickers Mark M 6"/50 (15.2 cm) Mark II and Mark III 15 cm/50 (6") 41st Year Type