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5-inch/54-caliber Mark 42 gun

Field	Value
name	Mark 42 5"/54 Caliber Gun
image	5 inch Mark 42 on USS Turner Joy (DD-951), front.jpg
image_size	300
caption	5 inch/54 Mark 42 on
origin	United States
type	Naval gun
is_ranged	yes
is_artillery	yes
service	1953 - present
used_by	See users
wars	Vietnam War
Lebanese Civil War
weight	60.4 LT
length	9.652 m
part_length	6.858 m
Rifling: 5.82 m
cartridge	127 x 835mm .R
Conventional: 31.75 kg
caliber	5 in
rate	As built/designed: 40 rounds per minute automatic
Down-rated to 28 rounds per minute in 1968
velocity	2650 ft/s
max_range	• 25909 yd at +45° elevation
• 51600 ft at +85° elevation
recoil	18.75 in
elevation	• -15°/+85°
Maximum elevation rate: 25°/sec
traverse	• 150° from either side of centerline
Maximum traversing rate: 40°/sec

Lebanese Civil War Rifling: 5.82 m Conventional: 31.75 kg Down-rated to 28 rounds per minute in 1968 • 51600 ft at +85° elevation Maximum elevation rate: 25°/sec Maximum traversing rate: 40°/sec

The Mark 42 5"/54 caliber gun (127mm) is a naval gun (naval artillery) mount used by the United States Navy and other countries. It consists of the Mark 18 gun and Mark 42 gun mount. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fires a projectile 5 in in diameter, and the barrel is 54 calibers long (barrel length is 5" × 54 = 270" or 6.9 meters.) In the 1950s, a gun with more range and a faster rate of fire than the 5"/38 caliber gun used in World War II was needed; therefore, the gun was created concurrently with the 3"/70 Mark 26 gun for different usages. The 5"/54 Mk 42 is an automatic, dual-purpose (air / surface target) gun mount. It is usually controlled remotely from the Mk 68 Gun Fire Control System, or locally from the mount at the One Man Control (OMC) station.

The self-loading gun mount weighs about 60.4 LT including two drums under the mount holding 40 rounds of semi-fixed case type ammunition. The gun fires 31.75 kg projectiles at a velocity of 2650 ft/s. Maximum rate of fire is 40 rounds per minute. Magazine capacity is 599 rounds per mount. The Mark 42 mount was originally equipped for two on-mount gunners, one surface and one antiaircraft, but the antiaircraft gunner position was scrapped later on when the increasing speed of naval aircraft made manual aiming of anti aircraft weapons impractical. The Mark 45 lightweight (22.1 LT) gun mount began replacing the Mk 42 mount in 1971 for easier maintenance and improved reliability in new naval construction for the United States Navy.

Users

Map with current ship operators with 5-54 caliber Mark 42 guns

; :United States Navy

First used on
(later removed during upgrade)
and

; :Royal Australian Navy

(modified Charles F. Adams class)

; :Egyptian Navy

Damiyat-class frigate (ex-USN Knox-class frigates)

; :German Navy

(modified Charles F. Adams class)

; :Hellenic Navy

Ipiros-class frigate (ex-USN Knox-class frigates)
Kimon-class destroyer (ex-USN Charles F. Adams-class destroyer)

; :Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

; :Mexican Navy

Ignacio Allende-class frigate (ex-USN Knox-class frigates)

; :Spanish Navy

(modified Knox class)

; :Republic of China Navy

Chih Yang-class frigate (modified ex-USN Knox class)

; :Royal Thai Navy

(ex-USN Knox-class frigates)

; :Turkish Navy

Muavenet-class frigate (ex-USN Knox-class frigates)

Notes

Bibliography

References

Fairfield(1921)p.156
"Seaman - Military manual for the Seaman rate".
Bailey(January 1983)p.106
O'Neil(March 1971)pp.48-49
O'Neil, March 1971, pp. 48-49
Cooney, 1980. p. 40

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

naval-guns-of-the-united-states naval-weapons-of-the-cold-war naval-anti-aircraft-guns 127-mm-artillery military-equipment-introduced-in-the-1950s

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