The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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U.S. Navy. Via Wikimedia Commons
| Bore |
1.1" 27.94mm |
| Ammunition Type |
Fixed contact fused HE shells |
| Weight of projectile | 0.917 lbs 0.416 kg |
| Velocity | 2700 feet per second 823 meters per second |
| Maximum elevation | 90 degrees |
| Range | 7400 yards 6770 meters |
| Altitude | 19,000 feet 5790 meters |
| Rate of fire | 150 rounds per minute |
This was the standard light antiaircraft armament on U.S. warships
at the start of
the war. It was always shipped in quadruple mountings. Although
considerable effort and expense was spent on its development, it turned
out to be a poor weapon, with numerous design defects and too low a
rate of traverse for a gun firing so light a projectile. There
was a particular tendency for the gun to break down due to a weak
recoil and ejection mechanism. The
1.1" was therefore replaced by the much superior Oerlikon and Bofors as rapidly as
production
permitted. Ammunition came in eight-round clips, which seriously
limited the
effective rate of fire, and there was a dangerous tendency for the
ammunition
to detonate prematurely in the hot gun barrels during extended firing
Early installations did not even come with a director, which was judged
unnecessary for directing fire against dive bombers heading directly for
a ship. The Navy eventually realized that this was a mistake, and the Mark 44 gunsight director began reaching the fleet by summer of 1941.
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References
Friedman (2013)
Wildenberg (1996)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2014 by Kent G. Budge. Index
