Russian 12 inch 40 caliber naval gun

12 inch 40 caliber naval gun
Fore turret of Andrei Pervozvanny
Type	Naval gun
Place of origin	Russian Empire
Service history
In service	1896
Used by	Russian Empire/Soviet Union Japanese Empire German Empire United Kingdom Romania
Production history
Designer	Obukhov
Designed	1891-1895
Manufacturer	Obukhov United Kingdom
Produced	1895-1906, 1914-1917
Specifications
Weight	42834 kg (1895–1906) 44250 kg (1914–1917)
Length	12.192 m
Calibre	12-inch (305 mm)

The 12 inch 40 caliber naval gun was the standard main weapon of the pre-dreadnought battleships of the Imperial Russian Navy. Sixty-eight guns of the first production run were built in 1895–1906 by the Obukhov Works in Saint Petersburg. They were installed on seventeen battleships starting with Sissoi Veliky and Tri Sviatitelia and ending with the Andrei Pervozvanny class. A second production run was ordered to Russian and British gunmakers during World War I.

In 1886 the Imperial Russian Navy adopted the 12 inch 35 caliber Krupp gun. The first batch of six German-made guns was installed on Chesma. Local production of the modified Krupp gun began in 1891. Eleven Obukhov guns were installed on Navarin, Chesma and Georgii Pobedonosets. Low firing rate of these guns made them a temporary, intermediate weapon. In the same 1891 the Naval Technical Committee ordered the Obukhov Works to design a new gun with improved range and firing rate, employing smokeless powder. In May 1892 the Navy issued a firm contract for the guns and turrets of Tri Sviatitelia, followed by Sissoi Veliky and the Petropavlovsk class in May 1893. Obukhov presented the first 12 inch 40 caliber gun for trials in March 1895, thus the new gun was also unofficially called Model 1895.

Development of the 12 inch 40 caliber gun coincided with the beginning of the 1892 Franco-Russian Alliance. The Russian Navy abandoned German artillery models in favor of Canet and Schneider et Cie. designs, but the Krupp legacy persisted in the Navy's largest guns. The 12 inch 40 caliber became the Navy's standard main gun and was employed on all its pre-dreadnought battleships starting with Sissoi Veliky of the Baltic Fleet and Tri Sviatitelia of the Black Sea Fleet.