120 mm/50 (4.7") Model 1909

Designation Elswick Pattern "EE"
Vickers BL
Ship Class Used On Elswick: Dante, Cesare, Quarto, Leonardo Marsala
Vickers: Leonardo da Vinci, Cavour

Coastal batteries only by World War II.
Weight Elswick (with breech mechanism): 3.37 tons (3.42 mt)
Muzzle velocity 2,756 fps (840 mps) with 50.15 lbs (22.75 kg) shell

120 mm/45 (4.7") Armstrong 1918

Ship Class Used On AMCs, troop transports and coast-defense batteries
Elevation -10 / +30 degrees
Muzzle velocity 2,460 fps (750 mps) with 51.0 lbs. 23.15 kg) shell
Range 13,800 yards (12,600 m)

Derived from the older 120 mm/40 (4.7") gun, this was in an open pedestal mounting.

120 mm/27 (4.7") OTO 1924

Ship Class Used On Pre-World War II: Balilla and Fieramosca
Removed from submarines prior to World War II and then used as AA guns at Messina
Muzzle velocity 2,395 fps (730 mps) and ceiling of 25,600 ft. (7,800 m) with 42.7 lbs. (19.4 kg) shell

120 mm/15 (4.7") OTO 1933 and 1934

Type Star shell howitzer
Ship Class Used On Maestrale, Oriani, some of the "Soldati" class, for a short period on Zara class
Elevation -5 / +50 degrees
Muzzle velocity 1,312 fps (400 mps) with 43.7 lbs. (19.8 kg) shell
Range Effective: 4,400 yards (4,000 m)
Maximum: 7,000 yards (6,400 m)

Sources

"Naval Weapons of World War Two" by John Campbell
"Italian Warships of World War II" by Aldo Fraccaroli
"Destroyers of World War Two" by M.J. Whitley

Page History

14 May 2006 - Benchmark
26 May 2012 - Updated to latest template
17 January 2017 - Added data on 120 mm/45 Armstrong Model 1918 and converted to HTML 5 format