The 5″/38 Caliber Gun

The 5-inch/38-caliber gun (5″/38, meaning a 5-inch bore with a barrel 38 calibers — 190 inches — long) was the standard dual-purpose gun of the U.S. Navy: effective against both surface targets and aircraft from a single mount. Deployed on destroyers, cruisers, battleships, and carriers from the late 1930s through the Cold War era, it was the most widely produced naval gun in American history, standing in single, twin, and open mounts across scores of U.S. Navy vessels.

Gun

5″/38 caliber Mark 12 — bore 5 inches, barrel length 38 calibers (190 inches)

Type

Dual-purpose — effective against surface ships and aircraft

Projectile

55.18 lb, A.A. Common

Muzzle velocity

2,600 feet per second (service charge)

Mounts

Single, twin, and open — Marks 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 32, 37, 38

Service life

Late 1930s through the Cold War — destroyers, cruisers, battleships, carriers

Everything below is from original Bureau of Ordnance and Navy training publications in this archive.

• NAVPERS 10111 — The 5″/38 Caliber Gun (1965) — the official Navy training manual covering the complete gun system

• Appendix C — 5″/38 Range Table Extracts — air-density nomogram, surface gunnery range tables, and velocity-loss data curves, from Naval Ordnance and Gunnery, Volume 2: Fire Control
• OP-1188 — Abridged Range Tables for US Navy Guns — includes the 5″/38 A.A. Common range table alongside every other US Navy gun caliber

• OP-1112 — Gun Mount and Turret Catalog — individual data sheets for every 5″/38 mount Mark and Mod: Mk 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 32, 37, and 38

• Mark 37 Director — the standard dual-purpose director for the 5″/38, 5″/54, and 6″/47 gun batteries

• ▶ USS Cassin Young DD-793 Weapons — the 5″/38 among the destroyer's full weapons suite
• ▶ USS Laffey Tour DD-724 — a guided tour inside the aft 5″/38 mount, including its kamikaze-damage exhibit
• ▶ USS New Jersey — Guns of Freedom — 16″/50 and 5″/38 guns together aboard an Iowa-class battleship

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