8-inch/30-caliber gun
# 8-inch/30-caliber gun

The 8"/30 caliber gun (spoken "eight-inch-thirty-caliber") formed the main batteries of the United States Navy's "New Navy". They were a US naval gun that first entered service in 1886, and were designed for use with the first three protected cruisers, Atlanta, Boston and Chicago.

## Mark 1

Mark 1, Nos. 1–4, Mod 0, consisted of a tube, jacket, 19 hoops and an elevating band with integral trunnions. The Mod 1 had no trunnions and were not hooped to the muzzle. They weighed 29,100 lb (13,200 kg), without the breech, with a barrel length of 240 in (6,100 mm) bore (30 calibers).

## Mark 2

The Mark 2 Mod 1, Nos. 5–8, was similar, but had the hoops differently arranged, did not have integral trunnions and had its rear sights controlled by worm and miter gears. Mark 2 gun No. 7, from Chicago, was later modified into a pneumatic gun and mounted in Vesuvius to fire a 10 in (254 mm) aerial torpedo.

## Naval Service

| Ship | Gun Installed | Gun Mount |
| - | - | - |
| USS Atlanta (1884) | Mark 1: 2 × 8"/30 caliber | Mark 1: 2 × Single Barbette Mount |
| USS Boston (1884) | Mark 1: 2 × 8"/30 caliber | Mark 1: 2 × Single Barbette Mount |
| USS Chicago (1885) | Mark 2: 4 × 8"/30 caliber | Mark 2: 4 × Single "Half-turret" |

## On display

Two guns from the cruiser Boston are currently (2010) on display at Hamlin Park in Shoreline, Washington. A plaque at the site states that one of these guns fired the first shot at the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898. Another plaque states

The two guns from Boston are marked "U. S. NAVY 8in MARK II 1899 CONVERTED".

