14 " / 45 caliber gun The 14 " / 45 caliber gun , known initially as the Mark 1 , 2 , 3 , and 5 , and later as the Mark 8 , 9 , 10 , and 12 , were the first 14 - inch guns to be employed with the United States Navy . They were installed aboard the United States Navy ' s , , and s as the primary armament for each battleship in the class . The gun also saw service in the British Royal Navy , where it was designated the BL 14 inch gun Mk II . History . The design of the 14 " / 45 caliber dates to about 1910 , and they entered service in 1914 aboard . At the time of their introduction they were intended to fire 1400 lb armor - piercing ( AP ) projectiles containing a bursting charge of explosive D . Propellant charge was four silk bags of smokeless powder , each of which weighed 105 lb . At a 15 degree angle , the guns could fire a shell out to 23 , 000 yards . Each individual gun weighed 140 , 670 lbs without the breech and measured 642 . 5 inches in length . < ref name = " 14 / 45 I " > < / ref > Each of the original Mark 1 built - up gun s consisted of a tube without liner , jacket , eight hoops and a screw box liner . To compensate for the problem of gun drooping , four hoop - locking rings were added to the guns . The Mark 3 added three hoop locking rings and contained a longer slide , while the Mark 5 had five hoops total . Owing to the interchangeability of the guns , the battleships fitted with the 14 " / 45 caliber guns often had guns of various Marks installed on each turret . In the 1930s , the Mark 1 , 2 , 3 , and 5 were upgraded to allow for increased charges and muzzle velocities , resulting in the Mark 8 , 9 , 10 , and 12 , respectively . All guns employed a Welin breech block and used a Smith - Asbury mechanism , and in the case of the Mark 12 a chromium plating was introduce to prolong barrel life . These improvements enabled the guns to fire heavier 1500 lb shells , and increasing the gun mount elevation to 30 degrees extended the range of the guns to 36 , 000 yards . < ref name = " 14 / 45 II " > < / ref > Service . The guns on the two ships of the ( and ) , the first ship of the ( ) and the first ship of the ( ) saw service in World War II in the role of shore bombardment . " New York " bombarded North Africa during landings in 1942 , " Pennsylvania " took part in the Aleutian Islands Campaign and " Texas " and " Nevada " shelled Normandy during Operation Overlord in 1944 . Throughout 1944 and 1945 , " Pennsylvania " hit many different Pacific islands during their invasions , while " New York " , " Texas " and " Nevada " all took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima and the invasion of Okinawa in 1945 . Due to the attack on Pearl Harbor , both and never fired their main batteries in anger . However , the 14 " / 45 caliber guns salvaged from the number 2 turret aboard " Arizona " were removed and installed aboard " Nevada " in the fall of 1944 . The aft turrets from " Arizona " ( numbers 3 and 4 ) were moved to become United States Army Coast Artillery Corps Battery Arizona on the west coast of Oahu and Battery Pennsylvania on Mokapu Point . United Kingdom service . Eight US - Navy standard 14 - inch 45 caliber guns , complete with mountings , built by Bethlehem Steel , were supplied to the United Kingdom in World War I . They were mounted on monitors under the British service designation BL 14 inch gun Mk II .