1/144 Royal Navy 5.25"/50 (13.4cm) QF MKI x5 (Dido Class 1943)

1/144 Scale Royal Navy 5.25"/50 (13.4cm) QF MKI x5 (Dido Class 1943) as used by the Royal Navy and Commonwealth Navies on Dido and Spartan Classes. Highly detailed parts modelled from plans and many reference photographs. This type is the mid-to-late war version of the Mount with extra venting and Cupolas on the Turret Roof.

• 5x Mounts
• Highly detailed and accurate part, modelled from plans and photographic reference
• Details include: Rivets, Hex nuts, open Sighting Ports, Sighting Periscope, Vents, Crew Access Hatches and Ladders
• Barrels are printed separately and can be elevated as desired.

HISTORICAL DATA
This gun was used as a Dual-Purpose (DP) secondary on the King George V and Vanguard battleship classes and as the main guns on the Dido and Spartan cruiser classes. This was a somewhat large caliber for a DP gun, but chosen because it was considered that this size would provide the maximum weight of shell that could still be manually handled by the average gun crew. Unfortunately, the original design of the gunhouse was cramped and the heavy projectile and cartridge cases resulted in a lower rate of fire than expected. In addition, the slow elevating and training speeds of the mounts were found to be inadequate for engaging modern high-speed aircraft.

The later mountings designed for HMS Vanguard enjoyed a much improved RPC system and were coupled with the USN's outstanding Mark 37 fire control system which eliminated the manually-operated fuze-setters in the previous mountings, giving the gun crews a roomier working space. However, Vanguard did not see service until long after World War II had ended and she was destined never to fire her guns in anger.

"A" turret in the early Dido class cruisers was prone to jamming with some thirteen separate incidents being reported during 1940-41, including that of HMS Bonaventure while engaging the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper in December 1940. These problems were mainly the result of the light construction methods used on most Treaty-limited ships, which in this case allowed the bow to flex in heavy weather or during high-speed turns. This was rectified in the early ships by stiffening the bow section and by more careful attention to the detail fitting work required for installation of the mountings. Later ships had these modifications incorporated during their construction and no problems of this nature were encountered for these cruisers. It is also recorded that after the winter of 1941 the captains of the early ships "handled them appropriately" during heavy weather which also alleviated the problem. However, in 1950 HMS Euryalus had A turret permanently out of action due to problems with the roller path.

These mountings proved difficult to manufacture and the King George V battleships were given the highest priority of what guns and mountings were produced. As a result, the Dido class cruisers HMS Charybdis and HMS Scylla were completed with eight 4.5" (11.4 cm) guns and three other cruisers, including HMS Dido herself, were completed with only eight 5.25" (13.4 cm) guns. HMS Dido had her fifth turret installed during a refit late in 1941 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, while HMS Bonaventure was sunk in March 1941 and HMS Phoebe remained an eight-gun cruiser. The later Spartan class were designed from the start with eight guns. 

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