Cannone da 381/50 Ansaldo M1934

The Cannone da 381/50 Ansaldo M1934 was a 381 mm, 50-caliber naval gun designed and built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) by Gio. Ansaldo & C. in the 1930s. The gun served as the main armament of Italy's last battleships, the. These built-up guns consisted of a liner, a cylinder over the chamber and part of the rifle bore, a full-length cylinder, and a 3/4 length jacket with a hydro-pneumatically operated side-swinging Welin breech block. Each battleship carried nine guns mounted in three triple turrets with maximum elevation of 35°. Time between salvos was approximately 45 seconds.

Ammunition
The charge was contained in six cloth bags. Each bag contained 45 kg of smokeless powder. High explosive (HE) shells weighed only 774 kg. Anticipated useful barrel life was approximately 120 effective full charges (EFC).

Performance
While considered very powerful guns (their theoretical maximum range was comparable to that of the much bigger 40 cm/45 Type 94 guns of the Yamato-class battleships), their high muzzle velocity is considered a disadvantage, as it reduced barrel life and worsened the dispersion.

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

 * 380 mm/45 Modèle 1935 gun : French equivalent
 * 38 cm SK C/34 naval gun : German equivalent