8"/30 caliber gun

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

Mark 1
Mark 1 consisted of a tube, jacket, 19 hoops and an elevating band with integral trunnions. Mark 1 Mod 1 had no trunnions. They weighed 29,100 lb with a barrel length of 240 in bore (30 calibers).

Mark 2
The Mark 2 was similar, but had the hoops differently arranged, did not have integral trunnions and had its rear sights controlled by worm and miter gears.

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.