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Naval Armaments of the Italian Navy.

For much of the history of the Navy, Armstrong has produced naval rifles in it's factory in Pozzuoli, Italia, these are noted by retaining the English inch designation. Contracts continue to be given to this legendary firm, particularly for larger guns but Ansaldo has commenced construction of it's own class of naval weapons.

Arms philosophy :
While Armstrong guns rely on bag and separate ammunition, Ansaldo produces weapons on the German model. There is a trend towards separately cased ammunition, as it is believed less dangerous in a fire.

Muzzle velocity :
Higher muzzle velocities are generally desirable, as it leads to a flatter arc at combat ranges, thus a greater "danger space". The projectile time of flight also diminishes leading to less target drift. Overall, this delivers more kinetic energy against vertical armor, but has the drawback of poor deck penetration. While this leads to fewer deck hits and  diminished penetration at range, ranges are still expected to be 2000-10,000 yards. This also means   Muzzle velocities in excess of at least 800m/s show drastically increased barrel wear, and projectile instability, rendering them undesirable. Instability does appear to show when combining high muzzle velocity with lower shell weights than "normal", which is believed to be some poorly understood property of shell form or sectional density. 

Handloading vs. Power assist.
Handloading (mounts) is considered effective up to projectile weights in the 75-85kg range. Power assist (mount & hoist) can improve this.
Powered rams and loading equipment (turrets) is considered essential for shell weights in excess of 90kg. Though as shell weights approach this the ability to sustain high firing rates will suffer.

Mountings

Turrets with strong barbette mountings are used to support large caliber guns and transfer their weight to the keel of the vessel.
At some point, mounting weight becomes high enough to render barbette mountings advisable, but experience has not yet delineated that point .

Mount and turret elevation is typically set at 30 degrees, to allow coastal bombardments in support of maritime landings (historically St. Bon was 35, Regina Margehrita 25).
Casements, with an elevation range of ~30 degrees, typically -5 to +25 are considered an effective mounting. Light interior armor is typically used to shield the casement from shell bursts behind the upper belt.  Fed by conveyor belts, ammunition protocols call for a limited number of rounds to be exposed at once.  Doublestacked casements are popular as they allow more weapons amidship with fewer openings for the conveyor hoists.

Dates listed indicate the "date of design" or when vessels designed to carry these weapons were laid down. If not historically used by the Italian navy, then the country of origin from navweaps or ahistorical is listed.

Weapons of the Italian fleet
A = Ansaldo, E= Armstrong of Elswick design produced at Pozzuoli, Italy

As of 1900, the following guns are in inventory:
All guns are historical, where shell weight not available, SS3 defaults used.

Bore (mm)	Caliber	Type	Shell Weight (KG)	Muzzle Velocity	Historical Year	Historical Origin		Notes
17"	27	BL	908	535	1876	Italy-E		Italia Class
			1)	twin cole turret	1876
			2)	twin turret	1895
13.5"	30	BL	600	640	1884	Italy-E
			1)	twin turret	1884
			2)	twin turret	1894
12"	40	BL	417	780	1898	Italy-E
			1)	twin turret	1898
10"	40	BL	227	700	1894	Italy-E
			1)	twin turret	1894
10"	32	BL	197.4		1882	Italy-E
			1)	single turret	1882
			2)	casement	1882
240	40	BL	229	705	1897	Austria		Built by Ansaldo
			1)	twin turret	1897
8"	40	BL	116	790	1894	Italy-E
			1)	twin turret	1894
194	45	BL	75	800	1887	France		Built by Ansaldo
			1)	casement	1887
			2)	single mount	1894
180	45	BL	80	875	1901			Built by Ansaldo
			1)	single mount	1901
			2)	single mount & hoist	1901
			3)	casement	1901
			4)	twin turret	1901
6"	45	QF	41.5	792	1892	Russia		Built by Ansaldo
			1)	single mount	1893
			2)	casement	1893
6"	40	QF	45.3	684	1888	Italy-E
			1)	single mount	1887
			2)	casement	1887
6"	32	BL	40.4		1876	Italy-E
			1)	single mount	1876
			2)	casement	1876
150	45	QF	55	890	1904			Built by Ansaldo
			1)	single mount	1904
			2)	single mount & hoist	1904
			3)	casement	1904
			4)	twin turret	1904
149	27	BL	38.21		1879	Italy		Howitzer
			1)	single mount	1879
120	45	QF	27.5	890	1904			Built by Ansaldo
			1)	single mount	1904
			2)	single mount & hoist	1904
			2)	Twin mount & hoist	1904
			3)	casement	1904
			4)	twin turret	1901
4.7"	45	QF	20.47	823	1892	Russia		Built by Ansaldo
			1)	single mount	1892
			2)	casement	1892
4.7"	40	QF	20.4	660	1889	Italy-E
			1)	single mount	1889
			2)	casement	1889
4.7"	32	BL	19.42		1876	Italy-E
			1)	single mount	1876
			2)	casement	1876
90	45	QF	11	850	1901
			1)	single mount	1901
			2)	single mount & hoist	1901
			3)	casement	1901
			4)	twin mount & hoist	1901
3"	40	QF	6.5	680	1893	Italy-E
			1)	single mount	18939
			2)	casement	1893
75	21	QF	5.25		1890	Italy-A		Howitzer
			1)	single mount	1890
			2)	casement	1890
65	115	QF	4.55		1894	Italy-A		[Thought Historic, actually typo, was 6.5mm
			1)	single mount	1894
57	43	QF	2.73	683	1884	France		Built by Ansaldo, Hotchkiss/1
			1)	single mount	1884
47	40	QF	1.5	571	1884	Italy-A		Historically fielded, no data
			1)	single mount	1884
45	45	QF	1.4	900	1904			Built by Ansaldo
			1)	single mount	1904
			2)	single mount & hoist	1904
			4)	twin mount & hoist	1904
37	30	MG	0.45	500	1888	German		Built by Ansaldo, Maxim-Nordenfeldt
			1)	single mount	1888
37	20	QF	0.51	442	1882	France	1884	Hotchkiss 1/5 barrels
			1)	5 barrel mount	1882
25	41	QF	0.02		1882	Italy-A		Historically fielded, no data
			1)	single mount	1882
11.4	94	MG	0.003		1881	USA		Basically a Gardner gun/2
			1)	two barrel mount	1881
7.5	70	MG	0.003		1883	Austria		ColtM95, fires Swiss 7.5 GP90
			1)	single mount	1883

The following table indicates the estimated penetration values the Italian Admiralty expects.

These may very well not match results in the field, indeed they represent a full power, unworn gun, perfectly functioning shell, and a dead on shot under optimum conditions. In reality, ships are rarely perpendicular, and tend to be at some aspect of a slow roll, so these figures are understood to be the maximum values for that range.

For pre 1900 weapons, penetration is from BigGun for 0.55 form shells against 0.9 condition armor.
For post 1900-1904 weapons, penetration is from Logi's Ballistic's tool, set to Belt 412, Deck 174
These numbers were chosen as they gave penetration values @6300m (belt) and @12800m (deck) close to old saved BigGun files.
The fact these may not line up with what the Mods have, is perfectly fine.
Against Terni Cemented, with a proper AP shell that doesn't shatter on the face, all values are assumed to be 10% less.

Bore (mm)	Caliber	Year	Shell Weight (KG)	Muzzle Velocity	5000m	7500m	10000 m	Max Range (m)
17"	27	1876	908	535	309 / 28	252 / 47	206 / 64	15200m @45
13.5"	30	1884	600	640	382 / 22	318 / 38	262 / 53	17900m @30
12"	40	1898	417	780	417 / 15	338 / 27	275 / 41	21000m @30
10"	40	1894	227	700	259 / 14	198 / 26	151 / 37	16300m @30
240	40	1897	229	705	296 / 15	232 / 27	183 / 39	17600m @30
8"	40	1894	116	790	213 / 10	151 / 19	109 / 29	15900m @30
194	45	1887	75	800	126 / 0.9	80 / 17	50 / 26	12700m @30
180	45	1901	80	875	270 / 3	198 / 9	147 / 18	25790m @30
6"	45	1892	41.5	792	98 / 0.8	58 / 15	31 / 28	11700m @30
150mm	45	1904	55	890	266 / 4	195 / 9	143/ 18	255460m @30
120mm	45	1904	27.5	890	174 / 3	117 / 8	79 / 17	11700m @30
4.7"	45	1892	20.47	823	60 / 7	33  /12	12 / 28	21722m @30
90	45	1901	11	850	81 / 3	47 / 8	27/17	16,379m @30
3"	40	1893	6.5	680	45 / 0.5	0.8 / 17	7200@25	7400m @30