User:Jackehammond/sandboxes-76/62mm ALLARGATO

The 76/62mm Allargato is a single barrel, medium caliber, dual purpose automatic naval cannon produced by the defence firm OTO-Melara in the 1960s for the Italian navy. It is no longer in service.

History
After World War Two, when Italy joined NATO, it received a large part of its weapons from the United States in the form of direct military. This included the transfer of warships from that war also. In the mid-1950s the Italian Navy began planning and funding a program of modernization, in which many of those outdated World War Two warships would be replaced with newer and more modern warships built in Italy. In addition the armament would be updated. At that time Italian warships were equipped for the most part with US built naval cannons. The 5-inch (127mm) and Bofors 40/60mm being the most numerous. In the opinion of the Italian Navy in the 1950s the 5-inch was two heavy for many warships and the 40/60mm was to light as the main weapon on its smaller corvettes that were planned under the modernization planned. As a result the Italian Navy contracted the Italian firm of OTO-Melara to design and manufacture a medium caliber naval cannon with both a anti-surface and anti-aircraft ability. The Italian Navy studied the issue and decided a cannon firing a 76mm/3-inch round was the best compromise for a dual purpose cannon. This new cannon contracted to OTO-Melara would be the primary armament on smaller warships, like corvettes, and the secondary armament on larger class warship, e.g. frigates, destroyers and the new helicopter cruisers planned. Development began in 1958, with the first cannon delivered in 1961 for testing and production soon followed. In 1962 the first 76/62 MMI Allargato was delivered to the Italian Navy. In the five following years, OTO-Melara produced a total of 84 exclusively for the Italian Navy. And while OTO Melara attempted to marketed their new naval cannon for export, there were no orders. In the late 1960s the Allargato was replaced in production by the highly successful OTO-Melara 76/62mm Compact, and due to its higher weight the Allargato is now considered outdated and has been withdrawn from service being replaced by either the 76/62mm Compact or the Breda 40mm Type 70 Compact

Description
The Allargato has a single barrel which is water-sprayed cooled. The cannon and its loading tray is covered in a water tight turret cover that is also protection against small shell splinters. Also in the turret there is a station for one-man who is need to direct the cannon from data provided by the ships fire control system. All other actions when the cannon is fired are automatic. The cannon is slewed by hydraulic-electrical system, with a manual backup. Ammunition is stored in a magazine below the turret from which rounds are fed to the loading tray and then rammed in the breech and fired. Spent shell casing are automatically ejected outside the turret after being fired. Total weight of the turret and magazine is 12 tons. The rate of fire is between 55 to 60 rounds per minute. Note the rate of fire is only theoretical and would be impossible in a real world situation. In practice the cannon is fire in single shots or bursts.