8-inch Coastal Defense Guns by Dirk H.R. Spennemann Introduction

The guns in Micronesia stem from two sources: a series of ships the Japanese government had purchased from British and Italian Naval shipyards in the years prior to World War I, and from a Japanese armament factory, which had been making British-designed guns in license. Following the Washington Naval Limitations Treaty of 1922 a number of ships had to be scrapped, but their armaments, both turrets and gun barrels could be landed and stored.

The short–barreled versions were light guns, which were emplaced in quantity in western Micronesia, designed as a quick solution after the fall of the Japanese bases in Kiribati and the Marshall Islands in late 1943 and early 1944.