The initial mounting was the 11.8 to 17.35 ton, eight-barrelled mounting Mark V (later Mark VI), suitable for ships of cruiser and aircraft carrier size upward. Known as the QF 2-pounder Mark VIII, it is usually referred to as the "multiple pom-pom". Lack of funding led to a convoluted and drawn-out design and trials history and it was not until 1930 that these weapons began to enter service. Design work for such a weapon began in 1923 based on the earlier Mark II, undoubtedly to use the enormous stocks of 2-pounder ammunition left over from the First World War. The Royal Navy had identified the need for a rapid-firing, multi-barrelled close-range anti-aircraft weapon at an early stage. VIII single mount from HMCS Kamloops, displayed in Canadian War Museum Its full name is : Vickers 2pdr QF MK VIII QF2 Mk. QF 2-pounder Mark VIII 8-barrelled "Chicago piano" on HMS Rodney, viewed from below 8-barrelled "Chicago piano" of HMS Roberts at Seafront in Zeebrugge. Gunners on HMCS Assiniboine fire their 2 pdr while escorting a troop convoy from Halifax to Britain, 10 July 1940. It was superseded in the 1930s as a primary AA weapon on Italian warships by more modern guns, such as the Cannone-Mitragliera da 37/54 (Breda). The Regia Marina also used it from the Great War throughout World War II. The gun was also used by the Japanese as the 40 mm/62 "HI" Shiki.
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