Twelve 12-pounder guns gave Renown a dedicated answer to torpedo boats, with eight mounted high amidships. These 3-inch, or 76 mm, weapons fired 5.7-kilogram shells at about 777 metres per second and carried 200 rounds per gun. The calibre could throw a damaging shell far enough to engage a small fast target while remaining compact enough for useful rates of fire and multiple mountings. Later 76 mm weapons served against aircraft, missiles, and land targets. The same balance of weight, range, and volume of fire kept the calibre useful against very different generations of naval threats.
Notable Point · 18:46-20:53
Why the 76 mm gun endured against small, fast threats
Renown's 12-pounders illustrate the long-lived value of a gun large enough to hit hard but light enough to fire rapidly and in numbers.