The 14-inch/45-caliber guns were installed as the primary armament aboard all of the United States Navy's New York-class, Nevada-class, and Pennsylvania-class battleships.

All guns employed a Welin breech block and used a Smith-Asbury mechanism, and, in the case of the Mark 12, chromium plating was introduced to prolong barrel life.

Three guns removed from Arizona that in the relining process at the time of Pearl Harbor were installed aboard Nevada in fall 1944 and were used in several shore bombardments in the Pacific.

[10][11] Eight US Navy standard 14-inch/45-caliber guns, complete with mountings, were built by Bethlehem Steel for the Greek battleship Salamis under construction in Germany.

When World War I started, Bethlemen Steel cancelled the sale and offered the guns for purchase by the United Kingdom.

The ships were built quickly enough that they could sail to the Eastern Mediterranean in 1915 and participate in the Gallipoli campaign bombarding Ottoman positions.