The 28 cm (11 in) Howitzer L/10 was designed in 1884 by the British Armstrong company and 220 built by the Osaka Artillery Arsenal. It fired a 217 kg shell at a maximum range of 7,800 m. The howitzer entered service in 1892 and was installed in shore batteries in forts overlooking Tokyo Bay and Osaka Bay, when the Meiji "Static Defense" policy of the 1870s and 1880s emphasized coastal defenses.
The L/10 was thus primarily intended for anti-ship operations and remained in use until the end of WW2. It saw use as a siege gun during the Russo-Japanese War due to a lack of heavy siege guns. Requested by General Nogi Maresuke, a battery of L/10 was transported and assembled for the siege of Port Arthur.
The huge shells were nicknamed "roaring trains" by the Russian troops, and during their period at Port Arthur over 16,949 of these shells were fired. In December 1904, using artillery observers on 203 m Hill, the howitzers were able to sink the Russian warships one after the other:
-The battleship Poltava was sunk on December 5, 1904,
-The battleship Retvizan was sunk on December 7, 1904,
-The battleships Pobeda and Peresvet and the cruisers Pallada and Bayan on December 9, 1904.
All six would be raised, repaired, renamed, and recommissioned by the Japanese after the war.
-The battleship Sevastopol, although hit five times by the 280 mm shells, managed to move out of range of the guns.
-Russo-Japanese War Photo Album of the 3rd Army, No. 3, Meiji 38.4, Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS).
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