3-inch/50-caliber gun (76 mm) Mk 34 1/144 x2

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With proximity fuze and fire-control radar, a 3-inch/50 mount firing 50 rounds per minute was considered more effective than a quad Bofors 40 mm gun against subsonic aircraft,but relatively ineffective against supersonic jets and cruise missiles. Destroyers that were modernized during the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) program of the 1960s had their 3-inch (76 mm) guns removed. Experimentation with an extended range variant the fully automatic 3″/70 Mark 26 gun was abandoned as shipboard surface-to-air missiles were developed. The United States Navy considered contemporary 5-inch/38-caliber guns and 5-inch/54-caliber Mark 42 guns more effective against surface targets. In 1992, the 3-inch/50-caliber main battery on USCGC Storis was removed and was supposedly the last 3-inch/50-caliber gun in service aboard any US warship, although US Navy Charleston-class amphibious cargo ships retained their forward mounts until USS El Paso (LKA-117) was decommissioned in 1994.

The 17 Asheville-class gunboats mounted a single 3-inch/50 Mk 34 as their primary armament.