QF 4.7-inch Mk I – IV naval gun

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QF 4.7 inch Gun
4.7 inch gun on "Percy Scott carriage", South West Africa Campaign, WWI
Typemedium gun
Place of origin United Kingdom
Service history
In service1899 - 1918
Used by United Kingdom
‎Union of South Africa
Template:AU
WarsSecond Boer War
World War I
Specifications
Barrel length194 inches
Crew10
ShellSeparate loading QF; AP, Shrapnel 45lb (early version);
HE 46lb 9oz (later version)
Calibre4.7 inch (120 mm)
Elevation0 - 20°
Muzzle velocity2150 ft/sec
Maximum firing range10,000 yds[1]

The Ordnance QF 4.7 inch Gun was a family of late-1880s vintage British naval guns which were mounted on various travelling carriages to provide the British Army with a long range gun. The gun was originally designed to replace the older 5 inch naval guns and was optimised for the modern smokeless propellants such as Cordite.

Second Boer War (1899 - 1902)

British forces in the Second Boer War were initially outgunned by the long range Boer artillery. Captain Percy Scott of the Royal Navy improvised a travelling carriage for 4.7 inch naval guns removed from their usual static coastal or ship mountings to meet this challenge.

These improvised carriages lacked recoil buffers and hence in action drag shoes and attachment of the carriage by cable to a strong point in front of the gun were necessary to control the recoil[2]. They were manned by Royal Navy crews and required up to 32 oxen to move[2].

The guns were also mounted on carriages from 6 inch howitzers, as at the Battle of Colenso (1899). Captain Scott also improvised timber static mountings for 2 4.7 inch guns to counter the Boers' "Long Tom" gun during the Siege of Ladysmith in 1899-1900[2].

World War I

South-West Africa Campaign (1914-1915)

4.7 inch Gun in sand, South West Africa Campaign, WWI. note oxen

The same guns and "Percy Scott carriages" were used against German forces in the South-West Africa Campaign in World War I.

Western Front (1914 - 1917)

4.7 inch Gun on 1900 "Woolwich" carriage as sent to France

Up to 92 QF 4.7 inch guns on more modern "Woolwich" carriages dating from 1900 with partially effective (12 inch) recoil buffers went to France with Royal Garrison Artillery units, mostly of the Territorial Army, in 1914-1917. They were relatively unsuccessful due to inaccuracy and relatively light shell, and were replaced by the modern 60 pounder guns as they became available. The last were withdrawn in April 1917.

Battle of Gallipoli (1915)

A 4.7 inch gun was used by the Australian 1st Heavy Artillery Battery on Gallipoli to counter long range Turkish fire from the "Olive Grove" (in fact "Palamut Luk" or Oak Grove)[3] between Gaba Tepe and Maidos. Lt-Col Rosenthal, commanding 3rd Australian field artillery Brigade, noted : "I had made continual urgent representations for two 4.7-inch guns for right flank to deal with innumerable targets beyond the range of 18-prs., but it was not till 11th July that one very old and much worn gun arrived, and was placed in position on right flank, firing its first round on 26th July.[4]" This gun was left behind after the withdrawal from Gallipoli but later salvaged as a museum piece[5].

Salonika Front

Several 4.7 inch guns mounted on "Percy Scott carriages" served with British and Serb forces in the Salonika (Macedonian) campaign from January 1916 onwards.

Notes and References

  1. ^ Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Field Army Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2004. Other sources quote various ranges up to 12,000 yds.
  2. ^ a b c Major Darrell Hall, South African Military History Society, Military History Journal - Vol 2 No 2. Guns in South Africa 1899-1902 Part III and IV
  3. ^ Ross Mallett, MA Thesis. 2. Gallipoli
  4. ^ Notes by Lieut.-Colonel Charles Rosenthal, Commanding 3rd Australian Field Artillery Brigade, 1st Australian Division, relating to Artillery at Anzac, from 25th April to 25th August, 1915. (Compiled from personal diary.) Appendix II in General Sir Ian Hamilton, G.C.B. Gallipoli Diary Vol. II. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1920
  5. ^ Ross Mallett, AIF Artillery

See also

Surviving examples

External links

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