BL 10-inch gun Mk I - IV

BL 10-inch gun Mk I - IV
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General Information
Military designation:	Ordnance BL 10 inch gun Mk I - IV
Manufacturer country:	United Kingdom
Developer / Manufacturer:	Mk I: Elswick Ordnance Company ; Mk II-IV: Woolwich Arsenal
Production time:	1885 to 19?
Model variants:	Mk I, II, III, IV
Weapon Category:	cannon
Technical specifications
Pipe length:	Mk I: 31.75 caliber / 8.08 ; Mk II-IV: 32 caliber / 8.13
Caliber :	10 inch (254 mm)
Furnishing
Charging principle:	Breech loader
Bullet weight:	500 pounds (226.8 kg)

The BL 10 inch gun Mk I - IV was a British cannon that was used as a ship gun and in coastal artillery from 1885.

history

The development of the BL 10 inch gun is based on a requirement of the Committee on Ordnance from 1879. As part of the transition from muzzle-loading guns to modern breech- loading guns , one type each of caliber 10.4 "and 9.2" was required. The proposed 10.4 inch caliber was changed to 10 inch and the cannon was put into use from 1885.

After the development of the Mk IV variant, the 10 inch caliber was abandoned by the Royal Navy in favor of the preferred 9.2 or 12 inch caliber.

construction

BL was the gun inch 10 a breech-loading with rifled barrel . The cannons for coastal defense did not have a device for the return pipe and were mounted on articulated mounts.

Ship gun

The BL 10 inch guns of the Mk II - IV series were interchangeable and were used on the following ships:

Victoria class , 1885 as first armament
Centurion-class , 1890 as first armament
Devastation class , 1890 as a replacement for the 12-inch muzzle loader

aft turret of the HMS Renown (Centurion class)

A version of this gun with a barrel length of 30 calibers and a weight of 25 t was delivered to the Australian colony of Victoria in 1884 and scaffolded there on the gunboat HMS Victoria . This cannon fired 450 lb projectiles. The gun was replaced on the HMS Victoria by an 8-inch cannon and placed in Fort Franklin in 1887.

Coastal artillery

Both the Mk I variant manufactured by the Elswick Ordnance Company and the Mk II-IV variant manufactured by Woolwich Arsenal were used in many parts of the British Empire. B. on Malta in the Delle Grazie Battery , Hong Kong , Canada or Australia .