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
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 .
User countries
literature
- Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON: PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE
- IVHogg & LF Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.
- Tony DiGiulian, British 10 "/ 32 (25.4 cm) Marks I, II, III and IV
Web links
- Mk III disappearing mounting diagram at Palmerston Forts Society ( Memento August 30, 2010 on the Internet Archive )
- Elswick Mk I coastal defense barbette mounting diagram at Palmerston Forts Society ( Memento August 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Table XII p. 336
- ^ Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 176
- ↑ Artillery of The Victorian Forts 10-inch Breech Loading on Hydropneumatic Disappearing Mounting Mark III ( Memento from August 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Manual for Victorian naval forces 1887. HMVS Cerberus website
- ^ David Spethman: The Garrison Guns of Australia 1788-1962 . Page 89, published by Ron H Mortensen, Inala, Qld, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9775990-8-0 .