QF 4.7 inch naval gun Mk I – IV
| QF 4.7 inch Mk I-IV | |
 Typical deck carriage (1890s) |
|
| Caliber: | 120 mm (4.7 in) |
| Barrel length: | 4.8 m (caliber length 40) |
| Weight: | 2100 kg (without ammunition) |
| Grenade weight: | separate projectile and propellant charge |
| Bullet weight: | 20.4 kg |
| Muzzle velocity: | 648 m / s |
| Elevation range: | Minimum -3 ° maximum + 20 ° |
| Range: | Effective: 9,050 m |
| Turning speed: | only manually |
| Increase speed: | only manually |
| Rate of fire: | 5-6 rounds / min |
| drive | manually |
The QF 4.7 inch (120 mm) was a British naval gun that was also used as a field cannon in the army and for coastal defense. The caliber length is 40 (4.8 m). The stated caliber of 4.7 inches corresponds to 119.4 mm, as with all British guns of this caliber the exact value is 4.724 inches (120 mm). Propellant charge and projectile were loaded separately.
The gun was developed as a successor and replacement for the older BL 5-inch ship gun . It was optimized for modern low-smoke propellants such as cordite and could be loaded and fired much faster than the BL 5-inch gun , although the projectile was only slightly lighter.
development
The guns were designed and built by the Elswick Ordnance Company , an Armstrong-Whitworth company , in the late 19th century and are sometimes referred to as 4.7 ″ / 40 (12 cm) Elswick . A total of 1167 guns of different types were produced.
use
Naval use
The guns of this type were used on the contemporary unit ships of the line and cruisers of the Royal Navy . 776 guns were delivered directly to the navy, 110 more were delivered from army stocks.
These guns were dismantled and converted by the miners of the Latona class to obtain anti-aircraft guns for the defense of London .
When the First World War broke out , cannons were no longer needed for use on warships, but many were mounted on merchant ships and troop transports as armament to defend against submarines and commercial disruptors.
Japan
The Japanese Type 41 4.7-inch / 40 (12 cm) naval gun was a license-produced copy of the Elswick Mark IV . Initially, a number of guns were supplied directly by the Elswick Ordnance Company . After the turn of the century, licensed production in Japan was known as the Mark IVJ . On December 25, 1908, these guns were renamed Type 41 after the 41st year of the rule of the Japanese Emperor Meiji . Another renaming followed on October 5, 1917 as part of the standardization of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the metric system. Although classified as a 12 cm gun from this point on, the barrel diameter remained unchanged at 4.724 inches .
During the First World War, the Japanese Navy on 24 put the guns and delivered directly from Elswick 13 Mark IV a made in Japan as part of its military aid to the Allies as part of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in the UK . In 1940 some of these guns were deployed in British coastal batteries, for example on Mersea Island in Essex .
The gun formed the secondary and tertiary armament of most Japanese cruisers built between 1900 and 1920 and served as the primary armament of a number of destroyers including the Umikaze class . The last copies were still used in the Pacific War.
Italy
The Italian Ansaldo group acquired a number of these guns as secondary armament for the protected cruisers it built around 1900 before the First World War . In the following years , the gun was also used by the Italian army under the designation Cannone 120/40 . During World War II , the Regia Marina used some of its capital ships for battlefield lighting.
Use as a field gun
Guns of this type were first used on the British side as improvised field guns in the Second Boer War , where they were valued for their long range. The guns were partly operated by assigned naval teams. Based on the experience gained here, the army's BL 60 pounder gun was later developed. In the First World War, decommissioned naval guns found new uses in the army, including in South West Africa, on the Western Front and on Gallipoli.
Web links
- Page from Navweapons about Mk 1-IV (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ British 4.7 "/ 40 (12 cm) Elswick 4.7" / 40 (12 cm) QF Marks I, II, III, IV and VI
- ↑ Tony DiGiulian 4 "/ 40 (12 cm) 41st Year Type, NavWeaps.com
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: unlockingessex.essexcc.gov.uk/custom_pages/monument_detail.asp?kids=1&monument_id=31487
