RML 11-inch gun

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RML 11-inch gun


General Information
Military designation: RML 11 inch gun
Manufacturer designation: Royal Arsenal
Manufacturer country: United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Development year: 1867
Production time: 1867 to 1871
Number of pieces: Mk I: 7
Model variants: Mk I, II
Weapon Category: cannon
Technical specifications
Pipe length: 13.2 caliber / 3.683
Caliber :

11 inch (279 mm)

Number of trains : 9
Elevation range: 45 degrees
Furnishing
Bullet weight: 543 lb

The RML 11 inch gun is a British cannon that was used as a ship gun and in coastal artillery from 1871.

history

The first breech-loading guns ( RBL - Rifled Breech Loading) rifled were from Armstrong developed and in 1859 the British Army and the Royal Navy introduced. However, these guns could not convince in action. Therefore, the British Army and the Royal Navy switched to rifled muzzle loading ( RML ) again from the mid-1860s . The rifled barrel was retained, however.

The cannon was based on a request from 1864. The aim was to determine “which caliber and which barrel length would be most suitable for a cannon weighing 23 to 35 t” in comparison with the 12 inch caliber. The guns were created by redesigning the no longer manufactured RML 10 inch 18 ton gun Mk II. The guns were made like the 12 inch caliber, but only drilled to 11 inch caliber and not provided with rifling until the final decision. This fell on October 1, 1870 in favor of the 11 inch caliber. Its projectiles penetrated iron 2.8 cm thick at a distance of 910 m. As early as 1873 after the commissioning of the battleships Peter the Great ( Imperial Russian Navy ) and Caio Duilio and Enrico Dandolo ( Regia Marina Italiana ), however, a penetration capacity of 5 cm at a distance of 910 m was required.

construction

The RML 11 inch gun is a muzzle loader . For loading, the propellant charge was first inserted from the front, then the projectile in the same way.

The core tube is surrounded by a jacket tube made of one or more layers of wound steel. Armstrong's original design was a jacket tube made of several thin layers of pure iron. In the Mk I version, only one thicker layer was shrunk on, and in the Mk II two layers. This made production cheaper.

The grenades used were provided with wart-shaped elevations that slid along the rifling of the barrel and thus made it possible to insert the projectile from the front. From the mid-seventies, projectiles with a twist guide ring were used, which sealed the projectile gas-tight against the barrel.

  • Structure of the pipe

  • Bullet with wart-shaped elevations, here caliber 12 inch

  • Bullet with bottom ring, here caliber 10 inch

  • The gun turrets of the Caio Duilio , ca.1880

The pipe was stored directly on the carriage with trunnions and therefore had no device for the pipe return . In order to absorb the forces of the recoil , special mount designs were necessary. When setting up the pivot, the lower mount could be rotated around a pin. The cannon was mounted on a wall mount that was placed on the lower mount. A similar construction was used when setting up the casemate. An articulated carriage , also known as a disappearing carriage , was used for the installation in barbeds .

The maximum pipe elevation was 45 degrees. Due to the steeper trajectory, the lighter armored decks could be penetrated from above.

Ship gun

The type was only used on two ships of the Royal Navy :

The MS Alexandra carried ten guns in battery setup, while on the HMS Temeraire some of the guns were set up in two barbeds in front of the foremast or instead of the main mast. The advantage was the larger side straightening area and the fact that the armament could be used independently of one's own course. The disadvantage, however, was that the ships at that time still relied on sails. The masts and rigging as well as the guns interfered with each other and required compromises in construction. The HMS Temeraire was the first ship in the Royal Navy to use a barbette.

  • HMS Alexandra

  • HMS Temeraire

  • Guns of the HMS Temeraire in loading or firing position

Coastal artillery

Cannons of this type were used in coastal fortifications in many parts of the British Empire, such as Fort St Leonardo in Malta or Fort St George in Bermuda .

Decommissioning

The decommissioning began in the eighties of the 19th century, as the guns no longer met the increased requirements and from this point on more modern breech loading cannons ( BL - Breech Loading) were available.

User countries

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service. P. 282f
  2. ^ A b Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service. P. 282
  3. ↑ a b Text Book of Gunnery 1887. Table XVI p. 312
  4. ^ Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service. P. 77f
  5. ^ A b c d Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service. P. 94
  6. ^ Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service. P. 95
  7. ^ Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service. P. 257
  8. ↑ http://www.palmerstonforts.org.uk/art/11rml1.htm ( Memento from August 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ http://www.palmerstonforts.org.uk/art/11rml2.htm ( Memento from August 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ http://www.palmerstonforts.org.uk/art/gallery1/large/art38.jpg

Web links

Commons : RML 11 inch 25 ton gun  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Treatise on the construction and manufacture of ordnance in the British Service prepared in the Royal Gun Factory. Printed in Order of the Secretary of State of War, London 1877.
  • Text Book of Gunnery. Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office by Harrison and Sons, St Martin's Lane, London 1878.