Ordnance BL 6-inch gun Mk XXII | |
---|---|
Type | Naval gun |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | 1927 – 1947 |
Used by | United Kingdom |
Wars | World War II |
Production history | |
Designed | 1921 |
No. built | 40 |
Variants | Mark XXII* |
Specifications | |
Mass | 19,824 lbs. (8,992 kg) |
Barrel length | 300 inches (7.620 m) bore (50 calibres) |
Shell | 1927 : 100 pounds (45 kg) 1942 : 112 pounds (51 kg) [1] |
Calibre | 6-inch (152.4 mm) |
Breech | 364 lbs. (165.1 kg) Welin interrupted screw |
Recoil | 16.5 in (42 cm) |
Elevation | -5 / +60 degrees |
Traverse | +100 / -100 degrees |
Rate of fire | 5 rpm |
Muzzle velocity | 898 metres per second (2,950 ft/s) [1] |
The BL 6-inch Mk XXII gun [note 1] was a British high-velocity 6-inch 50-calibre wire-wound naval guns deployed on the Nelson-class battleships from the 1920s to 1945.
They were originally designed as secondary armament for the proposed G3 class battlecruisers. When the G3 class were cancelled after the Washington Naval Treaty the guns and mountings were later used as secondary armament on the two Nelson-class battleships, serving throughout World War II. The Nelsons were the first British battleships since the Lord Nelson class of 1904 to carry their secondary armament in turrets rather than in broadside casemates. The Mk VIII gun mountings could elevate from +60 degrees to -5 degrees, while the telescopic power rammers for the gun loaded at a +5-degree fixed angle. [2] Although classified as a dual-purpose gun and capable of high-angle fire, their training and elevation speeds were too slow for the anti-aircraft role and their main use was against surface targets.
The gun originally fired a 100-pound (45 kg) shell, which had been the standard shell weight for six-inch guns since 1880. From 1942 the gun fired the same 112-pound (51 kg) shell introduced for the later Mk XXIII gun. [3] Figures in the table below are for the 100lb shell.
Range [2] | Elevation | Time of flight | Descent | Impact velocity |
---|---|---|---|---|
5000 yd (4.6 km) | 2° 5.2′ | 6.20 sec | 2° 48′ | 2029 ft/s (618 m/s) |
10000 yd (9.1 km) | 5° 37.2′ | 15.22 sec | 9° 13′ | 1390 ft/s (424 m/s) |
15000 yd (14 km) | 12° 5.4′ | 28.55 sec | 23° 2′ | 1094 ft/s (333 m/s) |
20000 yd (18 km) | 22° 54′ | 46.14 sec | 39° 46′ | 1056 ft/s (322 m/s) |
25000 yd (22.86 km) | 42° 37′ | 74.92 sec | 59° 0′ | 1148 ft/s (350 m/s) |
The Town class consisted of 10 light cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. The Towns were designed to the constraints imposed by the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The ships were built in three distinct sub-classes, the Southampton, Gloucester and Edinburgh classes respectively, each sub-class adding on further weaponry.
The BL 16-inch Mark I was a British naval gun introduced in the 1920s and used on the two Nelson-class battleships. A breech-loading gun, the barrel was 45 calibres long meaning 45 times the 16-inch (406 mm) bore – 60 ft (18 m) long.
The BL 14-inch Mk VII naval gun was a breech loading (BL) gun designed for the battleships of the Royal Navy in the late 1930s. This gun armed the King George V-class battleships during the Second World War.
The QF 6-inch 40 calibre naval gun (Quick-Firing) was used by many United Kingdom-built warships around the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century.
The Vickers 10 inch naval gun was used on battleships and armoured cruisers built during the first decade of the 20th century. They were used as the Type 41 10-inch /45-caliber aboard the British-built semi-dreadnought Katori-class battleships and the natively-built Satsuma-class battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The QF 4 inch Mk V gun was a Royal Navy gun of World War I which was adapted on HA mountings to the heavy anti-aircraft role both at sea and on land, and was also used as a coast defence gun.
The QF 5.25-inch Mark I gun was the heaviest dual-purpose gun used by the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Although considered less than completely successful, it saw extensive service. 267 guns were built.
The BL 4-inch gun Mk VII was a British high-velocity naval gun introduced in 1908 as an anti-torpedo boat gun in large ships, and in the main armament of smaller ships. Of the 600 produced, 482 were still available in 1939 for use as coastal artillery and as a defensive weapon on Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS) during the Second World War.
The 14"/45 caliber gun,, whose variations were known initially as the Mark 1, 2, 3, and 5, and, when upgraded in the 1930s, were redesignated as the Mark 8, 9, 10, and 12. They were the first 14-inch (356 mm) guns to be employed with the United States Navy. The 14-inch/45 caliber guns were installed as the primary armament aboard all of the United States Navy's New York-class, Nevada-class, and Pennsylvania-class battleships. The gun also saw service in the British Royal Navy, where it was designated the BL 14 inch gun Mk II.
The BL 6-inch Mark XII naval gun was a British 45 calibre naval gun which was mounted as primary armament on light cruisers and secondary armament on dreadnought battleships commissioned in the period 1914–1926, and remained in service on many warships until the end of World War II.
The BL 9.2-inch Mark XI gun was a British 50 calibre high-velocity naval gun which was mounted as primary armament on armoured cruisers and secondary armament on pre-dreadnought battleships.
The BL 4-inch Mk IX naval gun was a British medium-velocity naval gun introduced in 1917 as secondary armament on the Renown-class battlecruisers and Glorious-class "large light cruisers", but which served most notably as the main armament on Flower-class corvettes throughout World War II.
The EOC 10-inch 45 calibre gun were various similar 10-inch naval guns designed and manufactured by Elswick Ordnance Company to equip ships they built and/or armed for several countries before World War I.
The 6"/53 caliber gun formed the main battery of some United States Navy light cruisers and three US submarines built during the 1920s.
The 16"/45 caliber Mark 6 gun is a naval gun designed in 1936 by the United States Navy for their Treaty battleships. It was introduced in 1941 aboard their North Carolina-class battleships, replacing the originally intended 14"/50 caliber Mark B guns and was also used for the follow-up South Dakota class. These battleships carried nine guns in three three-gun turrets. The gun was an improvement to the 16"/45 caliber guns used aboard the Colorado class, and the predecessor to the 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 gun used aboard the Iowa class.
The BL 8 inch gun Mark VIII was the main battery gun used on the Royal Navy's County-class cruisers, in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. This treaty allowed ships of not more than 10,000 tons standard displacement and with guns no larger than 8 inches (203 mm) to be excluded from total tonnage limitations on a nation's capital ships. The 10,000 ton limit was a major factor in design decisions such as turrets and gun mountings. A similar gun formed the main battery of Spanish Canarias-class cruisers. In 1930, the Royal Navy adopted the BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval gun as the standard cruiser main battery in preference to this 8-inch gun.
The 50 calibre BL 6 inch gun Mark XXIII was the main battery gun used on the Royal Navy and British Commonwealth's conventional (non-anti-aircraft) light cruisers built from 1930 through the Second World War, and passed into service with several other navies when ships were disposed of after the end of the War.
By taking on ships being built for foreign navies in British shipyards, a number of British-built 6-inch 50-calibre naval guns found their way into British service in World War I. Their specifications and performance differed from standard Royal Navy 6-inch guns but in British service they fired standard service 100-pound projectiles.
The 152 mm /55 Model 1934–1936 were built for the Italian Navy in the years before World War II. These guns were used on the Duca degli Abruzzi-class Light cruisers, which were the final series of the Condottieri-class cruisers as their primary armament and as secondary armament on the Littorio-class battleships.