QF 6 inch /40 naval gun

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QF 6 inch 40 calibre naval gun
15 cm/40 (6") 41st Year Type

QF6inchElswickNavalGun.jpg

Typical naval deck mounting. An early long cartridge case for gunpowder propellant is upended at bottom left, a shell stands next to the cartridge.
Type Naval gun
Coast defence gun
Place of origin United Kingdom
licence-produced in Japan
Service history
In service 1892–1945
Used by Royal Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
Chilean Navy
Italian Navy
Argentine Navy
United States
Romanian Navy
Wars Russo-Japanese War
World War I
World War II
Production history
Manufacturer Elswick Ordnance Company
Royal Arsenal, Woolwich
Specifications
Weight 6.6 tons
Barrel  length 240 inches (6.096 m) bore

Shell 100 pounds (45 kg) QF, separate cartridge and shell
Elevation -5 / +20 degrees
Traverse +150 / -150 degrees
Rate of fire 5-7 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity 2,154 feet per second (657 m/s) [1]
820 feet per second (250 m/s) for anti-submarine shells
Effective firing range 10,000 yards (9,140 m) at 20°elevation; 15,000 yards (13,700 m) at 28°elevation

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 start of the 20th century.

Contents

In UK service it was known as the QF 6 inch Mk I, II, III guns. [note 1] As the 15 cm/40 (6") 41st Year Type naval gun it was used for pre-dreadnought battleships, armoured cruisers and protected cruisers of the early Imperial Japanese Navy built in UK and European shipyards. It was also the heaviest gun ever carried by a pre-Cold War destroyer.

Pre-dreadnought battleship Type of battleship, preceding the development of HMS Dreadnought

Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late 1880s and 1905, before the launch of HMS Dreadnought. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, and protected by hardened steel armour, pre-dreadnought battleships carried a main battery of very heavy guns in barbettes supported by one or more secondary batteries of lighter weapons. They were powered by coal-fuelled triple-expansion steam engines.

Imperial Japanese Navy Naval branch of the Empire of Japan

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 until 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender in World War II. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) was formed after the dissolution of the IJN.

Cold War Geopolitical tension after World War II between the Eastern and Western Bloc

The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union with its satellite states, and the United States with its allies after World War II. A common historiography of the conflict begins between 1946, the year U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan's "Long Telegram" from Moscow cemented a U.S. foreign policy of containment of Soviet expansionism threatening strategically vital regions, and the Truman Doctrine of 1947, and ending between the Revolutions of 1989, which ended communism in Eastern Europe, and the 1991 collapse of the USSR, when nations of the Soviet Union abolished communism and restored their independence. The term "cold" is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict split the temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany and its allies, leaving the USSR and the US as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences.

Design

QF technology

Loading a MK I or II deck gun on HMS Ariadne. The man at left holds a shell, the men at right hold brass powder cartridges. Note the coned breech screw and lugs on the underside of the breech ring to which recoil cylinders are attached Loading QF 6 inch gun LOC ggbain 16785.jpg
Loading a MK I or II deck gun on HMS Ariadne. The man at left holds a shell, the men at right hold brass powder cartridges. Note the coned breech screw and lugs on the underside of the breech ring to which recoil cylinders are attached

These guns were developed to exploit the new "QF" technology, which involved loading the propellant charge in a brass case with primer in its base. The brass case also sealed the breech, allowing a lighter mechanism. This was presumed to allow a faster rate of fire than the older "Breech Loading" system, where the propellant was loaded in cloth bags and then a separate friction or percussion tube fitted into the breech for firing. The QF principle had proved successful with the much smaller QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss and Nordenfelt QF 3 and 6 pounders from 1885 onwards.

The Mk I was an Elswick gun of built up construction. Mk II was built by Woolwich Arsenal and in 1891 became the first Royal Navy gun using the Armstrong wire-wound construction. The breech mechanisms were developed from the existing 6-inch (150 mm) BL mechanisms, but as it no longer had to provide obturation (sealing of the breech), the front was made coned rather than straight which allowed it to be swung round to the side before it was fully withdrawn, rather than having to be fully withdrawn before swinging to the side as with the BL gun. [2]

Built-up gun

A built-up gun is artillery with a specially reinforced barrel. An inner tube of metal stretches within its elastic limit under the pressure of confined powder gases to transmit stress to outer cylinders that are under tension. Concentric metal cylinders or wire windings are assembled to minimize the weight required to resist the pressure of powder gases pushing a projectile out of the barrel. Built-up construction was the norm for guns mounted aboard 20th century Dreadnoughts and contemporary railway guns, coastal artillery, and siege guns through World War II.

Royal Arsenal former arsenal in Woolwich in south-east London, England

The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing, and explosives research for the British armed forces at a site on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, United Kingdom. It was originally known as the Woolwich Warren, having begun on land previously used as a domestic warren in the grounds of a Tudor house, Tower Place. Much of the initial history of the site is linked with that of the Board of Ordnance, which purchased the Warren in the late 17th century in order to expand an earlier base at Gun Wharf in Woolwich Dockyard. Over the next two centuries, as operations grew and innovations were pursued, the site expanded massively; at the time of the First World War the Arsenal covered 1,285 acres (520 ha) and employed close to 80,000 people. Thereafter its operations were scaled down; it finally closed as a factory in 1967 and the Ministry of Defence moved out in 1994. Today the area, so long a secret enclave, is open to the public and is being redeveloped for housing and community use.

Recoil system

MK III gun at Fort Nelson. This shows the left trunnion (detailed in black) by which it is mounted on a Vavasseur recoil slide, and there are no lugs on the underside of the breech ring 6 inch gun from HMS Calypso rear.JPG
MK III gun at Fort Nelson. This shows the left trunnion (detailed in black) by which it is mounted on a Vavasseur recoil slide, and there are no lugs on the underside of the breech ring

The preceding generation of British 6-inch guns (BL Mks III, IV and VI) had old-style trunnions by which they were mounted on Vavasseur inclined slides to absorb recoil. QF Mk I and II dispensed with trunnions and instead on the lower side of the breech ring were lugs to which were attached modern recoil buffer and hydrospring recuperator (runout) cylinders to absorb recoil and return the barrel to loading position after firing. This allowed the gun to recoil directly backwards rather that backwards and upwards as previously, and is the recoil system which in essence is still in use.

Vavasseur mounting

Vavasseur mountings were several mounting devices for artillery and machine guns. They were invented and patented by Josiah Vavasseur.

Mk III was built by Elswick and was similar to Mk I except that it had trunnions which allowed it to be deployed on the remaining obsolescent but still in service Vavasseur recoil mountings. All 3 Marks had the same dimensions and performance.

UK service

Royal Navy service

The 6 starboard casemate guns on HMS Powerful HMSPowerfulCirca1905.jpg
The 6 starboard casemate guns on HMS Powerful
Gunnery exercise on HMCS Niobe HMCS Niobe 6 inch gun firing Niobe-DNDUnkn02.jpg
Gunnery exercise on HMCS Niobe
A diagram from Brassey's Naval Annual 1896 QF 6 inch 40 calibre gun diagram Brasseys 1896.jpg
A diagram from Brassey's Naval Annual 1896

As the QF 6 inch Mk I, Mk II and Mk III, the gun was used as secondary armament of pre-dreadnoughts of the 1890s and cruisers to 1905. On the armoured cruisers of the Diadem, Powerful and Edgar classes they made up most of the armament, though the latter class carried two 9.2-inch (230 mm) guns as well. The pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Sovereign (including the turreted HMS Hood), Centurion, Majestic and Canopus classes carried up to 12 guns.

<i>Diadem</i>-class cruiser class of "first class" protected cruiser

The Diadem-class cruiser was a class of "first class" protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s that served in the First World War. The class consisted of eight ships, built at a cost of around £600,000 each.

<i>Powerful</i>-class cruiser class of British protected cruisers

The Powerful class were a pair of first-class protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy (RN) in the 1890s, designed to hunt down enemy commerce raiders. Both ships served on the China Station and participated in the Second Boer War of 1899–1900. Terrible went on to help suppress the Boxer Rebellion a few months later. Powerful served as the flagship of the Australia Station in 1905–1912; shortly after her return home, she became a training ship and remained in that role until she was sold for scrap in 1929. Terrible was mostly in reserve after she returned home in 1902 and was often used as an accommodation ship. During the First World War she was disarmed and made one voyage as a troop transport in 1915. The ship became a depot ship when she returned home and then became a training ship in 1918. Terrible was sold for scrap in 1932.

<i>Edgar</i>-class cruiser ship class

The Edgar class was a nine-ship class of protected cruiser built around 1891 for the Royal Navy. Nine ships were completed, all of which participated in the First World War. One, HMS Hawke, was lost during the war, with the other eight being scrapped in the 1920s.

Second Boer War land service

Gun before use in the Tugela Heights battles of February 1900 QF6InchBeforeTugelaHeightsBattle.jpg
Gun before use in the Tugela Heights battles of February 1900

During the Second Boer War one gun was brought ashore from HMS Terrible in Natal in February 1900 at the request of General Buller, [3] presumably[ citation needed ] in response to the failure at Colenso. It was mounted on an improvised field carriage by Captain Percy Scott and transported by rail to Chieveley, just south of Colenso. There it was manned by Royal Navy gunners to provide useful fire support for the British Army during the relief of Ladysmith. It is reported on 17 February to have fired from "Gun Hill" (a small kopje two miles (3 km) north of Chieveley [4] ) and knocked out a Boer gun at 16,500 yards (15,100 m), followed by a Boer searchlight, as Buller approached Ladysmith from the South East and pushed the Boers back towards the Tugela river. [5] On 26 February Lieutenant Burne reports firing from the same position on a Boer gun at 15,000 yards (14,000 m) at 28° elevation and falling 200 yards (180 m) short. [6] The 7 ton weight (compared to the 2½ tons of the Boer 155 mm "Long Tom") meant that it was effectively immobile on the battlefield and could not be moved forward to shorten the range.

Two guns were also mounted on armoured trains, crewed by Royal Garrison Artillery men. [7]

Coast defence gun

From 1894 a number of guns were adapted for coast defence use, with the original 3-motion breeches replaced by modern single-motion breeches to increase the rate of fire, which designated them as "B" guns. [8]

Nineteen guns were still active in the defence of the UK as at April 1918 : Jersey (2), Guernsey (2), Alderney (2), Shoeburyness (2), Blyth (2), Clyde Garrison (1), Mersey (2), Berehaven Garrison (Bantry Bay, Ireland) (6). [9]

World War I anti-aircraft gun

Anti-aircraft mounting on Prince of Wales Pier, Dover QF6inchAAGunWWI.jpg
Anti-aircraft mounting on Prince of Wales Pier, Dover

At least one gun is known to have been mounted by the Royal Navy on an improvised anti-aircraft mounting on a railway truck, defending docks during the First World War. [10]

Conversion to 8 inch (203 mm) howitzer

In World War I Britain urgently needed heavy artillery on the Western Front, and various obsolete 6-inch naval guns were converted to 8-inch howitzers. Sixty-three QF 6-inch Mk II guns were shortened, bored out to 8 inches (203 mm) and converted to BL type to produce the BL 8-inch howitzer Mk V. [11] Four entered service in December 1915 and 59 followed in 1916. [12]

Italian naval service

The Elswick export designation for guns sold to Italy and Japan was Pattern Z and Pattern Z1. In Italian service they were known as Cannone da 152/40 A Modello 1891. These guns armed armoured cruisers, ironclads, pre-dreadnought battleships, protected cruisers and scout cruisers of the Regia Marina. They served aboard Regia Marina ships in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I.

Japanese naval service

Type 41 6-inch (152 mm)/40 naval gun on Japanese battleship Mikasa Mikasa 6-inch gun.jpg
Type 41 6-inch (152 mm)/40 naval gun on Japanese battleship Mikasa

The Type 41 naval gun was designed by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, England as a slightly modified version of the Elswick Ordnance Company QF pattern 6-inch (150 mm) guns used on contemporary Royal Navy battleships. The Elswick export designation for guns sold to Italy and Japan was Pattern Z and Pattern Z1. They were the standard secondary armament on pre-dreadnought battleships and the main battery on several classes of armoured cruisers and protected cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. They served aboard Japanese ships in the First Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War and World War I.

The gun was officially designated as “Type 41” from the 41st year of the reign of Emperor Meiji on 25 December 1908. It was further re-designated in centimetres on 5 October 1917 as part of the standardisation process for the Imperial Japanese Navy converting to the metric system.

The Type 41 6-inch (150 mm) gun fired a 100-pound (45.4 kg) shell with either an armour piercing, high explosive or general purpose warhead. An anti-submarine shell of 113-pound (51.3 kg) was developed and in service from 1943.

Romanian naval service

Three guns were mounted on each of the two Romanian Aquila-class scout cruisers, Mărăști and Mărășești . However, the two warships were reclassified as destroyers upon commissioning, [13] despite retaining the 6-inch guns for the years to come, thus making the gun the heaviest artillery piece ever mounted on a pre-Cold War destroyer.

US service

Gun relocated from Fort Dade to Fort DeSoto, Florida Fort Desoto06.jpg
Gun relocated from Fort Dade to Fort DeSoto, Florida

These guns were adopted in very limited quantity by the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps as part of the Endicott period fortifications, and were initially mounted 1898–1907. They were acquired in 1898 due to the outbreak of the Spanish–American War. It was feared that the Spanish fleet would bombard US ports, and most of the Endicott forts were still years from completion. So the 6-inch guns, along with 34 4.7-inch Armstrong guns and 21 8-inch M1888 guns on 1870s carriages, were acquired to quickly arm some forts with modern quick-firing guns. They were designated as "6-inch Armstrong guns" and mounted on pedestals in US service, and appear to have been withdrawn from service by 1925. A total of nine guns were mounted in one-, two-, or three-gun batteries, with four of the nine transferred to Hawaii 1913–1917. Eight guns were initially at Fort Williams (Maine) (1), Fort Greble, Rhode Island (1), Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, NY (2), Fort Moultrie, Charleston, South Carolina (1), Fort Screven, Tybee Island, Georgia (1), and Fort Dade, Tampa Bay, FL (2). [14] The guns at Fort Greble and Fort Moultrie were dismounted in 1903-04. In 1907 three guns were mounted at Fort Adams, Rhode Island, probably the two dismounted guns plus one either newly acquired or from spares. The four guns from Fort Williams and Fort Adams were transferred to Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as Batteries Adair and Boyd beginning in 1913. The two from Fort Dade survive at Fort DeSoto near St. Petersburg, Florida. Their battery at Fort Dade has succumbed to tide action over the years. [15] [16] [17]

Surviving examples

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Notes

  1. Mk I, II and III = Marks 1, 2 and 3. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of service ordnance until after the Second World War. This article describes the first three models of Royal Navy 6-inch QF guns.

Related Research Articles

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BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun naval artillery

The BL 6-inch gun Mark VII was a British naval gun dating from 1899, which was mounted on a heavy traveling carriage in 1915 for British Army service to become one of the main heavy field guns in the First World War, and also served as one of the main coast defence guns throughout the British Empire until the 1950s.

QF 4.7-inch Mk I – IV naval gun family of British quick-firing 4.724-inch naval and coast defence guns

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BL 9.2-inch railway gun

The British Ordnance BL 9.2 inch gun on truck, railway mounted a variety of surplus 9.2 inch naval guns, together with the custom-designed Mk XIII railway gun, on various railway platforms to provide mobile long-range heavy artillery on the Western Front in World War I. Mk XIII remained in service for British home defence in World War II.

QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun naval artillery

The QF 12-pounder 12-cwt gun was a common, versatile 3-inch (76.2 mm) calibre naval gun introduced in 1894 and used until the middle of the 20th century. It was produced by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick and used on Royal Navy warships, exported to allied countries, and used for land service. In British service "12-pounder" was the rounded value of the projectile weight, and "12 cwt (hundredweight)" was the weight of the barrel and breech, to differentiate it from other "12-pounder" guns.

QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss family of light 57 mm naval guns

The Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and Mk II or QF 6 pounder 8 cwt were a family of long-lived light 57 mm naval guns introduced in 1885 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. There were many variants produced, often under license which ranged in length from 40 to 58 calibers, but 40 caliber was the most common version.

Armstrong Whitworth 12-inch 40-calibre naval gun naval gun

The Armstrong Whitworth 12-inch naval gun of 40 calibres length was designed by and manufactured mainly by Armstrong's ordnance branch, Elswick Ordnance Company. It was intended for the Royal Navy's Royal Sovereign-class battleships, but budgetary constraints delayed their introduction. The first units were instead supplied to Japan. As the Type 41 12-inch (305 mm) 40-calibre naval gun it was the standard main battery on several early United Kingdom-built pre-dreadnought battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

QF 12-pounder 18 cwt naval gun

The QF 12 pounder 18 cwt gun was a 3-inch high-velocity naval gun used to equip larger British warships such as battleships for defence against torpedo boats. 18 cwt referred to the weight of gun and breech, to differentiate the gun from others that also fired the "12 pound" shell.

A quick-firing gun is an artillery piece, typically a gun or howitzer, which has several characteristics which taken together mean the weapon can fire at a fast rate. Quick-firing was introduced worldwide in the 1880s and 1890s and had a marked impact on war both on land and at sea.

BL 12-inch Mk I – VII naval gun

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BL 9.2-inch Mk I – VII naval gun

The BL 9.2-inch Mk I–VII guns were a family of early British heavy breechloading naval and coast defence guns in service from 1881 to the end of World War I. They were originally designed to use the old gunpowder propellants.

BL 6-inch Mk II – VI naval gun naval artillery

The BL 6-inch gun Marks II, III, IV and VI were the second and subsequent generations of British 6-inch rifled breechloading naval guns, designed by the Royal Gun Factory in the 1880s following the first 6-inch breechloader, the relatively unsuccessful BL 6-inch 80-pounder gun designed by Elswick Ordnance. They were originally designed to use the old gunpowder propellants but from the mid-1890s onwards were adapted to use the new cordite propellant. They were superseded on new warships by the QF 6-inch gun from 1891.

BL 10-inch Mk I – IV naval gun naval artillery

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BL 8-inch Mk I – VII naval gun naval artillery

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BL 4-inch Mk VII naval gun

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.

BL 6-inch gun Mk V

The BL 6 inch gun Mk V was an early Elswick Ordnance Company breech-loading naval gun originally designed to use the old gunpowder propellants. They were used for coast defence around the British Empire.

BL 5-inch gun Mk I – V

The BL 5-inch guns Mk I – Mk V were early British 5-inch rifled breechloading naval guns after it switched from rifled muzzle-loaders in the late 1870s. They were originally designed to use the old gunpowder propellants. The 5-inch calibre was soon discontinued in favour of QF 4.7-inch.

EOC 14-inch 45-calibre naval gun

The BL 14 inch 45 calibre gun were various similar naval guns designed and manufactured by Elswick Ordnance Company to equip ships that Armstrong-Whitworth built and/or armed for several countries before World War I.

The QF 14-pounder Mk I & II was a 3-inch high-velocity naval gun used to equip battleships for defence against torpedo boats. It was produced for export by Elswick Ordnance Company and Vickers, Sons and Maxim. In Royal Navy service they were modified to use the standard 12-pounder shell, while the Italian Regia Marina used the original 14-pounder shells.

The 15 cm/45 41st Year Type was a British naval gun designed by the Elswick Ordnance Company for export in the years before World War I that armed warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. These guns served aboard Japanese ships during World War I and as coastal artillery during World War II.

References

  1. 2154 ft/second in British service firing 100 lb (45 kg) projectile, using 13 lb 4 oz (6.0 kg) Cordite size 30 propellant, at 60 °F (16 °C). 1,882 ft/s (574 m/s) using 27 lb 12 oz (12.6 kg) gunpowder propellant. From Text Book of Gunnery, 1902.
  2. Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 140.
  3. Hall, D.D. (1978-06-03). "THE NAVAL GUNS IN NATAL 1899–1902". Military History Journal. The South African Military History Society. 4 (3). ISSN   0026-4016 . Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  4. Burne 1902, Chapter II
  5. Bridgland 1998, Page 126-128
  6. Burne 1902 Chapter V
  7. Major D Hall, The South African Military History Society. Military History Journal - Vol 2 No 2 December 1971. "Guns in South Africa 1899–1902 Part III and IV"
  8. Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 140
  9. Farndale 1988, page 398 - 404
  10. Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 206.
  11. Mk V howitzer used QF Mk II barrels converted to BL (total of 63). Details from Clarke 2005, page 34, and Tony DiGiulian's website Britain 6"/40 (15.2 cm) QF Marks I, II and III
  12. National Archives MUN5/373/9227
  13. Revista istorică, Volumul 15, Edițiile 1-2, Institutul, 2004, p. 221 (in Romanian)
  14. Congressional serial set, 1900, Report of the Commission on the Conduct of the War with Spain, Vol. 7, pp. 3778-3780, Washington: Government Printing Office
  15. Berhow, pp. 92–93
  16. US fort and battery list at the Coast Defense Study Group
  17. FortWiki (Fort Williams, Fort Adams, Fort Wadsworth, Fort Dade, and Fort Screven entries)

Bibliography