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Ordnance RML 64 pounder 58 cwt gun (converted) | |
---|---|
Type | Coast defence gun |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | 1870–1902 |
Used by | British Army British Colonies |
Production history | |
Designer | Lt Col William Dundas |
Designed | 1847 |
Manufacturer | Royal Gun Factory |
Variants | One mark only |
Specifications | |
Mass | 6,496 pounds (2,947 kg) |
Barrel length | 103.27 inches (2.623 m) (bore) [1] |
Shell | 64 pounds (29.03 kg) |
Calibre | 6.3-inch (160.0 mm) |
Carriage | Garrison carriage |
Muzzle velocity | 1,230 feet per second (370 m/s) [2] |
Sights | Centre sighted |
The RML 64-pounder 58 cwt guns (converted) were British rifled muzzle-loading guns converted from obsolete smoothbore 32-pounder 58 cwt guns. [note 1]
When Britain adopted rifled ordnance in the 1860s it still had large stocks of serviceable but now obsolete smoothbore guns. Gun barrels were expensive to manufacture, so the best and most recent models were selected for conversion to rifled guns, for use as second-line ordnance, using a technique designed by William Palliser. The Palliser conversion was based on what was accepted as a sound principle that the strongest material in the barrel construction should be innermost, and hence a new tube of stronger wrought iron was inserted in the old cast iron barrel, rather than attempting to reinforce the old barrel from the outside. [1]
This gun was based on the cast-iron barrel of the Dundas Pattern 32-pounder 58 cwt gun, which previously fired a 32-pound solid shot. [3] The gun was bored out to 10.5 inches and a new built-up wrought iron inner tube with inner diameter of 6.29 inches was inserted and fastened in place. The gun was then rifled with 3 grooves, with a uniform twist of 1 turn in 40 calibres (i.e. 1 turn in 252 inches), and proof fired. The proof firing also served to expand the new tube slightly and ensure a tight fit in the old iron tube. [1]
The 64-pounder used three types of ammunition. This ammunition was common to the other natures of 64 pounder gun - the 71 cwt converted gun and the 64 cwt gun. Although many guns were sited on coastal artillery positions, their effectiveness again armour of heavily armoured ships was limited. Common shell could be used against buildings or fortifications, shrapnel shell (for use any Infantry or Cavalry) and case shot (for close range use against 'soft' targets. Ignition was through a copper lined vent at the breech end of the gun. A copper friction tube would be inserted and a lanyard attached. When the lanyard was pulled the tube would ignite, firing the gun. [4] A number of different fuzes could be used enabling shells to either burst at a pre-determined time (and range), or on impact.
Guns were fired using a silk bag containing a black powder propellant. A typical rate of fire was one round every three minutes.
This nature of gun was designed for both land and sea service, though for the latter it was increasingly obsolete not long after introduction. It was used widely all across the British Empire.
It did see Naval Service (NS) with the Naval Forces of the Colony of Victoria in Australia aboard the ex Ship-of-the-Line Nelson. To maintain maximum capability the gunners aboard the Nelson were drilled for both Smooth Bore and Rifled ammunition, and so the guns retained the original Millar Pattern sights as well as having one set of R.M.L. sights placed to the right of the centre line - otherwise the sighting arrangement normally used in British service was a single set of R.M.L. sights on the centre line. The mountings used on this vessel were Wood Naval Standing Carriages.
The gun mountings for coast defence in both British and colonial locations varied enormously. Carriages in both wood and iron varied in complexity – from a simple wooden garrison carriage, right through to some guns mounted on Moncrieff Disappearing gun carriages. Some, such as the depressing type carriages at Gibraltar were unique to their location. Some mountings were designed on mountings which provided some protection for their crews. Many were mounted on wooden garrison carriages on open platforms and were used for gun drill, as well as range practice.
They became obsolete for coast artillery use in 1902, whereupon many were scrapped and disposed of.
The Armstrong RBL 7-inch gun, also known as the 110-pounder, was a heavy caliber Armstrong gun, an early type of rifled breechloader.
The Ordnance RML 7-pounder Mk IV "Steel Gun" was a British rifled muzzle-loading mountain gun. 7-pounder referred to the approximate weight of the shell it fired.
The Ordnance BL 12-pounder 7cwt was the British Army's field gun which succeeded the RML 13-pounder 8 cwt in 1885.
The Armstrong RBL 40-pounder gun was introduced into use in 1860 for service on both land and sea. It used William Armstrong's new and innovative rifled breechloading mechanism. It remained in use until 1902 when replaced by more modern Breech Loading (BL) guns.
The Armstrong Breech Loading 20-pounder gun, later known as RBL 20-pounder, was an early modern 3.75-inch rifled breech-loading light gun of 1859.
The RML 64-pounder 64 cwt gun is a Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) naval, field or fortification artillery gun manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately 64 pounds (29 kg). "64 cwt" refers to the gun's weight rounded up to differentiate it from other "64-pounder" guns.
The RML 9-inch guns Mark I – Mark VI were large rifled muzzle-loading guns of the 1860s used as primary armament on smaller British ironclad battleships and secondary armament on larger battleships, and also ashore for coast defence. It should not be confused with the RML 9-inch Armstrong Gun, used by the Dutch navy, the Spanish Navy, and other navies.
The RML 64-pounder 71 cwt guns (converted) were British rifled muzzle-loading guns converted from obsolete smoothbore 8-inch 65 cwt shell guns in the 1860s-1870s.
The RML 12.5-inch guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns designed for British battleships and were also employed for coast defence.
RML 11-inch 25-ton guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns used as primary armament on British battleships and for coastal defence. They were effectively the same gun as the RML 12-inch 25-ton gun, bored to 11 inches instead of 12.
The 68-pounder cannon was an artillery piece designed and used by the British Armed Forces in the mid-19th century. The cannon was a smoothbore muzzle-loading gun manufactured in several weights, the most common being 95 long cwt (4,800 kg), and fired projectiles of 68 lb (31 kg). Colonel William Dundas designed the 112 cwt version in 1841 and it was cast the following year. The most common variant, weighing 95 cwt, dates from 1846. It entered service with the Royal Artillery and the Royal Navy and saw active service with both arms during the Crimean War. Over 2,000 were made and it gained a reputation as the finest smoothbore cannon ever made.
The RML 7-inch guns were various designs of medium-sized rifled muzzle-loading guns used to arm small to medium-sized British warships in the late 19th century, and some were used ashore for coast defence.
The SBBL 32-pounder was a British smooth-bore breech loading gun made by converting older 32-pounder 42 cwt smooth-bore muzzle-loading guns.
The RML 40-pounder gun was a British rifled muzzle-loading siege and fortification gun designed in 1871. It was intended to supersede the RBL 40-pounder Armstrong gun after the British military reverted to rifled muzzle-loading artillery until a more satisfactory breech-loading system than that of the Armstrong guns was developed.
The ML 8-inch shell guns of 50 cwt, 54 cwt and 65 cwt were the three variants of British cast iron smoothbore muzzle-loading guns designed specifically to fire the new generation of exploding shells pioneered in the early to mid-nineteenth century by Henri-Joseph Paixhans.
The RML 9-pounder 8 cwt gun and the RML 9-pounder 6 cwt gun were British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) field, horse and naval artillery guns manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately 9 pounds (4.1 kg). "8 cwt" and "6 cwt" refers to the weight of the gun to differentiate it from other 9-pounder guns.
The RML 16-pounder 12 cwt gun was a British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) field artillery gun manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately 16 pounds (7.3 kg). "12 cwt" refers to the weight of the gun.
The RML 8-inch howitzer was a British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) Howitzer manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately 180 pounds (82 kg). It was used in siege batteries and in fortifications.
The RML 13-pounder 8 cwt gun was a British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) field artillery gun manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately 13 pounds (5.9 kg). "8 cwt" refers to the weight of the gun.
Brownhill Battery is a former gun battery at Staddon Heights, Plymouth, Devon. It was one of a number of Plymouth fortifications to be recommended by the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom in 1859. Construction began in 1861, at the same time as Staddon Fort and other defensive works at Staddon Heights. The battery was completed by 1868, but was left unarmed.