BL 4.7 inch /45 naval gun

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BL 4.7 inch (120 mm) 45 calibre naval gun
File:HMAS Stuart Bow 1944 AWM 301350.jpg
"B" gun on HMAS Stuart, 1944
Type Naval gun
Service history
In service 1918 - 1945
Used by  United Kingdom
Wars World War I World War II
Production history
Designed 1917
Variants Mk I, Mk II
Specifications
Barrel length 5.4 metres (213 in) bore (45 calibres)

Shell 50 pounds (22.68 kg)[1]
Calibre 120 millimetres (4.724 in)
Muzzle velocity 814 metres per second (2,670 ft/s)[2]
Maximum range 14,450 metres (15,800 yd)[3]

The BL 4.7 inch 45 calibres gun (actually a metric 120 mm gun) was a British medium-velocity naval gun introduced in 1918 for destroyers, to counter a new generation of heavily-armed destroyers Germany was believed to be developing.

Description and History

Mk I, of built-up wire-wound construction, went into service beginning in 1918 on destroyers of the new Admiralty type destroyer leader (Scott class) and Thornycroft type leader (Shakespeare class). Some saw service in World War I, but most entered service after the war ended.

It was also mounted on :

Mk II was a monobloc-barrel (i.e single-piece, typical of WWII guns) gun of similar performance introduced in World War II to replace the worn-out Mk I guns on surviving ships.

These were the only BL-type 4.7 inch guns in British service, all others have been of the QF-type.

Surviving examples

See also

Notes

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References

External links


Template:GreatWarBritishNavalWeapons Template:WWIIBritishCommNavalWeapons

  1. DiGiulian
  2. Mk I : 814 m/sec : http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/72400x53535/8330/a0.htm
  3. Mk I : 14450 metres : http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/72400x53535/8330/a0.htm