BL 4 inch Mk IX naval gun

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Ordnance BL 4 inch gun Mk IX
300px
Crewman and gun on Flower class corvette HMCS Kenogami circa. 1944 - 1945
Type Naval gun
Service history
In service 1916 - 1945
Used by 30px Royal Navy
30px Royal Canadian Navy

30pxFree French Navy
30pxHellenic Navy
30px
NetherlandsNetherlands Navy
30pxNew Zealand Navy
File:Flag of Norway, state.svgNorwegian Navy
30pxSouth African Navy

Wars World War I
World War II
Specifications
Weight 2 tons barrel & breech[1]
Barrel length 180 inches (4.572 m) bore (45 calibres)

Shell 31 pounds (14 kg)
Calibre 4 inches (101.6 mm)
Muzzle velocity 800 metres per second (2,600 ft/s)[1]
Maximum range 12,660 metres (13,850 yd)[1]

The BL 4-inch gun Mk IX was a British medium-velocity naval gun introduced in 1916 as secondary armament on the Renown class battlecruisers and Glorious class "large light cruisers".

History

File:HMS Repulse 1916-1917 Firth of Forth NH47372 clip.jpg
Original aft triple mounts on Repulse circa. 1916 - 1917
File:BL 4 inch Mk IX gun St Essylt 1942 AWM 023664.jpeg
Cleaning the breech on transport St Essylt, Suez 1942

The gun was based on the barrel of the QF 4 inch Mk V and the breech mechanism of the BL 4 inch Mk VIII [2] and was first introduced in World War I on capital ships as secondary armament in triple-gun mountings, intended to provide rapid concentrated fire. This turned out to be unworkable in practice : Jane's Fighting Ships of 1919 commented : "4-inch triples are clumsy and not liked. They are not mounted in one sleeve ; have separate breech mechanism : gun crew of 23 to each triple"[3]. Guns were thereafter used in single-gun mountings, typically on smaller ships as primary armament.

In World War II the gun was employed on many small warships such as Flower class corvettes and minesweepers, primarily for attack and defence against submarines.

This was the last BL 4 inch gun in British service: all subsequent guns have used charges in solid cartridges "QF".

Surviving examples

See also

Notes

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References

External links


Template:GreatWarBritishNavalWeapons Template:WWIIBritishCommNavalWeapons

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/77826x53535/8330/a0.htm
  2. DiGiulian
  3. Jane's Fighting Ships 1919, page 62