BL 6 inch Mk XII naval gun
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| BL 6 inch gun Mk XII | |
|---|---|
| 300px Starboard forward casemate gun on HMS Warspite after the Battle of Jutland | |
| Type | Naval gun |
| Place of origin |  United Kingdom
|
| Service history | |
| In service | 1914 - 1945 |
| Used by | British Empire |
| Wars | World War I World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Vickers |
| Designed | 1913 |
| Manufacturer | Vickers |
| Number built | 463 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 15,512 pounds (7,036 kg) barrel & breech[1] |
| Barrel length | 270 inches (6.858 m) bore (45 cal)[2] |
| | |
| Shell | 100 pounds (45.36 kg) Lyddite, Armour-piercing, Shrapnel[3] |
| Calibre | 6 inches (152.4 mm) |
| Recoil | Hydro-spring, 16.5 inches (420 mm)[6] |
| Elevation | -7° - 30°[7] |
| Muzzle velocity | 2,825 feet per second (861 m/s)[4] |
| Maximum range | 19,660 metres (21,500 yd)[5] |
The BL 6 inch Gun Mark XII was a British 45 calibres naval gun which was mounted as primary armament on light cruisers and secondary armament on dreadnought battleships.
Contents
History
File:HMS Warspite No 7 6 inch gun after Jutland.jpg No. 7 gun, starboard upper deck of HMS Warspite, June 1916 after the Battle of Jutland
File:HMAS Adelaide 6 inch gun crew 1939 AWM 000055.jpeg Gunners wearing gas masks load a gun on HMAS Adelaide, October 1939. The man at left carries a cordite cartridge, still in its storage case, on his right shoulder
It superseded the 45-calibres Mk VII gun and the longer 50-calibres Mk XI gun which had proved unwieldy in light cruisers due to its length, and was Britain's most modern 6-inch naval gun when World War I began.
Guns were mounted in the following ships :
- Birmingham class light cruisers laid down 1912, commissioned 1914
- Arethusa class light cruisers laid down 1912, commissioned 1914
- C class light cruisers of 1914
- M29 class monitors of 1915
- Queen Elizabeth class battleships laid down 1912, commissioned 1915
- Revenge class battleships laid down 1913, commissioned 1916
- Destroyer leader HMS Swift as re-gunned in 1917
- Danae (or "D") class light cruisers completed 1918 - 1919
- Monitors HMS Raglan and HMS Abercrombie from 1918
- Emerald (or "E") class light cruisers laid down 1918, commissioned 1926
Notable actions
- Ordinary Seaman John Henry Carless was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for heroism in serving his gun on HMS Caledon during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight on 17 November 1917.
See also
- 15 cm Schnelladekanone L/45 German equivalent
- List of naval guns
Surviving examples
- On monitor HMS M33 at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, UK
Notes
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- "Handbook For The 6-inch Breech Loading Mark XII. Gun" G.21117/17. Admiralty, Gunnery Branch, 1917.
External links
| 40x40px | Wikimedia Commons has media related to BL 6 inch naval gun Mk XII. |
- Tony DiGiulian, British 6"/45 (15.2 cm) BL Mark XII and Mark XX
Template:GreatWarBritishNavalWeapons Template:WWIIBritishCommNavalWeapons
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- ↑ Handbook, 1917, Page 5
- ↑ Handbook, 1917, Page 7
- ↑ 100 lb shells : Treatise on Ammunition, 1915
- ↑ 2,825 feet per second using 27 lb 2 oz cordite MD size 19 propellant was the figure used in range tables. New guns were quoted with a muzzle velocity of 2,845 feet per second. Handbook, 1917, Page 5
- ↑ Handbook, 1917, Page 6, 23-26
- ↑ 30° elevation was possible with P.XIII mountings used on light cruisers; 20° elevation was possible on some P.VII* mountings used on light cruisers; 14° elevation was possible with P.IX mountings used on battleships; 15° was possible with P.VII mountings used on light cruisers. Handbook, 1917, Pages 5, 31, 41, Plates 6, 24, 35
