BL 6 inch Mk XI naval gun
| BL 6 inch gun Mk XI | |
|---|---|
| 300px Gunnery exercise on HMAS Melbourne circa. 1913 | |
| Type | Naval gun Coast defence gun |
| Place of origin |  United Kingdom
|
| Service history | |
| In service | 1906 - 1950s |
| Wars | World War I World War II |
| Production history | |
| Variants | Mk XI |
| Specifications | |
| Barrel length | 300 inches (7.620 m) bore (50 cal) |
| | |
| Shell | 100 pounds (45.36 kg) Lyddite, Armour-piercing, Shrapnel[1] |
| Calibre | 6 inches (152.4 mm) |
| Muzzle velocity | 2,900 feet per second (884 m/s)[2] |
| Maximum range | 18,000 yards (16,000 m) @ 22.5°[3] |
The BL 6 inch Gun Mark XI was a British 50 calibres high-velocity naval gun which was mounted as primary armament on cruisers and secondary armament on pre-dreadnought battleships. A number of other very similar 6-inch 50-calibre guns found their way into temporary British service in World War I and are also included here.
Contents
6-inch Mark XI gun
History
The gun with its increased length of 50 calibres gave improved firepower over the current 6-inch Mk VII gun of 45 calibres. However, its increased length and weight made it unwieldy in the current manually-operated shipboard mountings on light cruisers, which did not provide a steady platform. Britain reverted to 45-calibres guns in new warships from 1914 onwards with the BL 6 inch Mk XII gun.
Guns were mounted in the following ships :
- The last 3 King Edward VII class battleships Britannia, Africa and Hibernia laid down 1902 - 1904
- Armoured cruisers: HMS Duke of Edinburgh and Black Prince laid down 1903
- Bristol class light cruisers laid down 1909
- Weymouth class cruisers laid down 1910
- Chatham and Sydney class light cruisers laid down 1911
- Birmingham class light cruisers laid down 1912
- Monitor HMS Marshal Ney as re-gunned in 1918
Coast defence gun
The Mk XI gun was emplaced for coast defence in South Africa and particularly in Australia leading up to World War II, and remained in service until the 1950s. Guns in Australia came from the decommissioned World War I cruisers HMAS Sydney, HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Brisbane and were emplaced in northern Australia and Torres Strait to defend against possible attack by Japan[4][5], and also on Rottnest Island WA, Brisbane and the Sydney harbour[6] and Port Kembla[7] defences.
When World War I began, Elswick were completing the battleship Sultan Osman I for Turkey, originally begun as Rio de Janeiro for Brazil. Its secondary armament consisted of 20 of Elswick's 6-inch 50 calibre guns, which were very similar in design and characteristics to the British naval service Mk XI gun and used the same ammunition. The battleship was completed as HMS Agincourt and served in the Royal Navy in World War I, with its guns designated BL 6 inch Mk XIII.
After the decommissioning of Agincourt in 1921 her 6-inch guns were used for coastal defence, and in 1939 the British gunboats Aphis and Ladybird each had their 2 6-inch Mk VII guns replaced with 2 MK XIII guns, in which capacity they served in World War II.
When World War I began, the Royal Navy had just taken possession of 3 river monitors originally built by Vickers for Brazil but which Brazil could not pay for. These were each equipped with 2 Vickers 6-inch 50-calibre guns in a twin turret, and became the Humber class monitors. These guns were very similar to the British service Mk XI gun, and in UK service they were designated BL 6 inch Mk XIV (right-hand gun, with breech opening to the right) and BL 6 inch Mk XV (left-hand gun, with breech opening to the left). HMS Humber continued to use various refurbished guns throughout the war for coastal bombardment.
See also
- 12px Media related to BL 6 inch Mk XI naval gun at Wikimedia Commons
- List of naval guns
Surviving examples
- RGF gun No. 2035 of 1905, and 1 other gun at Malgaskop, Saldanha Bay, South Africa
- VSM gun No. 2305 of 1912 formerly at Port Wakefield Proof Range, north of Adelaide, and since 2006 at B42 gun emplacement at Lower Georges Heights, Sydney Australia[8]
- A coast defence gun at East Point Military museum, Darwin, Australia
- EOC gun at Leighton Battery, Fremantle, Western Australia
Notes
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- Tony DiGiulian, British 6"/50 (15.2 cm) BL Mark XIII
- Tony DiGiulian, Britain 6"/50 (15.2 cm) BL Mark XIV 6"/50 (15.2 cm) BL Mark XV
- David Spethman, "The Garrison Guns of Australia 1788 - 1962", published by Ron H Mortensen, Inala QLD 2008. ISBN 978 0 9775990 8 0
External links
- Tony DiGiulian, British 6"/50 (15.2 cm) BL Marks XI and XI*
- ↑ 100 lb shells : Treatise on Ammunition, 1915
- ↑ 2900 ft/second : As quoted in "Range Tables for His Majesty's Fleet, 1910. February, 1911"; with 32 lb 1½ oz cordite MD size 26 propellant : Treatise on Ammunition, 1915
- ↑ 18,000 yards @ 22.5° elevation as coast defence gun, quoted by Spethman, 2008. Guns in naval use had lower elevation and hence shorter range.
- ↑ Vanessa Seekee, "Artillery in Torres Strait 1891 - 1945: the silent forgotten sentinels of the north" in Memoirs of the Queensland Museum Cultural Heritage series, Volume 4 Part 1, November 2006
- ↑ For photograph of gun at Emery Point, Darwin 1934 see ID Number: P02024.026 at Australian War Memorial photo archive
- ↑ For photograph of gun at Signal Hill 1946 see ID Number: 129982 at Australian War Memorial photo archive
- ↑ See The Diary and Journal of General Sir John G. N. Wilton, Royal Australian Army 1910 - 1977
- ↑ http://www.harbourtrust.gov.au/downloads/acrobat/media/mrcoastalgun.pdf
