RML 8-inch 9-ton gun | |
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Gundeck of HMS Northumberland | |
Type | Naval gun Coast defence gun |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | 1866–190? |
Used by | Royal Navy |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Royal Arsenal |
Unit cost | £568 |
Variants | Mk I – Mk III |
Specifications | |
Mass | 9 long tons (9.1 t) |
Barrel length | 118 inches (3.0 m) bore + chamber |
Shell | 174 pounds 12 ounces (79.3 kg) |
Calibre | 8-inch (203.2 mm) |
Muzzle velocity | 1,420 feet per second (430 m/s) |
The British RML 8-inch 9-ton guns Mark I – Mark III were medium rifled muzzle-loading guns used to arm smaller ironclad warships and coast defence batteries in the later 19th century.
Design
In common with other Royal Ordnance RML designs of the 1860s, Mark I used the strong but expensive Armstrong system of a steel tube surrounded by a complex system of multiple wrought-iron coils, which was progressively simplified in Marks II and III to reduce costs : Mark III consisted only of A tube, B tube, breech coil and cascabel screw.
Rifling was of the "Woolwich" pattern of a small number of broad shallow grooves: 4 grooves with twist increasing from 0 to 1 turn in 40 calibres (i.e. in 320 in (810 cm)) at the muzzle.
Ammunition
The ammunition was mainly studded, with the studs engaging in the Woolwich rifling grooves. However, a studless pointed common shell with automatic gas-check also became available later in the gun's life.
See also
Surviving examples
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Notes and references
- Unit cost of £567 12 shillings 10 pence is quoted in "The British Navy" Volume II, 1882, by Sir Thomas Brassey. Page 38
- Text Book of Gunnery 1887 Table XVI page 313
- 174 lb 12 oz projectile. Text Book of Gunnery 1887 Table XVI page 313
- 1,420 feet/second firing 174-pound 12-oz projectile . Text Book of Gunnery 1887 Table XVI page 313
- Mark I – Mark III = Mark 1 through to Mark 3. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Hence this article describes the three models of RML 8-inch guns.
- Gas-checks in British RML heavy guns
Bibliography
- Text Book of Gunnery, 1887. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE Archived 2012-12-04 at archive.today
- Sir Thomas Brassey, The British Navy, Volume II. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1882
External links
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