Elswick 6 inch naval gun
Encyclopedia
The QF 6 inch 40 calibre naval gun was used by many United Kingdom
-built warships around the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century.
In UK service it was known as the QF 6 inch Mk I, II, III guns.
As the Type 41 6-inch (152 mm)/40-caliber naval gun it was used for pre-dreadnought
battleships and armoured cruisers of the early Imperial Japanese Navy
built in UK and in European shipyards.
These guns were developed to exploit the new "QF" technology, which involved loading the propellant charge in a brass case with primer in its base. The brass case also sealed the breech, allowing a lighter mechanism. This was presumed to allow a faster rate of fire than the older "Breech Loading" system, where the propellant was loaded in cloth bags and then a separate friction or percussion tube fitted into the breech for firing. The QF principle had proved successful with the much smaller QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss
and Nordenfelt QF 3 and 6 pounders from 1885 onwards.
The Mk I was an Elswick gun of built up construction
. Mk II was built by Woolwich Arsenal
and in 1891 became the first Royal Navy gun using the Armstrong wire-wound construction. The breech mechanisms were developed from the existing 6 inches (152.4 mm) BL mechanisms, but as it no longer had to provide obturation (sealing of the breech), the front was made coned rather than straight which allowed it to be swung round to the side before it was fully withdrawn, rather than having to be fully withdrawn before swinging to the side as with the BL gun..
Mk III was built by Elswick and was similar to Mk I except that it had trunnions which allowed it to be deployed on the remaining obsolescent but still in service Vavasseur recoil mountings. All 3 Marks had the same dimensions and performance.
As the QF 6 inch Mk I, Mk II and Mk III, the gun was used as secondary armament of pre-dreadnoughts of the 1890s and cruisers to 1905. On the armoured cruisers of the Diadem
, Powerful
and Edgar
classes they made up most of the armament, though the latter class carried two 9.2 inches (233.7 mm) guns as well. The pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Sovereign
(including the turreted Hood
), Centurion
, Majestic
and Canopus
classes carried up to 12 guns.
During the Second Boer War
one gun was brought ashore from HMS Terrible
in Natal
in February 1900 at the request of General Buller
, presumably in response to the failure at Colenso
. It was mounted on an improvised field carriage by Captain Percy Scott
and transported by rail to Chieveley, just south of Colenso. There it was manned by Royal Navy gunners to provide useful fire support for the British Army
during the relief of Ladysmith
. It is reported on 17 February to have fired from "Gun Hill" (a small kopje 2 two miles (3 km) north of Chieveley) and knocked out a Boer gun at 16500 yards (15,087.6 m), followed by a Boer searchlight, as Buller approached Ladysmith from the South East and pushed the Boers back towards the Tugela river. On 26 February Lieutenant Burne reports firing from the same position on a Boer gun at 15000 yards (13,716 m) at 28° elevation and falling 200 yards (182.9 m) short. The 7 ton weight (compared to the 2½ tons of the Boer 155 mm "Long Tom") meant that it was effectively immobile on the battlefield and could not be moved forward to shorten the range.
Two guns were also mounted on armoured train
s, crewed by Royal Garrison Artillery
men.
Nineteen guns were still active in the defence of the UK as at April 1918 : Jersey
(2), Guernsey
(2), Alderney
(2), Shoeburyness
(2), Blyth (2), Clyde
Garrison (1), Mersey
(2), Berehaven Garrison (Bantry Bay
, Ireland) (6).
At least one gun is known to have been mounted by the Royal Navy on an improvised anti-aircraft mounting on a railway truck, defending the London docks during the First World War.
, and various obsolete 6-inch naval guns were converted to 8-inch howitzers. Sixty-three QF 6-inch Mk II guns were shortened, bored out to 8 inches (203 mm) and converted to BL type to produce the BL 8-inch howitzer Mk V
. Four entered service in December 1915 and 59 followed in 1916.
The Type 41 naval gun was designed by Armstrong Whitworth
, Elswick
, Newcastle upon Tyne
, England
as a slightly modified version of the Elswick Ordnance Company QF pattern 6 inches (152.4 mm) guns used on contemporary Royal Navy
battleships. It was the standard secondary armament
on early Japan battleships and the main battery
on several classes of armoured cruisers.
The gun was officially designated as “Type 41” from the 41st year of the reign of Emperor Meiji
on 25 December 1908. It was further re-designated in centimeters on 5 October 1917 as part of the standardization process for the Imperial Japanese Navy converting to the metric system
.
The Type 41 6 inches (152.4 mm) gun fired a 100 pounds (45.4 kg) shell with either an armour piercing
, high explosive
or general purpose warhead. An anti-submarine shell of 113 pounds (51.3 kg) was developed and in service from 1943.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-built warships around the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century.
In UK service it was known as the QF 6 inch Mk I, II, III guns.
As the Type 41 6-inch (152 mm)/40-caliber naval gun it was used for pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
battleships and armoured cruisers of the early Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
built in UK and in European shipyards.
QF technology
QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss
The QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss was a light 47-mm naval gun introduced in 1886 to defend against new small fast vessels such as torpedo boats, and later submarines...
and Nordenfelt QF 3 and 6 pounders from 1885 onwards.
The Mk I was an Elswick gun of built up construction
Built-up gun
The term built-up gun describes a construction technique for artillery barrels. An inner tube of metal which stretches most within its elastic limit enlarges under the pressure of confined powder gases to transmit stress to outer cylinders under tension...
. Mk II was built by Woolwich Arsenal
Royal Arsenal
The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, originally known as the Woolwich Warren, carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing and explosives research for the British armed forces. It was sited on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England.-Early history:The Warren...
and in 1891 became the first Royal Navy gun using the Armstrong wire-wound construction. The breech mechanisms were developed from the existing 6 inches (152.4 mm) BL mechanisms, but as it no longer had to provide obturation (sealing of the breech), the front was made coned rather than straight which allowed it to be swung round to the side before it was fully withdrawn, rather than having to be fully withdrawn before swinging to the side as with the BL gun..
Recoil system
The preceding generation of British 6-inch guns (Mks III, IV and VI) had old-style trunnions by which they were mounted on Vavasseur inclined slides to absorb recoil. QF Mk I and II dispensed with trunnions and instead on the lower side of the breech ring were lugs to which were attached modern recoil buffer and hydrospring recuperator (runout) cylinders to absorb recoil and return the barrel to loading position after firing. This allowed the gun to recoil directly backwards rather that backwards and upwards as previously, and is the recoil system which in essence is still in use.Mk III was built by Elswick and was similar to Mk I except that it had trunnions which allowed it to be deployed on the remaining obsolescent but still in service Vavasseur recoil mountings. All 3 Marks had the same dimensions and performance.
Royal Navy service
Diadem class cruiser
The Diadem class cruiser was a class of "First-Class" protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s that served in the First World War...
, Powerful
Powerful class cruiser
The Powerful class were first-class protected cruisers built for the British Royal Navy in the 1890s. There were two ships in the Powerful class, the lead ship Powerful and the Terrible.-Design:...
and Edgar
Edgar class cruiser
The Edgar-class was a nine-ship class of protected cruiser built around 1891 for the Royal Navy.-Design:Crescent and Royal Arthur were built to a slightly modified design with a raised forecastle and a pair of 6 inch guns replacing the forward 9.2 inch gun, and are sometimes considered a...
classes they made up most of the armament, though the latter class carried two 9.2 inches (233.7 mm) guns as well. The pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Sovereign
Royal Sovereign class battleship
The Royal Sovereign class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the British Royal Navy. The class comprised seven ships built to the same design: HMS Royal Sovereign, , HMS Ramilles, HMS Repulse, HMS Resolution, HMS Revenge, and HMS Royal Oak, and a half-sister built to a modified design: ....
(including the turreted Hood
HMS Hood (1891)
The second warship to be named HMS Hood was a modified Royal Sovereign-class battleship of the Royal Navy, and the last of the eight built. She differed from the Royal Sovereign class in that she had cylindrical gun turrets instead of barbettes, a lower freeboard and a higher metacentric height...
), Centurion
Centurion class battleship
The Centurion class battleships were second-class pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy designed for service on distant stations.-Description:...
, Majestic
Majestic class battleship
The Majestic class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships, built under the Spencer Programme of 8 December 1893, that sought to counter the growing naval strength of France and the Russian Empire...
and Canopus
Canopus class battleship
The Canopus class was a group of six pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy which were designed by Sir William White for use in the Far East and entered service between 1899 and 1902. The lead ship was which was followed by , , , and...
classes carried up to 12 guns.
Second Boer War land service
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
one gun was brought ashore from HMS Terrible
HMS Terrible (1895)
HMS Terrible was a ship of the Powerful-class of protected cruiser in the Royal Navy.-Terrible 1898 Trials:* 60 hours at 1/5 power 5084 ihp = * 68 hours at 2/5 power = * 60 hours at 3/5 power = * 60 hours at 3/4 power =...
in Natal
Colony of Natal
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...
in February 1900 at the request of General Buller
Redvers Buller
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller VC GCB GCMG was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
, presumably in response to the failure at Colenso
Battle of Colenso
The Battle of Colenso was the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War. It was fought between British and Boer forces from the independent South African Republic and Orange Free State in and around Colenso, Natal, South Africa on 15 December 1899.Inadequate...
. It was mounted on an improvised field carriage by Captain Percy Scott
Percy Scott
Admiral Sir Percy Moreton Scott, 1st Baronet GCB KCVO was a British Royal Navy officer and a pioneer in modern naval gunnery.-Early years:...
and transported by rail to Chieveley, just south of Colenso. There it was manned by Royal Navy gunners to provide useful fire support for the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
during the relief of Ladysmith
Relief of Ladysmith
When the Second Boer War broke out on 11 October 1899, the Boers had a numeric superiority within Southern Africa. They quickly invaded the British territory and laid siege to Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking...
. It is reported on 17 February to have fired from "Gun Hill" (a small kopje 2 two miles (3 km) north of Chieveley) and knocked out a Boer gun at 16500 yards (15,087.6 m), followed by a Boer searchlight, as Buller approached Ladysmith from the South East and pushed the Boers back towards the Tugela river. On 26 February Lieutenant Burne reports firing from the same position on a Boer gun at 15000 yards (13,716 m) at 28° elevation and falling 200 yards (182.9 m) short. The 7 ton weight (compared to the 2½ tons of the Boer 155 mm "Long Tom") meant that it was effectively immobile on the battlefield and could not be moved forward to shorten the range.
Two guns were also mounted on armoured train
Armoured train
An armoured train is a train protected with armour. They are usually equipped with railroad cars armed with artillery and machine guns. They were mostly used during the late 19th and early 20th century, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower...
s, crewed by Royal Garrison Artillery
Royal Garrison Artillery
The Royal Garrison Artillery was an arm of the Royal Artillery that was originally tasked with manning the guns of the British Empire's forts and fortresses, including coastal artillery batteries, the heavy gun batteries attached to each infantry division, and the guns of the siege...
men.
Coast defence gun
From 1894 a number of guns were adapted for coast defence use, with the original 3-motion breeches replaced by modern single-motion breeches to increase the rate of fire, which designated them as "B" guns.Nineteen guns were still active in the defence of the UK as at April 1918 : Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
(2), Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
(2), Alderney
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...
(2), Shoeburyness
Shoeburyness
Shoeburyness is a town in southeast Essex, England, situated at the mouth of the river Thames Estuary. It is within the borough of Southend-on-Sea, and is situated at the far east of the borough, around east of Southend town centre...
(2), Blyth (2), Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
Garrison (1), Mersey
Mersey
Mersey may refer to:* River Mersey, in northwest England* Mersea Island, off the coast of Essex in England * Mersey River in the Australian state* Electoral division of Mersey in the state of Tasmania, Australian...
(2), Berehaven Garrison (Bantry Bay
Bantry Bay
Bantry Bay is a bay located in County Cork, southwest Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km wide at the head and wide at the entrance....
, Ireland) (6).
World War I anti-aircraft gun
Conversion to 8 inch (203 mm) howitzer
In World War I Britain urgently needed heavy artillery on the Western FrontWestern Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
, and various obsolete 6-inch naval guns were converted to 8-inch howitzers. Sixty-three QF 6-inch Mk II guns were shortened, bored out to 8 inches (203 mm) and converted to BL type to produce the BL 8-inch howitzer Mk V
BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk 1 - 5
The BL 8-Inch Howitzer Mark I through to Mark V were a British improvisation developed early in the First World War to provide heavy artillery...
. Four entered service in December 1915 and 59 followed in 1916.
Japanese naval service
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
, Elswick
Elswick, Tyne and Wear
Elswick is a ward of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in the western part of the city, bordering the river Tyne. One of the earliest references to the coal mining industry of the north east occurs in 1330, when it was recorded that the Prior of Tynemouth let a colliery, called Heygrove, at...
, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as a slightly modified version of the Elswick Ordnance Company QF pattern 6 inches (152.4 mm) guns used on contemporary Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
battleships. It was the standard secondary armament
Battleship secondary armament
The secondary armament of a capital ship are smaller, faster-firing weapons that are typically effective at a shorter range than the main weapons...
on early Japan battleships and the main battery
Main battery
Generally used only in the terms of naval warfare, the main battery is the primary weapon around which a ship was designed. "Battery" is in itself a common term in the military science of artillery. For example, the United States Navy battleship USS Washington had a main battery of nine guns...
on several classes of armoured cruisers.
The gun was officially designated as “Type 41” from the 41st year of the reign of Emperor Meiji
Emperor Meiji
The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
on 25 December 1908. It was further re-designated in centimeters on 5 October 1917 as part of the standardization process for the Imperial Japanese Navy converting to the metric system
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
.
The Type 41 6 inches (152.4 mm) gun fired a 100 pounds (45.4 kg) shell with either an armour piercing
Armor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
, high explosive
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
or general purpose warhead. An anti-submarine shell of 113 pounds (51.3 kg) was developed and in service from 1943.
Surviving examples
- On board Japanese battleship MikasaJapanese battleship Mikasais a pre-Dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, launched in Britain in 1900. She served as the flagship of Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō during the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904, and the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. The ship is preserved as...
, Yokosuka, Japan - A coast defence gun at Fort Desoto, Florida, USA.
- A Mk III gun and shield from HMS CalypsoHMS Calypso (1883)HMS Calypso was a corvette of the Royal Navy and the name ship of her class. Built for distant cruising in the heyday of the British Empire, she served as a warship and training vessel until 1922, when she was sold.As originally classified as a screw corvette, Calypso was one of the Royal Navy’s...
at Fort Nelson, PortsmouthFort Nelson, PortsmouthFort Nelson, in the civil parish of Boarhunt in the English county of Hampshire, is one of five defensive forts built on the summit of Portsdown Hill in the 1860s, overlooking the important naval base of Portsmouth. It is now part of the Royal Armouries, housing their collection of...
, UK
External links
- Range tables for Pattern W as used by Japan from Russo-Japanese War Research Society website
- Range tables for Pattern Z as used by Japan from Russo-Japanese War Research Society website