RBL 40 pounder Armstrong gun
Encyclopedia
The Armstrong RBL 40 pounder gun was an early attempt to use William Armstrong
's new and innovative breechloading
mechanism for medium artillery.
The Armstrong "screw" breech had already proved successful in the RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt field gun
, and the British Government requested it be implemented for heavier guns despite Armstrong's protests that the mechanism was unsuited to heavy guns.
The first version weighed 32 cwt, followed by the 35 cwt version which introduced a longer and stronger breech-piece.
From 1880 a small number of 35 cwt guns had their trunnion rings rotated to the left to allow the vent-pice to open horizontally to the right, being known as "side-closing" guns. They differed from the wedge guns in that the vent piece was still locked in place by tightening the screw behind it.
The gun was recommended in 1859 for the Navy as a broadside
or pivot gun
.
An officer from HMS Euryalus
described the gun's performance at the Bombardment of Kagoshima
of August 1863:
received six 35 cwt guns in August 1865. They were used as mobile coast fortification guns and later as field guns. Three of these guns are known to survive.
of 1877 into the defence of Australian colonies following the withdrawal of British troops, the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Corps in Tasmania acquired 2 guns on late-model iron carriages with iron wheels, which they continued to operate until at least 1902.
William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong
William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong CB, FRS was an effective Tyneside industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing empire.-Early life:...
's new and innovative breechloading
Breech-loading weapon
A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel....
mechanism for medium artillery.
Design history
RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt Armstrong gun
The Armstrong Breech Loading 12 pounder 8 cwt, later known as RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt, was an early modern 3-inch rifled breech-loading field gun of 1859.-Design:The gun incorporated some advanced features for its day...
, and the British Government requested it be implemented for heavier guns despite Armstrong's protests that the mechanism was unsuited to heavy guns.
The first version weighed 32 cwt, followed by the 35 cwt version which introduced a longer and stronger breech-piece.
Variants
A 32 cwt variant having a horizontal sliding wedge breech instead of the Armstrong screw with vertical vent-piece was introduced in 1864 as an attempt to address the perceived weaknesses of the screw-breech design. It was withdrawn from service by 1877.From 1880 a small number of 35 cwt guns had their trunnion rings rotated to the left to allow the vent-pice to open horizontally to the right, being known as "side-closing" guns. They differed from the wedge guns in that the vent piece was still locked in place by tightening the screw behind it.
Naval service
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
or pivot gun
Pivot gun
A pivot gun was a type of cannon mounted on a fixed central emplacement which permitted it to be moved through a wide horizontal arc. They were a common weapon aboard ships and in land fortifications for several centuries but became obsolete after the invention of gun turrets...
.
An officer from HMS Euryalus
HMS Euryalus (1853)
HMS Euryalus was a fourth-rate wooden-hulled screw frigate of the Royal Navy, with a 400HP steam engine that could make over 12 knots. She was launched at Chatham in 1853, was 212 feet long, displaced 3125 tons and had a complement of 515...
described the gun's performance at the Bombardment of Kagoshima
Bombardment of Kagoshima
The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the , took place on 15–17 August 1863 during the Late Tokugawa shogunate. The British Royal Navy was fired on from the coastal batteries near town of Kagoshima and in retaliation bombarded the town...
of August 1863:
Land service
The guns were typically employed mounted on high "siege travelling carriages" for use as semi-mobile guns in forts, firing over parapets.Colony of Victoria service
The Australian colony of VictoriaVictoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
received six 35 cwt guns in August 1865. They were used as mobile coast fortification guns and later as field guns. Three of these guns are known to survive.
Colony of Tasmania service
As a result of the Jervois-Scratchley reportsJervois-Scratchley reports
The Jervois-Scratchley reports of 1877 concerned the defences of the Australian colonies, and influenced defence policy into the twentieth century. From the time of the first settlement in Australia, the Royal Marines, the New South Wales Corps and a succession of regiments of the British army had...
of 1877 into the defence of Australian colonies following the withdrawal of British troops, the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Corps in Tasmania acquired 2 guns on late-model iron carriages with iron wheels, which they continued to operate until at least 1902.
Surviving examples
- A gun made by Royal Gun Factory in 1865 at Elizabeth CastleElizabeth CastleElizabeth Castle is a castle in Saint Helier, Jersey. Construction was started in the 16th century when the power of cannon meant that the existing stronghold at Mont Orgueil was insufficient to defend the Island and the port of St. Helier was vulnerable to attack by ships armed with...
, JerseyJerseyJersey, 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... - Restored gun No. 272 at Hastings-Western Port Historical Society Museum, Victoria, Australia
- Restored Gun No. 271 at Fort QueenscliffFort QueenscliffFort Queenscliff, in Victoria, Australia, dates from 1860 when an open battery was constructed on Shortland's Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip. The Fort, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 1870s and 1880s, became the headquarters for an extensive chain of forts around Port...
, Victoria, Australia - Unrestored Gun No. 268 in Como Park, South Yarra, VictoriaSouth Yarra, VictoriaSouth Yarra is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Stonnington and Melbourne...
- A 40-pounder horizontal-wedge gun at Royal ArmouriesRoyal ArmouriesThe Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's National Museum of Arms and Armour. It is the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is also one of the largest collections of arms and armour in the world, comprising the UK's National Collection of Arms and...
, 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... - On board HMS WarriorHMS Warrior (1860)HMS Warrior was the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship, built for the Royal Navy in response to the first ironclad warship, the French Gloire, launched a year earlier....
, Portsmouth, UK
External links
- Diagram of RBL 40-pdr on siege travelling carriage at Palmerston Forts Society website
- RBL 40-pdr on Platform, Medium No. 4 at Palmerston Forts Society website
- 40-pounder use in New Zealand Land Wars at New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
- W.L. Ruffell, Armstrong RBL 40-pr
- W.L. Ruffell, "The Armstrong Gun Part 4: Other Armstrong Equipments in New Zealand" - use ashore in New Zealand Land Wars
- Diagram showing gun on block trail carriage