RML 16 inch 80 ton gun
Encyclopedia
The RML 16 inch 80 ton guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns intended to give the largest British battleships parity with the large guns being mounted by Italian and French ships in the Mediterranean Sea in the 1870s.
After a long design and experimentation period beginning in 1873, HMS Inflexible
with 4 guns became the only ship to mount them, in 1880. By that time such muzzle-loading guns were already obsolescent and were being superseded by a new generation of breechloading guns.
2 more guns were mounted for coast defence in the Admiralty Pier Turret
at Dover.
, Dover, Kent, UK.
Design and history
The gun was constructed of a toughened mild steel inner "A" tube surrounded by multiple wrought-iron coils, breech-piece and jacket. Rifling was of the "polygroove plain section" type, with 33 grooves increasing from 0 to 1 turn in 50 calibres (i.e. 1 turn in 800 inches) at the muzzle.After a long design and experimentation period beginning in 1873, HMS Inflexible
HMS Inflexible (1876)
HMS Inflexible was a Victorian ironclad battleship carrying her main armament in centrally placed turrets. The ship was constructed in the 1870s for the Royal Navy to oppose the perceived growing threat from the Italian Regia Marina in the Mediterranean.The Italian Navy had started constructing a...
with 4 guns became the only ship to mount them, in 1880. By that time such muzzle-loading guns were already obsolescent and were being superseded by a new generation of breechloading guns.
2 more guns were mounted for coast defence in the Admiralty Pier Turret
Admiralty Pier Turret
The Admiralty Pier Turret or Dover Turret, is an enclosed armoured turret built in 1882 on the western breakwater of Dover Harbour in southeast England. It contains 2 Fraser RML 16 inch 80 ton guns, the biggest installed in the United Kingdom...
at Dover.
Ammunition
Surviving examples
The only 2 surviving examples are in the ruins of the Admiralty Pier TurretAdmiralty Pier Turret
The Admiralty Pier Turret or Dover Turret, is an enclosed armoured turret built in 1882 on the western breakwater of Dover Harbour in southeast England. It contains 2 Fraser RML 16 inch 80 ton guns, the biggest installed in the United Kingdom...
, Dover, Kent, UK.
External links
- Flickr photos of the guns in the Dover turretAdmiralty Pier TurretThe Admiralty Pier Turret or Dover Turret, is an enclosed armoured turret built in 1882 on the western breakwater of Dover Harbour in southeast England. It contains 2 Fraser RML 16 inch 80 ton guns, the biggest installed in the United Kingdom...
: http://www.flickr.com/photos/palmerstonforts/1215609043 http://www.flickr.com/photos/palmerstonforts/1216472734 http://www.flickr.com/photos/palmerstonforts/1216473558 http://www.flickr.com/photos/doverpast/89421035