BL 16.25-inch Mk I naval gun

Naval gun

Ordnance BL 16.25 inch gun Mk I

Type	Naval gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1888 – 1909?
Used by	Royal Navy
Production history
Manufacturer	Elswick Ordnance Company
No. built	12
Variants	no two guns were identical
Specifications
Mass	111 tons
Length	43 ft 7 in; 13.3 m
Barrel length	40 ft 8 in; 12.4 m bore (30 calibres)

Shell	1,800 lb (820 kg) Armour-piercing, Common, or Shrapnel
Calibre	16.25 in (413 mm)
Elevation	-5° – 13°
Rate of fire	about one round every three minutes
Muzzle velocity	2,087 feet per second (636 m/s)
Maximum firing range	12,000 yards (11,000 m)

The Elswick BL 16.25 inch naval gun was an early British superheavy rifled breech-loading naval gun, commonly known as the 110-ton gun or 111-ton gun.

Service

Elswick had already supplied similar guns to Italy's Regia Marina and fitted in the Italian ironclad Andrea Doria of 1885 and the Royal Navy required parity for its Mediterranean Fleet. The adoption of this gun was influenced by the slow rate of production of the preferred new 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns: the Royal Navy had the option of delaying the completion of the new Admiral-class ironclads until sufficient 13.5-inch guns were available to equip them with four guns in two twin barbettes as planned; to use 12-inch (305 mm) guns, or to equip them with the new 16.25-inch (413 mm) guns.

The decision made was to install 16.25-inch guns in HMS Benbow in 1887 in single barbettes fore and aft, each gun substituting for two 13.5-inch guns. For the following HMS Victoria and HMS Sans Pareil the 16.25-inch guns were mounted in pairs in a single turret placed forward.

Weaknesses such as droop and cracking were discovered in the early design, and the many subsequent changes meant that none of the twelve guns built were identical, so the Mk I denomination was discontinued and the individual guns were referred to by their serial numbers. The great weight, low rate of fire and short life of less than 75 rounds meant that the guns were less than successful and were in fact never fired in action.

Ammunition

Notes

1800lb shell, with 960lb S.B.C. ("slow burning Brown cocoa" powder – a form of gunpowder) charge. Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. Table XII, Page 336
Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. Table XII, Page 336

References

Text Book of Gunnery Archived 12 July 2012 at archive.today, 1902. London: Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Harrison and Sons, St. Martin's Lane

External links

"Firing Trial of the 110½ ton B.L. Elswick Gun" in Scientific American supplement, No. 586, 26 March 1887. Transcribed by Project Gutenberg
N J M Campbell, British Super-Heavy Guns
Tony DiGiulian, British 16.25"/30 (41.2 cm) Mark I

v t e British Empire naval weapons of the Victorian era
Smoothbore muzzle-loading cannons	18-pounder 24-pounder 32-pounder 55 cwt 32-pounder gun 68-pounder Somerset cannon
Smoothbore muzzle-loading shell guns	8-inch 10-inch 86 cwt
Mortars	10-inch Blomefield 13-inch Blomefield
Howitzers	12-pounder Millar 24-pounder Millar
Rifled breechloaders (Armstrong)	RBL 9 pounder RBL 20-pounder RBL 40-pounder RBL 7-inch 110-pounder
Rifled muzzle-loaders (Lancaster)	68-pounder Lancaster gun
Rifled muzzle-loaders (converted)	RML 64-pounder 71 cwt
Rifled muzzle-loaders (Woolwich)	RML 9-pounder 8 cwt RML 64-pounder 64 cwt RML 7-inch RML 8-inch RML 9-inch RML 10-inch RML 11-inch RML 12-inch 25-ton RML 12-inch 35-ton RML 12.5-inch RML 16-inch
Breech-loaders (new pattern)	BL 4-inch BL 5-inch BL 6-inch 80-pounder BL 6-inch Mk II – VI BL 8-inch BL 9.2-inch Mk I – VII BL 9.2-inch Mk VIII BL 10-inch BL 12-inch Mk I – VII BL 12-inch Mk VIII BL 13.5-inch BL 16.25-inch
Quick-firing guns	QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss QF 6-pounder Nordenfelt QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mk I QF 4-inch QF 4.7-inch QF 6-inch
Light weapons	Gatling gun Gardner gun Nordenfelt gun 1-inch Nordenfelt gun
Torpedoes	Whitehead torpedo

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