Military Wiki
Ordnance RML 8 inch 9 ton gun
Gun Deck HMS Northumberland
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[1]
Variants Mk I - Mk III
Specifications
Mass 9 long tons (9.1 t)
Barrel length 118 inches (3.0 m) bore + chamber[2]

Shell 174 pounds 12 ounces (79.3 kg)[3]
Calibre 8-inch (203.2 mm)
Muzzle velocity 1,420 feet per second (430 m/s)[4]

The British RML 8 inch 9 ton guns Mark I - Mark III[5] 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 inches) at the muzzle.

Ammunition[]

See also[]

Surviving examples[]


Notes and references[]

  1. Unit cost of £567 12 shillings 10 pence is quoted in "The British Navy" Volume II, 1882, by Sir Thomas Brassey. Page 38
  2. Text Book of Gunnery 1887 Table XVI page 313
  3. 174 lb 12 oz projectile. Text Book of Gunnery 1887 Table XVI page 313
  4. 1,420 feet/second firing 174-pound 12-oz projectile . Text Book of Gunnery 1887 Table XVI page 313
  5. 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.

Bibliography[]

External links[]


All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at RML 8 inch 9 ton gun and the edit history here.