QF 4.7 inch Mk V naval gun

QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk V
On troopship SS Orca, March 1919
Type Naval gun
Coast defence gun
Place of origin United Kingdom
Japan
Service history
In service 1900–1945
Used by British Empire
Wars World War I
World War II
Production history
Designer Elswick Ordnance
Designed ca. 1895
Variants Mark V, Mark V*
Specifications
Weight Barrel & breech 5,936 pounds (2,693 kg)[1]
Barrel length 212.6 inches (5.40 m) (45 cal)[1]

Shell Separate loading QF 45 pounds (20.41 kg) Common Pointed, Lyddite
Calibre 4.724 inches (120 mm)
Breech single motion interrupted screw
Recoil 8 inch[1]
Elevation -10° to +20°[2]
Muzzle velocity 2,350 feet per second (720 m/s)[3]
Maximum firing range 16,500 yards (15,100 m)[1]

The QF 4.7 inch Gun Mark V originated as a 4.7 in (120 mm) 45-calibre naval gun designed by the Elswick Ordnance Company for export customers and known as the Pattern Y.[4]

United Kingdom service

The Royal Navy did not adopt the gun, but several were adopted by the army as coast defence guns around the United Kingdom from 1900 onwards.[1] During World War I, the UK acquired 620 [4] of a version manufactured in Japan, and mounted them as anti-submarine guns on merchant ships and troop ships, under the designation Mark V*. Many of these guns were used again in World War II on defensively armed merchant ships and troop ships.

Notable actions

On 10 March 1917 the crew of a single gun on the merchant ship SS Otaki fought a notable action against the heavily armed German commerce raider SMS Möwe. They managed to set the Möwe on fire and inflicted severe damage before the Otaki was sunk. Otaki's commander Archibald Bisset Smith went down with his ship and was eventually awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for refusing to surrender his ship.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 108.
  2. Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.52.
  3. 2,350 ft/second, firing a 45 lb projectile, using 8 lb 10 oz Cordite MD size 16 propellant. Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 108
  4. 1 2 DiGiulian

References

  • I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston (1972). British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London: Ian Allan.
  • Tony DiGiulian. "British 4.7"/45 (12 cm) QF Mark V and Mark V*".
  • Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.

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