BL 9.2-inch Mk XI naval gun

The BL 9.2-inch Mark XI gun[note 1] was a British 50 calibre high-velocity naval gun which was mounted as primary armament on armoured cruisers and secondary armament on pre-dreadnought battleships.

BL 9.2-inch Mk XI gun
Agamemnon fires her 9.2-inch secondary guns at Ottoman Turkish forts at Sedd el Bahr on 4 March 1915
TypeNaval gun
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
In service1908 – 1920[1]
Used byUnited Kingdom
WarsWorld War I
Production history
DesignerVickers
Designed1902[2]
Specifications
Mass28 tons barrel & breech
Barrel length38 ft 4 in (11.68 m) bore (50 cal)

Shell380 pounds (172.4 kg) Lyddite, Armour-piercing, Shrapnel[3]
Calibre9.2 inches (233.7 mm)
Muzzle velocity2,875 ft/s (876 m/s)[4]

History

The gun with its increased length of 50 calibres was an attempt to extract a higher velocity, and hence more range and armour-piercing capability, from the 9.2-inch gun. Like other British 50-calibre guns of the period, it was relatively unsuccessful and was the last model of 9.2-inch gun Britain built.

Guns were mounted in the following ships :

After the scrapping of these ships, these guns and mountings were retained in storage. There was the intention, at one point, early during World War Two, to use them as armament for small monitors which would have been reduced versions of the Roberts-class monitors; this however never advanced beyond the planning stage.

See also

Notes

  1. Mark XI = Mark 11. Britain use Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Hence this was the eleventh model of BL 9.2-inch gun.

References

  1. 1908–1920 : Dates of commissioning and scrapping of the ships. The guns were not used again after removal.
  2. The National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew. SUPP 6/61
  3. 380 lb shells : Treatise on Ammunition, 1915
  4. 2875 ft/second : As quoted in "Range Tables for His Majesty's Fleet, 1910. February, 1911"; with 130 ½ lb cordite MD propellant : Treatise on Ammunition, 1915

Bibliography

The National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew. SUPP 6/61


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