BL 12 inch Howitzer
| BL 12 inch Howitzer | |
|---|---|
 12 inch Howitzer Mk IV manned by Newfoundlanders, UK, 1942 |
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| Type | Heavy siege howitzer |
| Place of origin |  UK |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1916 - 1945 |
| Used by | UK and Commonwealth |
| Wars | World War I, World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Vickers |
| Number built | 14 (Mk II); 43 (Mk IV) |
| Variants | Mk II, Mk IV[1] |
| Specifications | |
| Barrel length | 160 inch (Mk II) 207.6 inch (Mk IV)[2] |
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| Shell | HE 750 lb (340 kg) |
| Calibre | 12 inches (304.8 mm) |
| Recoil | Variable hydropneumatic |
| Carriage | siege carriage |
| Maximum range | 11,340 yd (10,370 m) (Mk II) 14,350 yd (13,120 m) (Mk IV)[2] |
The Ordnance BL 12 inch howitzer was a scaled-up version of the successful 9.2 inch siege howitzer.
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[edit] History
Following the success of their BL 9.2 inch Howitzer, Vickers designed an almost identical version scaled up to a calibre of 12 inch, the Mk II entering service on the Western Front in August 1916.[3]
It was similar but unrelated to the 12 inch railway howitzers Mk I, III and V produced by the Elswick Ordnance Company at the same time.
The Mk IV was a more powerful version with longer barrel produced from 1917.
Later models were used for British home defence in World War II.
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[edit] Combat use
As with other large calibre weapons, it was operated by the Royal Garrison Artillery in World War I.
The 12 inch was dismantled and transported in 6 loads mounted on traction engine wheels. It was then reassembled on its static siege mounting on top of a steel "holdfast", with 22 tons of earth in a box sitting on the front of the holdfast in front of the gun, to counteract the kick of firing.
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[edit] Surviving examples
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[edit] Ammunition
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[edit] See also
- List of siege artillery
- 305 mm howitzer M1915 Russian equivalent
- Skoda 305 mm Model 1911 Austro-Hungarian equivalent
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Mk II = Mark 2, Mk IV = Mark 4. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (i.e. models) of ordnance until after World War II. This article covers the second and fourth models of British 12-inch howitzer.
- ^ a b Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 181, 184
- ^ Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 180. 8 complete equipments are reported as arriving in August 1916 and being in action in France shortly afterwards.
[edit] Bibliography
- Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005 ISBN 9781841767888
- I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972. ISBN 9780711003811
[edit] External links
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