BL 18-inch railway howitzer: Difference between revisions

BL 18 inch railway howitzer
BL 18 inch railway howitzer
	Example at Catterick, 12 December 1940
Type	Railway howitzer
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1920 - 1945
Used by	United Kingdom
Wars	World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	Elswick Ordnance Company
No. built	5
Specifications
Mass	85.7 tons (barrel & breech)
Barrel length	Bore: 52 ft (16 m) (34.7 calibres)
Shell	HE; 2,500 lb (1,134 kg)
Calibre	18-inch (457.2 mm)
Elevation	0° - 40°
Traverse	2° L & R
Muzzle velocity	1,880 ft/s (570 m/s)
Effective firing range	22,300 yd (20,400 m)

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Revision as of 05:27, 13 July 2017

The BL 18 inch railway howitzer (formally Ordnance BL 18 inch Mk I howitzer on truck, railway) was a British railway gun developed during World War I. Part of the progression of ever-larger howitzers on the Western Front, it did not enter service until 1920.

History

Five guns and two complete equipments on railway wagons were produced. After World War I there was no use for such large but relatively short-ranged weapons and they were placed in storage. In World War II the two wagons were used to mount 13.5 inch guns, which were capable of engaging targets on the German-occupied Channel coast of France. In late 1940 one 18-inch howitzer was mounted on the railway mounting nicknamed "Boche Buster" which had been used in World War I to carry a 14-inch gun. It was deployed at Bishopsbourne in Kent on the Elham to Canterbury Line as a coast defence gun as a precaution against possible German invasion.^[2]^[3] The gun's range was insufficient for cross-Channel firing and hence it was never fired in action.

Survivors

A single gun barrel, number one, survives.^[4] This gun was tested at MoD Shoeburyness in 1920 before being moved away from the site for twenty years, probably to the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich.^[4] In 1940 it returned to Shoeburyness to be used in testing.^[4] Post war it continued to be used in testing until 1959.^[4] The gun's final firings were a series of tests where it fired 1000 pound bombs with a much reduced charge.^[4] In 2008 the weapon was put on display at the Royal Artillery headquarters at Larkhill. In March 2013 it was loaned to the Spoorwegmuseum, the Dutch national rail museum.^[5] In September 2013 it was moved to the Royal Armouries artillery museum at Fort Nelson, Hampshire.^[6] It is mounted on a proofing carriage, a gun carriage with very limited elevation and traverse intended for test firing.

Front view BL 18 with shell in Spoorwegmuseum
BL 18 from above in Spoorwegmuseum

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 200
^ Clarke 2005, pages 41-42
^ "The Elham Valley Military Railway". Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Hall, Nicholas (1991). "The 18inch Railway Howitzer". Journal of the Ordnance Society. 3: 69–76.
^ "The UK's largest artillery piece, 1 of 12 surviving wartime railway howitzers in the world, is being moved for exhibition in the Netherlands". United Kingdom Government. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
^ Giant first world war gun on the move across southern England this week

Bibliography

Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005 ISBN 1-84176-788-3
I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.

External links

[Hogg&Thurston1972page200-1] Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 200

[2] Clarke 2005, pages 41-42

[3] "The Elham Valley Military Railway". Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[hall-4] Hall, Nicholas (1991). "The 18inch Railway Howitzer". Journal of the Ordnance Society. 3: 69–76.

[5] "The UK's largest artillery piece, 1 of 12 surviving wartime railway howitzers in the world, is being moved for exhibition in the Netherlands". United Kingdom Government. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.

[6] Giant first world war gun on the move across southern England this week

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 ==History==
 [[Image:BL 18 inch Howitzer Ashbury Station WWII.jpg|thumb|left|300px|"Boche Buster's" crew posing with the gun]]
-Five guns and two complete [[List of British ordnance terms#Equipment|equipments]] on railway wagons were produced. After [[World War I]] there was no use for such large but relatively short-ranged weapons and they were placed in storage. In [[World War II]] the two wagons were used to mount [[BL 13.5 inch Mk V naval gun#Railway guns|13.5 inch guns]], which were capable of engaging targets on the German-occupied Channel coast of France. In late 1940 one 18-inch howitzer was mounted on the railway mounting nicknamed "Boche Buster" which had been used in [[World War I]] to carry a [[BL 14 inch Railway Gun|14-inch gun]].  It was deployed at [[Bishopsbourne]] in Kent on the [[Elham Valley Railway|Elham to Canterbury Line]] as a coast defence gun as a precaution against possible German invasion.<ref>Clarke 2005, pages 41-42</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barham-kent.org.uk/World%20War%20II.htm |title=The Elham Valley Military Railway |date= |accessdate=24 January 2010}}</ref> The gun's range was insufficient for  cross-Channel firing and hence it was never fired in action.
+Five guns and two complete [[List of British ordnance terms#Equipment|equipments]] on railway wagons were produced. After [[World War I]] there was no use for such large but relatively short-ranged weapons and they were placed in storage. In [[World War II]] the two wagons were used to mount [[BL 13.5 inch Mk V naval gun#Railway guns|13.5 inch guns]], which were capable of engaging targets on the German-occupied Channel coast of France. In late 1940 one 18-inch howitzer was mounted on the railway mounting nicknamed "Boche Buster" which had been used in [[World War I]] to carry a [[BL 14 inch Railway Gun|14-inch gun]].  It was deployed at [[Bishopsbourne]] in Kent on the [[Elham Valley Railway|Elham to Canterbury Line]] as a coast defence gun as a precaution against possible German invasion.<ref>Clarke 2005, pages 41-42</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barham-kent.org.uk/World%20War%20II.htm |title=The Elham Valley Military Railway |date= |accessdate=24 January 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820115052/http://www.barham-kent.org.uk/World%20War%20II.htm |archivedate=20 August 2008 }}</ref> The gun's range was insufficient for  cross-Channel firing and hence it was never fired in action.
 {{clearleft}}

v t e British Commonwealth artillery of World War II
Tank guns	QF 2-pounder QF 3-pounder QF 6-pounder QF 75 mm QF 3-inch howitzer QF 17-pounder 77 mm HV QF 95 mm howitzer
Anti-tank guns	QF 2-pounder QF 6-pounder QF 17-pounder
Field guns and howitzers	75 mm Gun M1917 QF 18-pounder 25-pounder Gun-Howitzer 25-pounder Short QF 4.5-inch howitzer
Medium and heavy guns and howitzers	BL 4.5-inch medium field gun BL 60-pounder gun BL 5.5-inch medium gun BL 6-inch howitzer BL 6-inch gun Mk XIX 155 mm Long Tom BL 7.2-inch howitzer BL 8-inch howitzer BL 9.2-inch howitzer 240 mm howitzer M1
Mountain guns	75mm Pack howitzer M1 3.7-inch mountain howitzer
Mortars	SBML 2-inch mortar ML 3-inch mortar ML 4.2-inch mortar
Anti-aircraft weapons	Z Battery 20 mm Oerlikon 20 mm Polsten QF 1½-pounder Mk III QF 2-pounder naval gun Bofors 40 mm QF 3-inch QF 3.7-inch QF 4.5-inch Mk II QF 5.25-inch Mk II
Coast defence	QF 6-pounder 10 cwt QF 12-pounder QF 4.7-inch Mk I–IV BL 6-inch Mk VII & Mk XXIV BL 7.5-inch Mk VI BL 8-inch Mk VIII BL 9.2-inch Mk X BL 14-inch Mk VII BL 15-inch Mk I
Railway artillery	BL 9.2-inch Mk XIII railway gun BL 12-inch Mk V railway howitzer BL 13.5-inch Mk V railway gun BL 18-inch railway howitzer

Revision as of 05:27, 13 July 2017

History

Survivors

See also

References

External links