QF 4-inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII
Ordnance QF 4 inch gun Mk IV, XII, XXII | |
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Type | Light Naval gun Submarine gun |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | 1911-1940s |
Used by | United Kingdom |
Wars | World War I World War II |
Production history | |
No. built | 1,141[1] |
Specifications | |
Mass | 2,750 pounds (1,250 kg) barrel & breech |
Barrel length | 160 inches (4.064 m) bore (40 calibres) |
Shell | Mk IV : Separate QF 31 pounds (14.06 kg); Mk XII & XXII : Fixed QF 31 pounds (14.06 kg), 35 pounds (15.88 kg) from 1944[2] |
Calibre | 4-inch (101.6 mm) |
Breech | horizontal sliding-block |
Elevation | PIX Mount -10° to +20° CPIII Mount -10° to +30°[1] |
Muzzle velocity | Mk IV : 2,370 feet per second (720 m/s)[3] Mk XII & XXII : 1,873 feet per second (571 m/s) |
Maximum firing range | 11,580 yards (10,590 m) at +30°[1] |
The QF 4-inch gun Mk IV[note 1] was the main gun on most Royal Navy and British Empire destroyers in World War I. It was introduced in 1911 as a faster-loading light gun successor to the BL 4 inch Mk VIII gun. Of the 1,141 produced, 939 were still available in 1939.[1] Mk XII and Mk XXII variants armed many British interwar and World War II submarines.
Mk IV gun
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/QF_4_inch_Mk_IV_gun_HMS_Satyr_WWI_IWM_SP_1497.jpg/220px-QF_4_inch_Mk_IV_gun_HMS_Satyr_WWI_IWM_SP_1497.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/QF_4_inch_Mk_IV_gun_recoiling_on_HMAS_Wilcannia_AWM_304887.jpeg/220px-QF_4_inch_Mk_IV_gun_recoiling_on_HMAS_Wilcannia_AWM_304887.jpeg)
Mk IV armed many British destroyers and some cruisers in World War I. It was used to arm merchant ships in World War II.
The guns armed the following warships :
- Forward-class scout cruisers as re-gunned in 1911
- Sentinel-class scout cruisers as re-gunned 1911-1912
- Pathfinder-class scout cruisers as re-gunned 1911-1912
- Adventure-class scout cruisers as re-gunned 1911-1912
- Acasta (K)-class destroyers of 1911
- Laforey (L)-class destroyers of 1913
- Yarrow M-class destroyers laid down 1912 - 1915
- Admiralty M-class destroyer of 1913
- Thornycroft M-class destroyers laid down 1913 - 1915
- Hawthorn M-class destroyer of 1914
- Talisman-class destroyers of 1914
- Medea-class destroyers of 1914
- Faulknor-class leaders of 1914
- Marksman-class destroyers of 1914
- Parker class leaders of 1915
- Yarrow Later M-class destroyers of 1915
- R-class destroyers of 1916
- S-class destroyers of 1917
- Fundy-class minesweepers of 1938 (guns from decommissioned Canadian S-class destroyers)
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Rusted QF 4 inch mk IV gun without a gun shield on East Falkland
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Back of rusted QF 4 inch mk IV gun without a gun shield
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Front of QF 4 inch mk IV gun in Imperial War Museum
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Back of QF 4 inch Mk IV gun at Imperial War Museum
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British sailors loading a QF 4 inch Mk IV gun in 1942
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Diagram of a QF 4 inch Mk IV gun cartridge.
Mk XII and XXII submarine gun
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/QF_4_inch_Mk_XII_gun_on_T_class_submarine_AWM_306479.jpeg/220px-QF_4_inch_Mk_XII_gun_on_T_class_submarine_AWM_306479.jpeg)
The Mk XII variant was developed for arming submarines from 1918, Mk XXII was developed to arm submarines during World War II. These submarine guns fired a heavier 35 pounds (16 kg) projectile from late 1944.[2] Shortly after the end of hostilities, the Mk XXII was superseded in new British submarines by the lighter QF 4 inch Mk XXIII.[4]
Mk XII and XXII equipped submarines
[edit]- L class
- Odin ("O") class
- Parthian ("P") class
- River (or Thames) class
- Grampus (or Porpoise) class
- Triton ("T") class
- S class
- Some of the Amphion ("A" or Acheron) class
Surviving guns
[edit]- The Mk IV gun from HMS Lance which fired the first British shot of World War I on 5 August 1914 is on display at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth (on loan from the Imperial War Museum).[5]
- A Mk IV gun on a 1945 Mk XVI mounting is on display at the Heugh Gun Battery Museum in Hartlepool, County Durham.[6]
- A Mk IV gun on a pedestal mounting is still in situ at Ordnance Point in the Falkland Islands, where it is believed to have been installed in 1943.[7]
- A First World War 4-inch naval gun, tentatively identified as a Mk IV, stands outside the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans Hall in 4th Street, Sidney, British Columbia.[8]
See also
[edit]Weapons of comparable role, performance and era
[edit]- 10.5 cm SK L/45 naval gun : German WWI equivalent
- 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun : Slightly more powerful German equivalent WWII submarine gun
- 4"/50 caliber gun : US Navy equivalent
Notes
[edit]- ^ Mk IV = Mark 4. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. This was the fourth model of 4-inch QF naval gun. Variants Mk XII = Mark 12, Mk XXII = Mark 22.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.59.
- ^ a b DiGiulian
- ^ 2,370 ft/s for Mk IV gun with 31 lb (14 kg) projectile in WWI, using 5 lb 1 oz 12 drams cordite MD size 16 propellant (Treatise on Ammunition, 10th Edition 1915)
- ^ "Britain - 4"/33 (10.2 cm) QF Mark XXIII". www.navweaps.com. Tony DiGiulian. 22 October 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
- ^ "GUN WHICH FIRED THE FIRST SHOT AT SEA IN WW1 IS INSTALLED FOR NEW £4.5M REMEMBRANCE GALLERY". www.nmrn.org.uk. National Museum of the Royal Navy. 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
- ^ "Hartlepool in County Durham, England, United Kingdom - Naval Gun 4 inch". www.hmdb.org. Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ "British Coastal Defences of the Falkland Islands". frontlineulster.co.uk. Frontline Ulster. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Skaarup, Harold A. (2012). Shelldrake: Canadian Artillery Museums and Gun Monuments. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1469750002.
Sources
[edit]- Tony DiGiulian, British 4"/40 (10.2 cm) QF Marks IV, XII and XXII
- Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
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