BL 16.25-inch Mk I naval gun facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ordnance BL 16.25 inch gun Mk I |
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| Type | Naval gun |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1888 – 1909? |
| Used by | Royal Navy |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Elswick Ordnance Company |
| No. built | 12 |
| Variants | no two guns were identical |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 111 tons |
| Length | 43 ft 7 in; 13.3 m |
| Barrel length | 40 ft 8 in; 12.4 m bore (30 calibres) |
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| Shell | 1,800 lb (820 kg) Armour-piercing, Common, or Shrapnel |
| Calibre | 16.25 in (413 mm) |
| Elevation | -5° – 13° |
| Rate of fire | about one round every three minutes |
| Muzzle velocity | 2,087 feet per second (636 m/s) |
| Maximum firing range | 12,000 yards (11,000 m) |
The Elswick BL 16.25 inch naval gun was a very large and powerful gun used on British warships a long time ago. It was one of the first "superheavy" guns made in Britain. People often called it the 110-ton gun or 111-ton gun because of how much it weighed. This gun was a "rifled breech-loader," which means it had grooves inside the barrel to make the shell spin. This helped it fly straight. It also loaded from the back (breech) instead of the front.
Contents
A Giant Gun for Warships
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Why Was This Gun Built?
The company that made this gun, Elswick Ordnance Company, had already sold similar huge guns to Italy's navy. The British Royal Navy wanted to have equally powerful ships for its fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.
At the time, the Royal Navy was building new warships called "Admiral" class ironclads. They wanted to put new 13.5-inch guns on these ships. However, these preferred guns were being made very slowly.
The Royal Navy had a choice: they could wait for the 13.5-inch guns, use smaller 12-inch guns, or try out these new, very large 16.25-inch guns. They decided to use the 16.25-inch guns on some of their new ships.
Where Were These Guns Used?
The first ship to get these giant guns was HMS Benbow in 1887. It had one 16.25-inch gun at the front and one at the back. Each of these single big guns took the place of two smaller 13.5-inch guns.
Later, for the ships HMS Victoria and HMS Sans Pareil, the 16.25-inch guns were placed in pairs. They were put together in a single gun turret at the front of the ship. A turret is a strong, rotating structure that protects the guns and their crew.
What Were the Problems?
As these guns were used, some problems were found. The barrels would sometimes "droop" (bend downwards) or crack. Because of these issues, many changes were made to the design. This meant that none of the twelve guns built were exactly alike.
These guns were very heavy, fired slowly, and didn't last very long. They could only fire less than 75 times before they wore out. Because of these problems, the guns were not very successful. They were actually never fired in a real battle.
What Kind of Ammunition Did It Use?
This huge gun fired very heavy shells, weighing about 1,800 pounds (816 kg) each. It could use different types of shells:
- Armour-piercing shells were designed to go through thick ship armor.
- Common shells were filled with explosives to cause damage.
- Shrapnel shells were filled with small balls that would spread out like a shotgun blast.
These shells also had "fuzes," which are devices that make the shell explode at the right time.
See also
- List of naval guns
