BL 18 inch / 40 naval gun
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The British 18 inch Naval gun was the largest ever gun in the service of the Royal Navy. The official designation was 18 inch /40 Mark 1. The gun was up-scaled from the BL 15 inch /42 naval gun and proved accurate and reliable. One gun was installed in the battlecruiser HMS Furious (47) in a single turret, but was removed when she was converted into an aircraft carrier. Two other guns were mounted in the Monitors General Woolfe and Lord Clive and were used for bombarding German occupied Belgium in 1918. A total of 3 guns were built by Armstrong Whitworth in Elswick. Two were scrapped in 1933 and the third was used for trials until it too was scrapped in 1947.
[edit] Specifications
- Entered service - 1917
- Bore - 18 inches (457 mm)
- Length - 40 claibers (18.29 m)
- Rate of fire - 1 rpm max
- Shell weight - 3320 lbs (1506 kg)
- Propellant weight - 630 lbs (285.8 kg)
- Range - up to 40,500 yard at 45 degrees
- Muzzle Velocity - Standard Charge: 2,270 fps (683 mps), Super Charge: 2,420 fps (738 mps)
- Mountings
- Single turret 15" B (840 Metric tonnes, 30 degree elevation)- used on HMS Furious
- Single non rotating mounting (390 Metric Tonnes, 45 degree elevation) - used on Monitors
