QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun

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Type 41 3-inch (7.62 cm) 40 calibre gun

Type 41 3-inch (7.62 cm) 40 calibre gun on Japanese battleship Mikasa
Type Naval gun
Coast defence gun
Place of origin United Kingdom
Service history
In service 1894-1945
Used by Royal Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
Italy
Wars Second Boer War
Russo-Japanese War
World War I
World War II
Production history
Designed 1893
Manufacturer Elswick Ordnance Company, Vickers,
Japan Steel Works
Canadian Pacific Railway
Gio. Ansaldo & C.
Specifications
Weight 0.6 tons (510 kg)
Length 123.6-inch (3.139 m)
Barrel length 120-inch (3.048 m)
Shell Separate-loading or fixed QF
Calibre 3-inch (7.62 cm)
Elevation mounting dependant
Traverse mounting dependant
Rate of fire 15 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity 2,231 fps (680 m/s)
Effective range 11,750-yard (10,744 m) at 40° elevation

The QF 12 pounder 12 cwt gun was a common 3 inch calibre naval gun of the later part of the 19th century up until the middle of the 20th century. Produced by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick it was used on Royal Navy warships.

As the Type 41 3-inch (76.2 cm)/40 it was used on most early battleships and cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, though it was commonly referred to by its British designation as a “12-pounder” gun.

Contents

[edit] Service

[edit] British service

[edit] British Naval service

Mk V gun on a British trawler, World War II
Mk V gun on a British trawler, World War II

Mk I and II guns served on many Royal Navy destroyers up to and after World War I as secondary armament against submarines and torpedo boats.

In World War II many Mk V guns served on smaller escort ships such as destroyers and on armed merchant ships, on dual High-Low angle mountings which allowed it to be also used as an anti-aircraft gun.

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[edit] Second Boer War (1899 - 1902) land service

Naval Brigade with "Long Twelve" in Natal
Naval Brigade with "Long Twelve" in Natal
Elswick gun in South Africa
Elswick gun in South Africa

The gun was primarily a high-velocity naval gun, with its heavy recoil suiting it to static mountings, hence it was generally considered unsuitable for use as a mobile field gun.[1] An exception was made when the British Army were outgunned by the Boer artillery in South Africa and the Royal Navy was called on for help. Among other guns, 16 QF 12 pounder 12 cwt were landed from warships and were mounted on improvised field carriages designed by Captain Percy Scott RN, with solid wooden trails and utilizing Cape wagon wheels. Their 10,000 yard range provided valuable long-range fire support for the army throughout the war. They were known as "long twelves" to distinguish them from the BL 12 pounder 6 cwt and QF 12 pounder 8 cwt which had much shorter barrels and ranges.[2]

Lieutenant Burne reported that the original electric firing system, while working well under ideal conditions, required support of an armourer and the maintenance and transport of charged batteries in the field, which was generally not possible. He reports switching to percussion tubes for firing and recommends percussion for future field operations.[3]

Another 6 guns were diverted from a Japanese battleship being built at Newcastle in January 1900, bought by Lady Meux and were equipped with field carriages by the Elswick Ordnance Company in Newcastle and sent to South Africa. Perhaps uniquely, the guns were donated directly to Lord Roberts, the British commander in South Africa and became his personal property.They were known as the "Elswick Battery" and were manned by men from Elswick, recruited by 1st Northumberland Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers). The Elswick guns served throughout the war.[4]

[edit] Coast Defence gun

Typical coast defence mounting, at Newhaven Fort, UK
Typical coast defence mounting, at Newhaven Fort, UK

Many guns were mounted on "pedestals" secured to the ground to defend harbours around the UK, and at many ports around the Empire, against possible attack by small fast vessels such as torpedo boats, until the 1950s. There were 103 of these guns (of a total 383 of all types) employed in coast defence around the UK as at April 1918.[5] Many of these were still in service in World War II although they had by then been superseded by more modern types such as twin QF 6 pounder 10 cwt mounts.

Guns were traversed (moved from side to side) manually by the gunlayer as he stood on the left side with his arm hooked over a shoulder piece as he aimed, while he operated the elevating handwheel with his left hand and grasped the pistol grip with trigger in his right hand.[1]

[edit] Army anti-aircraft gun

Main article: QF 12 pounder 12 cwt AA gun

In World War I a number of coast defence guns were modified and mounted on special wheeled traveling carriages to create a marginally-effective mobile anti-aircraft gun.

[edit] British ammunition

British shells weighed 12.5 lb (5.67 kg) filled and fuzed.
The cordite propellant charge was normally ignited by an electrically-activated primer (in the base of the cartridge case), with power provided by a battery. The electric primer in the cartridge could be replaced by an adaptor which allowed the use of electric or percussion tube to be inserted to provide ignition.
2 lb Cordite Cartridges Mk II & Mk III, 1914
Mk II Common Pointed shell
Mk III & Mk II Common Lyddite shell
Mk IV Common Lyddite shell with internal night tracer, 1914
Mk IX Shrapnel shell, 1914

[edit] Japanese service

The Japanese Type 41 3-inch naval gun was a direct copy of the QF 12 pounder. The first guns were bought from the British firms as "Elswick Pattern N" and "Vickers Mark Z" guns. Thereafter production was in Japan under licence. [6] It was the standard secondary armament or tertiary armament on most Japanese warships built between 1890 and 1920, and was still in service as late as the Pacific War.

The gun was officially designated as “Type 41” from the 41st year of the reign of Emperor Meiji on 1908-12-25. It was further re-designated in centimeters on 1917-10-05 as part of the standardization process for the Imperial Japanese Navy to the metric system. Although finally classified as an "8cm" gun the bore was unchanged at 7.62 cm.

The Type 41 3-inch naval gun fired a 12.5-pound (5.7 kg) high explosive shell.

[edit] Surviving guns

[edit] See also

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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Hogg and Thurston 1972, Page 54
  2. ^ Hall June 1978
  3. ^ Burne 1902, Chapter IX
  4. ^ Crook June 1969
  5. ^ Farndale 1988, Page 404
  6. ^ DiGiulian, Tony. 3"/40 (7.62 cm) 41st Year Type. NavWeaps.com.

[edit] References

[edit] Books

  • Brown, D. K. (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860-1905. Book Sales. ISBN 978-1-84067-529-2. 
  • Brown, D. K. (2003). The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906-1922. Caxton Editions, 208. ISBN 978-1-84067-531-3. 
  • Lieutenant C. R. N. Burne R.N., With the Naval Brigade in Natal (1899-1900). London: Edward Arnold, 1902
  • Farndale, General Sir Martin (1988). History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The Forgotton Fronts and the Home Base, 1914-18. Royal Artillery Institution, London. ISBN 1 870114 05 1. 
  • Gardiner, Robert (Ed.) and Lambert, Andrew (Ed.). Steam, Steel and Shellfire: The steam warship 1815-1905 - Conway's History of the Ship. Book Sales, 192. ISBN 978-0-78581-413-9. 
  • Hodges, Peter (1981). The Big Gun: Battleship Main Armament 1860-1945. United States Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870219170. 
  • Hogg, I.V. and Thurston, L.F. (1972). British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. Ian Allan, London. ISBN 7110 0381 5. 
  • Parkes, Oscar (1990). British Battleships. first published Seeley Service & Co, 1957, published United States Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4. 

[edit] External links