Somerset cannon

The Somerset cannon was a British cannon designed within the Admiralty and manufactured by Armstrong's.

Its genesis was the unexpected failure of the Armstrong breech-loading rifles recently developed and installed on Royal Navy ships. The Somerset was a 6.5 ton 9.2-inch calibre smoothbore muzzle-loader, firing a 100-pound shot. With a charge of 33 pounds of gunpowder, a steel shot could penetrate 5.5 inches of armour at 800 yards.

Providing a mounting which could reliably be worked at sea proved difficult for a piece of this size. Traditional truck carriages were inadequate; historical research revealed that a carriage which was suitable had been suggested by Captain Sir Thomas Hardy (Nelson's Flag Captain) many years before. In this system the gun-carriage remained stationary, and the recoil of the gun was absorbed by a system of sliding friction blocks attached to the carriage and to the gun.

The gun was issued for service, and was mounted in HM Ships Achilles, Research, Favorite and Enterprise, but its performance was so poor, largely due to difficulties in controlling the gun, that it was withdrawn from service.

v t e British Empire Naval weapons of the Victorian Era Smoothbore muzzle-loading cannons 18 pounder 24 pounder 32 pounder 58 cwt 68-pounder Somerset cannon Smoothbore muzzle-loading shell guns 8 inch 10 inch 86 cwt Mortars 10 inch Blomefield 13 inch Blomefield Howitzers 12 pounder Millar 24 pounder Millar Rifled muzzle-loaders (Armstrong) RML 17.72 inch gun Rifled breechloaders (Armstrong) RBL 20 pounder RBL 40 pounder RBL 7 inch 110 pounder Rifled muzzle-loaders (Lancaster) 68-Pounder Lancaster gun Rifled muzzle-loaders (converted) RML 64 pounder 71 cwt Rifled muzzle-loaders (Woolwich) RML 9 pounder 8 cwt RML 64 pounder 64 cwt RML 7 inch RML 8 inch RML 9 inch RML 10 inch RML 11 inch RML 12 inch 25 ton RML 12 inch 35 ton RML 12.5 inch RML 16 inch Quick-firing guns QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt QF 12 pounder 12 cwt Mk I QF 4 inch QF 4.7 inch QF 6 inch Breech-loaders (new pattern) BL 4 inch BL 5 inch BL 6 inch 80 pounder BL 6 inch Mk II - VI BL 8 inch BL 9.2 inch Mk I - VII BL 9.2 inch Mk VIII BL 10 inch BL 12 inch Mk I - VII BL 12 inch Mk VIII BL 13.5 inch BL 16.25 inch Light weapons Gatling gun Gardner gun Nordenfelt machine gun 1-inch Nordenfelt gun Torpedoes Whitehead torpedo