Ordnance QF 12-pounder 8 cwt

Ordnance QF 12 pounder 8 cwt
Royal Navy gun and crew, late 1890s
Type	Light field gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
Used by	British Empire
Wars	Second Boer War World War I
Production history
Designed	circa. 1894
Specifications
Barrel length	84 inch bore (28 calibres)^[1]

Shell	Separate QF, 12.5 pounds (5.67 kg) Shrapnel, Common Lyddite
Calibre	3-inch (76.2 mm)
Carriage	Wheeled, box trail
Muzzle velocity	1,585 feet per second (483 m/s)^[2]
Maximum firing range	5,100 yards (4,660 m)^[2]

The Ordnance QF 12 pounder 8 cwt was a Royal Navy "landing gun" intended for navy use ashore. "8 cwt" refers to the weight of the gun and breech, approximately 8 cwt = 8 x 112 lb (51 kg) = 896 lb. This was how the British often differentiated between guns of the same calibre or weight of shell. This gun had a short barrel and was of relatively low power compared to the 12 pounders of 12 and 18 cwt, although it fired the same shells.

History

Fourteen were converted into anti-aircraft guns as Mk I*.^[3]

The Royal Navy eventually replaced the gun with the 3.7 inch Mountain Howitzer.^[4]

Combat use

Second Boer War

The gun was used in the early stages of the Second Boer War in Natal.^[5]

World War I

In action at Fort Dachang, Cameroons, 1915

Australian and British gunners with gun in front lines at Gallipoli

These guns were employed on land in the West Africa campaign. They were also employed in the East Africa campaign ("Logan's Battery" 6th Field Battery, 2 guns, towed first by Hupmobile cars and then REO lorries).^[6]

This gun was briefly used in the Battle of Gallipoli, as the Royal Navy had supplies of ammunition for it when the army was short of ammunition for its own guns. Several guns were landed in July 1915 and operated from frontline trenches.^[4]

Surviving examples

A gun with HMS Victory in the background, at Portsmouth, UK

There is a surviving example held and maintained at Devonport Field Gun Association Heritage Centre & Museum at Crownhill Fort, Plymouth. There are also three examples at the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets summer training camp at HMCS Acadia in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. They still fired regularly, although they only fire blanks for ceremonial and training purposes.

In popular culture

The RN Field Gun may be seen 'in action' in the 1957 film "Yangtse Incident", when a group of these guns was used on the banks of the River Orwell to depict Chinese PLA gun batteries on the North bank of the Yangtze, which fired on HMS Amethyst as she steamed up to Nanking in April 1949.

Notes and references

↑ Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Page 337
1 2 1585 ft/s with 13¾ oz Cordite size 10. Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Page 337
↑ Friedman, p. 115
1 2 Clarke 2004, page 40
↑ Hall December 1971
↑ Farndale 1988

Bibliography

Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE
Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Field Army Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2004 ISBN 1-84176-688-7
General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery : Forgotten Fronts and the Home Base 1914-18. Royal Artillery Institution, London, 1988. ISBN 1-870114-05-1
Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
Major Darrell Hall, "Guns in South Africa 1899-1902 Part III and IV" The South African Military History Society Military History Journal - Vol 2 No 2, December 1971
Major Darrell Hall, "THE NAVAL GUNS IN NATAL 1899-1902" The South African Military History Society Military History Journal - Vol 4 No 3, June 1978

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to QF 12 pounder 8 cwt.

YouTube Running with 3/4 Soddin Ton! RN team practice with QF 12 pdr for Navy Gun Run
For access to view the surviving example

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 breechloaders (Armstrong)	RBL 9 pounder 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
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
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
Light weapons	Gatling gun Gardner gun Nordenfelt gun 1-inch Nordenfelt gun
Torpedoes	Whitehead torpedo

British Empire naval weapons of the First World War
Monitor guns	BL 9.2 inch Mk VI BL 9.2 inch Mk VIII BL 9.2 inch Mk X BL 9.2 inch Mk XII BL 12 inch Mk VIII US 14 inch 45 cal BL 18 inch Mk I
Capital ship main armament	Vickers 10 inch 45 cal EOC 10 inch 45 cal BL 12 inch Mk VIII BL 12 inch Mk IX BL 12 inch Mk X BL 12 inch Mk XI & XII EOC 12 inch 45 cal Mk XIII BL 13.5 inch Mk V EOC 14 inch 45 cal Mk I BL 15 inch Mk I
Armoured cruiser main armament	BL 7.5 inch Mk I BL 9.2 inch Mk X BL 9.2 inch Mk XI
Secondary armament and light cruiser main armament	QF 12 pdr 18 cwt QF 14 pounder Maxim-Nordenfelt QF 14 pounder Mk I & II QF 4 inch Mk III BL 4 inch Mk VII QF 4 inch Mk V BL 4 inch Mk IX BL 5.5 inch Mk I QF 6 inch BL 6 inch Mk VII BL 6 inch Mk XI BL 6 inch Mk XII BL 6 inch Mk XIII-XVIII BL 7.5 inch Mk II - Mk V
Destroyer and small cruiser armament	QF 12 pdr 12 cwt Mk II QF 4 inch Mk III BL 4 inch Mk VIII QF 4 inch Mk IV BL 4.7 inch Mk I
Merchant ship armament	QF 4.7 inch Mk I - IV QF 4.7 inch Mk V*
Submarine guns	BL 4 inch Mk XI QF 4 inch Mk XII
Anti-aircraft guns	QF 2 pounder "pom-pom" Mk II QF 3 inch 20 cwt QF 4 inch Mk V
Light weapons	.303 Vickers machine gun QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss QF 3 pounder Vickers QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss
Torpedoes	18 inch Mk V - VIII 21 inch Mk II 21 inch Mk IV
Mines	Spherical Mk I, II and III Vickers Elia mine Type H mine
Anti-submarine weapons	Type A Depth charge Type B Depth charge Type C Depth charge Type D Depth charge Type E Depth charge Type F Depth charge Type G Depth charge Cruiser Mine 7.5 inch howitzer
Landing guns	QF 12 pounder 8 cwt

British Empire small arms and ordnance of the First World War

No. 1
No. 2 Hales Pattern
Nos. 3, 20, 24, 35 Hales rifle grenades
Nos. 5, 23, 36 Mills
No. 6
Nos. 8, 9 Jam Tin
No. 13 Battye
No. 14 Pitcher
No. 15 Ball
No. 16 Oval
No. 17 Opera hat
No. 18
No. 19
No. 21 "Spherical"
No. 22 Newton-Pippin
No. 25 Sangster
No. 27
No. 28 Chemical
No. 29 Gas
No. 31 Day Signal
No. 32 Night Signal
No. 32 "Spherical E"
No. 34 Egg
No. 37
No. 39 Steuart Pattern

Artillery

Tank guns	QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss QF 6 pounder 6 cwt
Infantry guns	1.59-inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II ("Vickers-Crayford rocket gun")
Field Artillery	BL 12 pounder 6 cwt QF 12 pounder 8 cwt QF 12 pounder 18 cwt QF 13 pounder BL 15 pounder BLC 15 pounder QF 15 pounder QF 18 pounder QF 4 inch gun Mk III BL 4 inch gun Mk VII QF 4.5 inch Howitzer
Mountain artillery	RML 2.5 inch Mountain Gun BL 10 pounder Mountain Gun BL 2.75-inch Mountain Gun QF 2.95 inch Mountain Gun QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer
Howitzers, medium, and heavy artillery	QF 4.7 inch Gun BL 5 inch Howitzer BL 5.4 inch Howitzer BL 60 pounder gun BLC 6 inch siege gun BL 6 inch Gun Mk VII BL 6 inch Gun Mk XIX BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer BL 6-inch 30 cwt howitzer BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk I - V BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk VI - VIII
Siege artillery	BL 7.5 inch Mk III naval gun BL 9.2-inch howitzer BL 9.2 inch Mk X naval gun BL 12 inch Howitzer BL 12 inch Mk X naval gun BL 15 inch Howitzer
Coastal artillery	QF 12 pounder 12 cwt QF 4 inch naval gun Mk I – III BL 6 inch Mk VII naval gun BL 9.2 inch gun Mk IX–X RML 9 inch

Mortars

Grenade launchers

Smoke and chemical weapons

Railway guns

Anti-aircraft guns

Foreign weapon designs
in British Empire Armies use

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