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BL 8-inch Mk I – VII naval gun

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Naval gun

Ordnance BL 8 inch gun Mks I - VII
Mk VII ondisappearing carriage atNorth Head,Devonport, New Zealand
Type	Naval gun Coast defence gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1884 - 190?
Used by	United Kingdom Colonial navies of Australia New Zealand Singapore
Production history
Designer	Mk I, VI :RGF Mk VII :EOC
Manufacturer	Mk I, III, IV :RGF Mk III, IV, VI, VIIEOC
Unit cost	£6,015^[1]
Variants	Mks III, IV, VI, VII, VIIA
Specifications
Mass	Mk III & VI : 14 tons Mk IV : 15 tons Mk VII : 12 tons Mk VIIA : 13 tons barrel & breech^[2]
Barrel length	Mk III : 201 inches (5,105 mm) Mk VII : 204 inches (5,182 mm) Mk IV & VI : 237 inches (6,020 mm) bore^[2]

Shell	Mks III, IV, VI : 210 pounds (95.25 kg) Mk VII : 180 pounds (81.65 kg)^{[note 1]}
Calibre	8-inch (203.2 mm)
Muzzle velocity	Mk III : 1,953 feet per second (595 m/s)^[3] Mk IV & VI : 2,150 feet per second (655 m/s)^[4] Mk VII : 2,000 feet per second (610 m/s)^[5]^[6]
Maximum firing range	8,000 yards (7,300 m)^[2]^[7]

TheBL 8 inch guns Mark I to Mark VII^{[note 2]} were the first generations of Britishrifled breechloaders of medium-heavy calibre. They were initially designed for gunpowder propellants and were of both 25.5 and 30calibres lengths.

History

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Mks I and II were several early proof guns that did not enter British service and Mk V was not made. Limited numbers of 25.5 and 30 calibres guns were produced.

By 1885 the Royal Navy abandoned the 8-inch gun in favour of the 9.2 inch and later the 7.5 inch gun for cruisers, until 1923 when the restrictions of theWashington Naval Treaty led Britain to develop theMk VIII 8-inch gun in order to armheavy cruisers with the largest gun allowed by the Treaty.

In the interim Elswick Ordnance continued to develop 8-inch guns in 40 calibre and 45-calibre lengths for export, mainly to Japan.

Mark III

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Mk III were low-powered 25-calibres guns mounted on :

HMS Bellerophon as re-gunned in 1885

Mark IV

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Mk IV were 30-calibres guns mounted in :

Mersey-class cruisers of 1885

Mark VI

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Mk VI were 30 calibres guns mounted in :

Indian monitorsAbyssinia andMagdala as re-gunned in 1892

Mark VII

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Mk VII were lighter 25-calibres low-powered guns firing a lighter 180-pound projectile used to equipAustralian colonial navies and Australian and New Zealand coastal defences in response to expected Russian expansionism in the Pacific (The "Russian scares" of the 1880s).

Naval service

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Mk VII guns armed the following Australian colonial gun vessels :

HMQSGayundah of 1884
HMCSProtector of 1884
HMVSAlbert of 1884
HMVSVictoria of 1884

Coast defence gun

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Mk VII guns were installed ondisappearing mountings in Australia and New Zealand as coast-defence guns during the "Russian scares" of the 1880s. In the event, no Russian invasion occurred and the guns were rarely if ever fired.

Four Mk VII coast defence guns were installed at Singapore in the 1880s-1890s : two atop Mount Serapong and two at Fort Tanjong Katong.^[8]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(October 2008)

Ammunition

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210 pound Mk Icommon shell

Surviving examples

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Mk VII atNorth Head,Devonport, New Zealand
Mk VII at summit ofMount Victoria, Auckland, New Zealand
Anunrestored Mk VII disappearing gun at Fort Jervois, Ripapa Island, New Zealand
Mk VII at Fort Siloso, Sentosa Island, Singapore See alsoPhotograph at Flickr
Mk VII at Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, London
A Mk VII gun from 1885 on hydro-pneumatic mounting atFort Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia
A pair of Mk VII guns at High Street inWestgarth /Northcote, Victoria, Australia^[9]
A pair of Mk VII guns at Kangaroo Battery,Rosny, Tasmania, Australia (INCORRECT, these guns are 8in RML, not BL)

Notes

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^Different types of shell had different weights : figures are for the gun's heaviest shell. Hence for the Mk VII gun the Victorian Navy Manual of 1895 quotes Common 168 lb, Segment 177 lb, Palliser, Case & Shrapnel 180 lb
^Mark I to Mark VII = Mark 1 to Mark 7. Britain usedRoman numerals to denote marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Hence these were the first 7 models of BL 8-inch naval gun.

References

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^Unit price for 10 Mk VII guns onhydro-pneumatic carriages, with 50 rounds per gun, delivered in London, as purchased by New Zealand in 1885.1885 New Zealand Harbour defences (Table showing amount required for) Laid on the Table by the Hon. Mr Ballance, with the Leave of the House.Archived 15 October 2008 at theWayback Machine
^^a ^b ^cText Book of Gunnery 1902, Table XII Page 336
^Mk III : 1953 ft/s firing 210-pound projectile using 104 lb Prismatic Brown powder or 28 lb 12 oz cordite Mk I size 20. Text Book of Gunnery 1902.
^Mks IV & VI : 2150 ft/s firing 210-pound projectile using 118 lb Prismatic brown powder or 32 lb 10 oz cordite Mk I size 20. Text Book of Gunnery 1902.
^Mk VII : 2,000 ft/s firing a 180 lb projectile, with 90 lb black prism powder (gunpowder); or 22 lb cordite MK I propellant size 20. Text Book of Gunnery, 1902
^Mk VII : Victorian Navy Manuals 1887 and 1895 quote 100 lb Black powder for "battering charge" and 90 lb for regular charge. Muzzle Velocity of 2027 ft/s is quoted with 180 lb projectile and 90 lb charge in the Victorian Navy Manual of 1895
^12000 yards is quoted for Mk VII gun in the Victorian Navy Manual of 1895
^"Fort Siloso. The Gun Museum. 8-inch BL gun". Archived fromthe original on 11 January 2010. Retrieved15 July 2010.
^Northcote's cannons - defending the neighbourhood Archived 2 July 2018 at theWayback MachineDarebin Heritage

Bibliography

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External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toBL 8 inch Mk I - VII naval gun.

Handbook for the 8-inch b.l. gun marks VII and VIIa Land service 1899 From State Library of Victoria.
Instructions for 8 inch Rifled Breech Loading Armstrong Gun and Hydro-Pneumatic Disappearing Carriage Describes Mk VII gun. From Australian National Archives
Instructions for 8 inch Rifled Breech Loading Armstrong Gun and Naval Carriage and Slide Describes Mk VII gun. From Australian National Archives

v t e British Empire naval weapons of theVictorian era
Smoothbore muzzle-loading cannons	18-pounder 24-pounder 32-pounder 55 cwt 32-pounder gun 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 small arms & ordnance of theVictorian era

Sidearms

Muskets andrifles

Artillery

Field Artillery	SBML 9 pounder 13 cwt RBL 9 pounder RBL 12-pounder RBL 20-pounder RML 9-pounder 8 cwt RML 13-pounder 8 cwt RML 16-pounder 12 cwt BL 12-pounder 7 cwt BL 12-pounder 6 cwt gun QF 12-pounder 8 cwt BL 15-pounder gun QF 1-pounder pom-pom
Mountain artillery	RML 7-pounder mountain gun RML 2.5-inch mountain gun
Howitzers, medium, andheavy artillery	RML 6.3-inch howitzer RML 6.6-inch howitzer BL 5-inch howitzer BL 5.4-inch howitzer
Siege & garrison artillery	4.1-inch 'Long Cecil' SBBL 32-pounder SBML 24-pounder SBML 8-inch 65 cwt RBL 40-pounder RBL 7-inch RML 25-pounder 18 cwt RML 40-pounder gun RML 64-pounder 64 cwt gun RML 64-pounder 58 cwt RML 64-pounder 71 cwt gun RML 80-pounder RML 6.6-inch gun RML 8-inch howitzer BL 5-inch gun Mk I – V BL 6-inch 30 cwt howitzer BL 9.45-inch howitzer
Coastal artillery	QF 3-pounder Nordenfelt QF 4.7-inch BL 6-inch Mk III, IV, VI BL 6-inch Mk V RBL 7-inch RML 7-inch RML 8-inch BL 8-inch Mk VII RML 9-inch BL 9.2-inch Mk IV & VI BL 10-inch Mk I BL 12-inch Mk I, VI, VII RML 12.5-inch RML 16-inch RML 17.72-inch