RML 8-inch 9-ton gun facts for kids
Quick facts for kids RML 8-inch 9-ton gun |
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Gundeck of HMS Northumberland
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| Type | Naval gun Coast defence gun |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1866–190? |
| Used by | Royal Navy |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Royal Arsenal |
| Unit cost | £568 |
| Variants | Mk I – Mk III |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 9 long tons (9.1 t) |
| Barrel length | 118 inches (3.0 m) bore + chamber |
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| Shell | 174 pounds 12 ounces (79.3 kg) |
| Calibre | 8-inch (203.2 mm) |
| Muzzle velocity | 1,420 feet per second (430 m/s) |
The British RML 8-inch 9-ton guns Mark I – Mark III were medium rifled muzzle-loading guns used to arm smaller ironclad warships and coast defence batteries in the later 19th century.
Contents
Design
In common with other Royal Ordnance RML designs of the 1860s, Mark I used the strong but expensive Armstrong system of a steel tube surrounded by a complex system of multiple wrought-iron coils, which was progressively simplified in Marks II and III to reduce costs : Mark III consisted only of A tube, B tube, breech coil and cascabel screw.
Rifling was of the "Woolwich" pattern of a small number of broad shallow grooves: 4 grooves with twist increasing from 0 to 1 turn in 40 calibres (i.e. in 320 inches) at the muzzle.
Ammunition
The ammunition was mainly studded, with the studs engaging in the Woolwich rifling grooves. However, a studless pointed common shell with automatic gas-check also became available later in the gun's life.
See also
- List of naval guns
Surviving examples
