BL 9.2-inch Mk XI naval gun

BL 9.2-inch Mk XI gun
BL 9.2-inch Mk XI gun
	Agamemnon fires her 9.2-inch secondary guns at Ottoman Turkish forts at Sedd el Bahr on 4 March 1915
Type	Naval gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1908 – 1920[1]
Used by	United Kingdom
Wars	World War I
Production history
Designer	Vickers
Designed	1902[2]
Specifications
Mass	28 tons barrel & breech
Barrel length	38 ft 4 in (11.68 m) bore (50 cal)
Shell	380 pounds (172.4 kg) Lyddite, Armour-piercing, Shrapnel[3]
Calibre	9.2 inches (233.7 mm)
Muzzle velocity	2,875 ft/s (876 m/s)[4]

The BL 9.2-inch Mark XI gun[note 1] was a British 50 calibre high-velocity naval gun which was mounted as primary armament on armoured cruisers and secondary armament on pre-dreadnought battleships.

History

The gun with its increased length of 50 calibres was an attempt to extract a higher velocity, and hence more range and armour-piercing capability, from the 9.2-inch gun. Like other British 50-calibre guns of the period, it was relatively unsuccessful and was the last model of 9.2-inch gun Britain built.

Guns were mounted in the following ships :

Minotaur-class armoured cruisers laid down 1905 & completed 1908–1909: 2 twin mounts.
Lord Nelson-class battleships laid down 1905 & completed 1908: 4 twin mounts and 2 single mounts.

After the scrapping of these ships, these guns and mountings were retained in storage. There was the intention, at one point, early during World War Two, to use them as armament for small monitors which would have been reduced versions of the Roberts-class monitors; this however never advanced beyond the planning stage.

Notes

Mark XI = Mark 11. Britain use Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Hence this was the eleventh model of BL 9.2-inch gun.

References

1908–1920 : Dates of commissioning and scrapping of the ships. The guns were not used again after removal.
The National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew. SUPP 6/61
380 lb shells : Treatise on Ammunition, 1915
2875 ft/second : As quoted in "Range Tables for His Majesty's Fleet, 1910. February, 1911"; with 130 ½ lb cordite MD propellant : Treatise on Ammunition, 1915

Bibliography

The National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew. SUPP 6/61

External links

Tony DiGiulian, British 9.2"/50 (23.4 cm) Mark XI

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[5] Mark XI = Mark 11. Britain use Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Hence this was the eleventh model of BL 9.2-inch gun.

[1] 1908–1920 : Dates of commissioning and scrapping of the ships. The guns were not used again after removal.

[2] The National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew. SUPP 6/61

[3] 380 lb shells : Treatise on Ammunition, 1915

[4] 2875 ft/second : As quoted in "Range Tables for His Majesty's Fleet, 1910. February, 1911"; with 130 ½ lb cordite MD propellant : Treatise on Ammunition, 1915

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 15-inch Mk I 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 I – IV BL 13.5-inch Mk V BL 13.5-inch Mk VI 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-pounder 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 Mk I – III 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-pounder 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