BL 13.5-inch Mk V naval gun

BL 13.5 inch Mk V gun
Rear turrets of HMS Thunderer
Type	Naval gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1912 - 1940s (as railway gun)
Used by	United Kingdom
Wars	World War I World War II
Production history
Designer	Vickers
Designed	1909
Variants	Mk V(L) Mk V(H) Mk VI
Specifications
Barrel length	Bore 50 ft 6 in (15.392 m) (45 cal)

Shell	H: 1,400 lb (635.03 kg) L: 1,250 lb (566.99 kg) HE, AP^{[note 1]}
Calibre	13.5-inch (342.9 mm)
Elevation	Naval: 0° - 20° Railway: 0° - 40°
Muzzle velocity	H: 2,491 ft/s (759 m/s) L: 2,582 ft/s (787 m/s)
Maximum firing range	H: 23,740 yards (21,710 m) at 20° L: 23,820 yards (21,780 m) at 20° H: 40,600 yards (37,120 m) at 40° (World War II railway gun, with Super Charge)

The BL 13.5 inch Mk V gun^{[note 2]} was a British heavy naval gun, introduced in 1912 as the main armament for the new super-dreadnought battleships of the Orion class. The calibre was 13.5 inches (343 mm) and the barrels were 45 calibres long i.e. 607.5 inches (15.43 m). The guns were greatly superior and unrelated to the earlier 13.5-inch (30-calibre) Mk I to Mk IV guns used on the Admiral, Trafalgar and Royal Sovereign classes completed between 1888 and 1896.

Background

The gun was developed in response to the relative failure of the British high-velocity 12-inch Mk XI and XII guns. Unlike Germany, which developed and deployed successful high-velocity 12-inch guns, Britain in this case switched to guns firing larger and heavier shells at lower velocity which could achieve similar performance in range and armour penetration but could deliver a heavier explosive charge on impact.

Characteristics

Q turret of the battlecruiser HMS Lion in June 1916 after damage at the Battle of Jutland. The turret mounted two 13.5-inch (343 mm) Mark V guns.

The gun was wire-wound and weighed approximately 168,000 lb (76 tonnes) (excluding the breech), and in its original form fired a 1,250 lb (567 kg) armour-piercing capped (APC) or high-explosive (HE) round a distance of 23,800 yards (21,800 m) at a 20-degree elevation.^[1]

Variants

Due to the excellent characteristics of the gun, it was decided to increase the weight of shell to 1,400 lb (635 kg), with an increased firing charge to achieve about the same range. The gun firing the lighter shell was designated Mark V(L) (for "light") by the Royal Navy, and the 1,400 lb version Mark V(H) (for "heavy").^[1] A very similar 1,400 lb gun, designed for the Ottoman battleship Reşadiye, received the designation Mark VI when the ship was requisitioned by the British government after the outbreak of the First World War, eventually being commissioned as HMS Erin.^[2]

Railway guns

Three BL 13.5 inch /45 Mark V guns, named Gladiator, Piece Maker [sic] and Scene Shifter, were mounted on railway chassis during World War II for use as railway guns.^[3] Scene Shifter re-used a railway truck which had carried a BL 14 inch Railway Gun in the First World War. In 1940 these guns were issued to the Royal Marine Siege Regiment at Dover in Kent to bombard German batteries and shipping in the Calais area.^[4] They could be stored in railway tunnels when not in use to protect them from attack.

Experimental hypervelocity gun

A 13.5/8 inch hypervelocity gun (a type of supergun) for stratospheric experiments was developed and deployed near St Margaret's in Kent. The weapon was a 13.5 inch gun Mark V lined down to 8 inches; the liner projected several feet beyond the 13.5 inch barrel. The concept was suggested by F. A. Lindemann, Winston Churchill's scientific advisor.^[5] Due to its deployment near the heavy cross-Channel guns and manning by the Royal Marine Siege Regiment, it is often erroneously assumed to have been intended as a cross-Channel gun. It was initially named Wilfred, but this was soon changed to Bruce, after Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser.^[6] The projectiles were custom-made with external rifling to match the gun's rifling, with tighter tolerances than normal; this resulted in the need for a screwdriver-type tool to ram the projectiles. The rate of fire was very low as a result; but this was not a major concern in an experimental piece. Both High Explosive and High Velocity shells were made for the gun; the High Velocity shell was a smoke shell, intended to burst at high altitude. Observations of the smoke were used to study conditions in the stratosphere. The gun was first test-fired in June 1942 at the Isle of Grain, also in Kent.^[6] The gun was deployed near St. Margaret's on 21 January 1943 and experimental firing commenced on 30 March 1943. Successful experiments with smoke shells were conducted in February 1944. The intended burst zone for the smoke shells was 30 miles (48 km) horizontally from the gun and 95,000 feet (29,000 m) altitude. These trials resulted in the need for a new barrel or liner; the replacement took about two weeks.^[6] The data from these experiments was important in the development of the Grand Slam bomb.^[7] After further experimental firings, the weapon was taken out of service in February 1945.^[6]

Service

British warships with the BL 13.5 inch /45 gun;

Orion-class battleships: Mark V(L)
King George V-class battleships of 1911: Mark V(H)
Iron Duke-class battleships: Mark V(H)
HMS Erin, a battleship: Mark VI
Lion-class battlecruisers: Mark V(L)
HMS Queen Mary, a battlecruiser : Mark V(H)
HMS Tiger, a battlecruiser : Mark V(H)

Notes

↑ The gun had a Heavy (H) shell of 1,400 lb (640 kg) and a Light (L) shell of 1,250 lb (570 kg). Some guns were designated H or L to designated they were intended for the heavy or light shell.
↑ Mk V = Mark 5. Britain used Roman numerals to identify Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. This was the fifth model of British 13.5 inch gun

References

1 2 navweaps.com - 13.5-in/45 Mark V
↑ navweaps.com - 13.5-in/45 Mark VI
↑ Dale Clarke. "British Artillery 1914-19. Heavy Artillery". Osprey Publishing, London, 2005. Pages 41-42
↑ http://www.doverpages.co.uk/big_guns.htm The Big Guns At Dover WW2 World War Two
↑ Maurice-Jones, p. 240
1 2 3 4 Sussex History Forum post with material from RMSR War Diary
↑ Flower, p. 95

Bibliography

DiGiulian,Tony, British 13.5"/45 (34.3 cm) Mark V(L) 13.5"/45 (34.3 cm) Mark V(H)
Flower, Stephen (2004). Barnes Wallis’ Bombs. Strood: Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-2987-6.
Maurice-Jones, K. W. (2009). The History of Coast Artillery in the British Army. Uckfield, East Sussex: The Naval & Military Press Ltd. ISBN 1-8457-4031-9.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BL 13.5 inch Mk V naval gun.

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 Commonwealth artillery of World War II

Tank guns	QF 2 pounder QF 3 pounder QF 6 pounder QF 75 mm QF 3 inch Howitzer QF 17 pounder 77 mm HV QF 95 mm Howitzer

Anti-tank guns	QF 2 pounder QF 6 pounder QF 17 pounder

Field guns and howitzers	75 mm Gun M1917 QF 18 pounder 25 pounder Gun-Howitzer 25 pounder Short QF 4.5-inch howitzer

Medium and heavy guns and howitzers	BL 4.5-inch Medium Field Gun BL 60-pounder gun BL 5.5-inch Medium Gun BL 6 inch Howitzer BL 6-inch Gun Mk XIX 155 mm Long Tom BL 7.2-inch howitzer BL 8 inch Howitzer BL 9.2-inch howitzer 240 mm howitzer M1

Mountain guns	75mm Pack Howitzer M1 3.7 inch Mountain Howitzer

Mortars	SBML 2inch Mortar ML 3-inch Mortar ML 4.2 inch Mortar

Anti-aircraft weapons	Z Battery 20 mm Oerlikon 20 mm Polsten QF 1½-pounder Mk III QF 2-pounder naval gun Bofors 40 mm QF 3 inch QF 3.7 inch QF 4.5 inch Mk II QF 5.25 inch Mk II

Coast defence	QF 6 pounder 10 cwt QF 12 pounder QF 4.7-inch Mk I–IV BL 6 inch Mk VII & Mk XXIV BL 7.5 inch Mk VI BL 8 inch Mk VIII BL 9.2 inch Mk X BL 14 inch Mk VII BL 15 inch Mk I

Railway artillery	BL 9.2 inch Mk XIII railway gun BL 12 inch Mk V railway howitzer BL 13.5 inch Mk V railway gun BL 18 inch railway howitzer

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