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BL 4-inch Mk VII naval gun

Field	Value
name	Ordnance BL 4-inch gun Mk VII
image	BL4inchMkVIIGunHMASAustralia1918.jpg
image_size	300
caption	On , 1918
origin	United Kingdom
type	Naval gun
is_ranged	yes
is_artillery	yes
is_UK	yes
service	1908–1945
used_by	United Kingdom
wars	World War I
World War II
number	600
weight	4704 lb (barrel & breech)
part_length	201.25 in bore (50.3 calibres)
cartridge	31 lb Common pointed, Common lyddite
caliber	4 in
rate	6-8 rpm
velocity	2852 ft/s
max_range	11600 yd at 15°
breech	Welin, Single-motion screw
elevation	-10 degrees to +15 degrees

World War II The BL 4-inch gun Mk VIIMk VII = Mark 7. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Mark VII indicates this was the seventh model of BL 4-inch gun. was a British high-velocity naval gun introduced in 1908 as an anti-torpedo boat gun in large ships, and in the main armament of smaller ships. Of the 600 produced, 482 were still available in 1939 for use as coastal artillery and as a defensive weapon on Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS) during the Second World War.

Naval history

The guns armed the following warships :

s, laid down 1906
s, laid down 1907
scout cruisers, laid down 1907
, laid down 1909
battleships, laid down 1909
s, laid down 1909
s, laid down 1909
s, laid down 1909
Bristol-class light cruisers, laid down 1909
scout cruisers, laid down 1909
scout cruisers, laid down 1910
battleships, laid down 1911

The gun was succeeded in the "heavy" 4-inch class on new warships commissioned from 1914 onwards by the QF 4-inch Mk V. This new generation of warships were more heavily armed, and the BL Mk VII's role as secondary armament on capital ships and primary armament on cruisers was taken over by the BL 6-inch Mk VII and BL 6-inch Mk XII while the 4-inch calibre became the secondary armament on cruisers and primary armament on destroyers.

In World War II many guns were used to arm merchant ships.

World War I field gun service

A battery of 4 guns mounted on field carriages was first deployed with the South African Heavy Artillery in the German South West Africa campaign in 1915 and returned to England in September. They were then deployed in the East African Campaign from February 1916 with 11th Heavy Battery (renumbered 15th Battery from April 1916) manned by the Royal Marine Artillery.

Surviving examples

2 Mk VII guns from HMS New Zealand outside the Auckland War Memorial Museum

Notes

References

Sources

References

Campbell, ''Naval Weapons of WWII'', p. 43.
HANDBOOK for the 4" Mark VII. and VIII. B.L. Guns 1913
2852 ft/second firing a 31 lb 3 [[British ordnance terms#C.R.H.. CRH]] projectile, using 9 lb 5 oz 15 drams cordite MD size 16 propellant. HANDBOOK for the 4" Mark VII. and VIII. B.L. Guns 1913.
Campbell, ''Warship Volume X'', p. 53.
Farndale 1988, page 318

Info: Wikipedia Source

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naval-guns-of-the-united-kingdom world-war-i-naval-weapons-of-the-united-kingdom 100 mm-artillery

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