BL 6-inch Gun Mk XIX

Ordnance BL 6 inch gun Mk XIX
BL 6 inch gun Mk XIX, France 1918
Type	Heavy field gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Service history
In service	1916 - 1940
Used by	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United States Brazil Union of South Africa
Wars	World War I, World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	Vickers
Number built	310
Specifications
Weight	10,248 lb (4,684 kg) (gun & breech) 10 tons 3½ cwt (10,340 kg) (total)
Barrel length	35 calibres

Shell	HE 100 lb (45 kg)
Calibre	6 in (152 mm)
Breech	Welin interrupted screw with Asbury mechanism^[1]
Recoil	Hydro pneumatic, variable
Carriage	Wheeled, box trail
Elevation	0° to 38°^[1]
Traverse	4° L & R^[1]
Muzzle velocity	2,350 ft/s (720 m/s)^[1]
Maximum firing range	16,500 yd (15,100 m) (2 crh shell); 17,800 yd (16,300 m) (4 crh shell); 18,750 yd (17,140 m) (6 crh shell)^[1]

The British BL 6 inch Gun Mk XIX^{[note 1]} was introduced in 1916 as a lighter and longer-range field gun replacement for the obsolescent BL 6 inch Gun Mk VII.

History, description

The gun was designed and built by Vickers specifically as a field gun, unlike its predecessors which originated as naval guns. Its length was reduced from the 45 calibres of its naval gun predecessors, to 35 calibres, to reduce weight and improve mobility. It utilized the modern carriage and recoil mechanism of the BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk 6.

The gun barrel was of wire-wound construction: "The gun body is of steel and consists of tubes, a series of layers of steel wire, jacket, breech bush and breech ring".^[2]

"The breech mechanism is operated by means of a lever on the right side of the breech. On pulling the lever to the rear the breech screw is automatically unlocked and swung into the loading position. After loading, one thrust of the lever inserts the breech screw and turns it into the locked position. The breech mechanism is similar to that used on the 8 inch howitzers both in design and operation".^[2]

Operational history

Gun built in 1918 and bought for coast defence by the Brazilian Army in 1940, now on display at the Museum of the History of the Brazilian Army at Fort Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro.

British service

310 were built during World War I^[3] and the gun served in all theatres, with 108 being in service on the Western front at the end of World War I,^[1] but it did not completely replace the Mk VII gun until the end of the war.

3 batteries served with the BEF in France early in World War II, and others were deployed in the home defence of Britain. The gun was superseded by the 155-mm Gun M1, and the carriages used for BL 7.2-inch howitzer^[4]

US Service

"Handbook of artillery" of May 1920 stated that :

"The original British ammunition so closely resembled the American that it was decided to use the [US] regular Mark II high-explosive shell... the propellant charge will consist of a base section and increment section having a total weight of approximately 25 pounds".^[5]

Brazil service

Brazil purchased these guns from USA in 1940 for coastal defense.

South African service

Prior to the outbreak of World War II there were plans to use these guns in the fortification of Durban, Cape Town and Saldanha Bay.^[6]

For a short period, two guns were deployed for the protection of Port Elizabeth harbour at the outbreak of World War II.^[7]

Surviving examples

Gun at Signal Hill, Cape Town

On display at the South African National Museum of Military History

A gun bought by Brazil from USA in 1940 is displayed at the Brazilian Army museum, Copacabana.
A Mark XIX mounted on a Mark XIII carriage can be seen at the South African National Museum of Military History, Johannesburg.
The Apostle Battery in Hout Bay, South Africa has another on display.^[8]
A gun on display at Signal Hill, Cape Town, South Africa.

Image gallery

Sights used when mounted on a Mark XIII traversing carriage
Diagram showing left elevation
Diagram showing plan
British Mk XVI HE shell, WWI

Notes

↑ I.e. Mark 19 : Britain at the time designated Marks (models) of ordnance using Roman numerals. This was a field gun and field ordnance normally used a different Mark series to naval ordnance, but unusually the next available Mark number in the 6-inch naval gun series was used, rather than Mark I as the first 6-inch BL field gun.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 146
1 2 Handbook of artillery, United States. Army. Ordnance Dept, May 1920, page 245
↑ Clarke 2005, page 40
↑ Nigel F Evans, BRITISH ARTILLERY IN WORLD WAR 2. THE GUNS
↑ Handbook of artillery, May 1920, page 277
↑ Lt Col Ian van der Waag. "A brief military history of the Saldanha Bay area". University of Stellenbosch - Saldanha Campus (Military History Department). Archived from the original on 25 June 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
↑ Richard Tomlinson. "Artillery Buildings in Algoa Bay". The South African Military History Society. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
↑ "Military History Group". Hout Bay & Llandudno Heritage Trust. Retrieved 2008-07-12.

Bibliography

I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972. ISBN 978-0-7110-0381-1
Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005 ISBN 978-1-84176-788-8
Handbook of artillery : including mobile, anti-aircraft and trench matériel (1920). United States. Army. Ordnance Dept, May 1920

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BL 6 inch Mk XIX gun.

Per Finsted, Om den engelske 6-tommers feltkanon 1914-1940 (in Danish)

British Empire Small Arms & Ordnance of the First World War

No. 1
No. 2 Hales Pattern
Nos. 3, 20, 24, 35 Hales rifle grenades
Nos. 5, 23, 36 Mills
No. 6
Nos. 8, 9 Jam Tin
No. 13 Battye
No. 14 Pitcher
No. 15 Ball
No. 16 Oval
No. 17 Opera hat
No. 18
No. 19
No. 21 "Spherical"
No. 22 Newton-Pippin
No. 25 Sangster
No. 27
No. 28 Chemical
No. 29 Gas
No. 31 Day Signal
No. 32 Night Signal
No. 32 "Spherical E"
No. 34 Egg
No. 37
No. 39 Steuart Pattern

Artillery

Tank guns	QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss QF 6 pounder 6 cwt

Infantry guns	1.59-inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II ("Vickers-Crayford rocket gun")

Field Artillery	BL 12 pounder 6 cwt QF 12 pounder 8 cwt QF 12 pounder 18 cwt QF 13 pounder BL 15 pounder BLC 15 pounder QF 15 pounder QF 18 pounder QF 4 inch gun Mk III BL 4 inch gun Mk VII QF 4.5 inch Howitzer

Mountain artillery	RML 2.5 inch Mountain Gun BL 10 pounder Mountain Gun BL 2.75-inch Mountain Gun QF 2.95 inch Mountain Gun QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer

Howitzers, medium, and heavy artillery	QF 4.7 inch Gun BL 5 inch Howitzer BL 5.4 inch Howitzer BL 60 pounder gun BLC 6 inch siege gun BL 6 inch Gun Mk VII BL 6 inch Gun Mk XIX BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer BL 6-inch 30 cwt howitzer BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk I - V BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk VI - VIII

Siege artillery	BL 7.5 inch Mk III naval gun BL 9.2-inch howitzer BL 9.2 inch Mk X naval gun BL 12 inch Howitzer BL 12 inch Mk X naval gun BL 15 inch Howitzer

Coastal artillery	QF 4 inch naval gun Mk I – III BL 6 inch Mk VII naval gun BL 9.2 inch gun Mk IX–X RML 9 inch

Mortars

Grenade launchers

Smoke and chemical weapons

Railway guns

Anti-aircraft guns

Foreign weapon designs
in British Empire Armies use

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 18 inch railway howitzer

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