BL 9.2-inch Railway Gun

Ordnance BL 9.2 inch Gun on truck, railway
Camouflaged Mk XIII gun in action in France in World War I
Type	Railway gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1915 - 1945
Used by	United Kingdom
Wars	First World War
Production history
Manufacturer	Elswick Ordnance Company
Specifications
Shell	HE 380 pounds (172.37 kg)
Calibre	9.2 inches (233.7 mm)
Recoil	inclined slide
Elevation	Mk I: 28° MK IV: 40°
Traverse	Mk I: 10° L & R Mk III: 360°
Effective firing range	Mk III & VI: 17,000 yd (15,540 m) Mk X: 21,000 yd (19,200 m) Mk XIII: 22,600 yd (20,670 m)
Filling	Lyddite, Amatol
Filling weight	40 pounds (18.14 kg)

The British Ordnance BL 9.2 inch gun on truck, railway mounted a variety of surplus 9.2 inch naval guns, together with the custom-designed Mk XIII railway gun, on various railway platforms to provide mobile long-range heavy artillery on the Western Front in World War I. Mk XIII remained in service for British home defence in World War II.

History

Second Boer War 1899-1902

The gun at Belfast, August 1900

A 9.2 inch railway gun was in fact first deployed in 1900. The British mounted a 9.2 inch gun from the Cape Town coastal defences on a railway truck and sent it up the railway line to support the British assault on Boer defences at Belfast, north-east of Johannesburg. The battle ended on 27 August 1900 before the gun arrived, and as the Boers thereafter resorted to guerrilla warfare this innovation was not used in action during the war.^[1]

World War I

Early in 1915 a variety of surplus Mk III and Mk VI 9.2-inch naval and coast-defence guns were adapted by the Elswick Ordnance Company for mounting on railway trucks for use in France and Belgium. They were mounted on Vavasseur slides, which travelled backwards and upwards to absorb the recoil, on "well-based" trucks, where the base was level with the axles.

These early mountings allowed 10° of traverse left and right, and moved forward and backwards alonged curved sections of track for further traversing. They limited elevation to 28° and hence limited maximum range. In March 1916 a modification increased elevation to 35°.^[2]

Mk X gun on Mk II "straight-back" truck

In June 1916 Elswick produced a more sophisticated turntable mounting with a loading platform, on a "straight-back" truck which mounted the gun much higher. This was lowered to the ground for firing, had outriggers for stability, allowed 360° traverse and elevation to 30°.^[3] The more modern Mk X gun was mounted on this design, together with 2 Mk X variants intended for Australian coast defence (Mk XT), 4 Vickers 45-calibre guns (Mk XIV) which were originally intended for a foreign order, and a specially developed 35-calibres railway gun (Mk XIII).

Mk XIII gun

The custom-designed 35-calibres Mk XIII gun had a heavier breech which allowed the trunnions to be closer to the breech and hence the breech did not depress as far when the barrel was elevated. On a new Mk IV mounting, Mk XIII guns could then be elevated to 40° and attain a range of 22,600 yards.^[4] These remained in service until 1945, serving in the home defence of Britain in World War II.

Combat service

HMS Iron Duke, a Mk III* or Mk VI gun on Mk I well-based railway truck, in action at Maricourt, Battle of the Somme, September 1916

9.2-inch railway guns expended 45,000 rounds during World War I.^[3] At the Armistice guns in service were :^[5]
  First Army : 6 guns : Batteries 366 (2), 461 (2), 523 (2)
  Second Army : 3 guns : Batteries 45 (2), 53 (1)
  Third Army : 4 guns : Batteries 363 (2), 442 (2)
  Fifth Army : 3 guns : Batteries 53 (1), 546 (2)

Mk XIII guns remained in service until 1945; all others were declared obsolete after World War I.^[6]

Notes and references

↑ Hall, June 1972
↑ On 20 January 1916 Admiral Percy Scott visited the front and pointed out to General Rawlinson that by "putting a piece on top of the mounting" an increase in elevation to 35° and range to 17,000 yards could be achieved, and Rawlinson agreed it was urgent. It took the War Office bureaucracy until 28 March to approve the changes and forward the altered plans to Armstrongs. The episode is recounted in Admiral Scott's memoirs "Fifty Years in the Royal Navy" published 1919, pages 322-323.
1 2 Clarke 2005, page 36
↑ Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 168-173
↑ Farndale 1986, Annex M
↑ Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 169

Bibliography

Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005 ISBN 1-84176-788-3
General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Western Front 1914-18. London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986. ISBN 1-870114-00-0
Major D Hall, The South African Military History Society. Military History Journal - Vol 2 No 3 June 1972. Guns in South Africa 1899-1902 Part V and VI
I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914 - 1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BL 9.2 inch Railway Gun.

Per Finsted, Om engelsk jernbaneartilleri under Første Verdenskrig (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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