Ordnance BL 12-pounder 6 cwt

Ordnance BL 12 pounder 6 cwt
On the parade ground circa. 1897
Type	Light field gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1894–1916
Used by	British Empire
Wars	Second Boer War World War I
Specifications
Weight	Mk IV : 656 pounds (298 kg) (barrel & breech), 2,008 pounds (911 kg) (total)^[1]
Barrel length	Mk I : Bore 59 inches (1,499 mm);^[2] Mk IV : Bore 66 inches (1,676 mm), total 71.05 inches (1,805 mm)^[1]

Shell	Separate loading BL, 12.5 pounds (5.67 kg) Shrapnel
Calibre	3-inch (76.2 mm)
Elevation	-8° - 16°^[1]
Traverse	nil
Rate of fire	7-8 rounds/minute^[3]
Muzzle velocity	1,585 feet per second (483 m/s)^[1]
Maximum firing range	3700 yds (No. 56 Fuze, Time setting) 5800 yds (No. 57 Fuze, Time setting) 5400 yds (No. 56 Fuze, Percussion setting)^[4]

The Ordnance BL 12 pounder 6 cwt^{[note 1]} was a lighter version of the British 12 pounder 7 cwt gun, used by the Royal Horse Artillery in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

History

Problems arose when the standard BL 12 pounder 7 cwt gun was used in the great Indian cavalry manoeuvres of 1891. The carriage was found to be too complicated, and dust caused the metal surfaces of the axle traversing device to seize.^[5] It also proved too heavy for horse artillery, which was intended to support cavalry in battle, to manoeuvre.

The 12 pounder 6 cwt gun was therefore developed in 1892, when the new more powerful cordite replaced gunpowder, as a lighter version of the BL 12 pounder 7 cwt gun. It had a barrel 18 inches (460 mm) shorter, on a lighter and simpler carriage, and it entered service in 1894. In 1899 a primitive recoil-absorbing system was added. The weapon was made obsolete in British service by the acquisition of the modern quick-firing Ehrhardt QF 15 pounder in 1901, and was replaced by that and later by the QF 13 pounder from 1905.

No. 56 Fuze

The early No. 56 Fuze burned too fast, a maximum of only 13 seconds, and hence could only be time set for a maximum range of 3700 yards. The No. 57 "Blue" Fuze was introduced during the Boer war. It had a slower burning powder train and hence could be time set for ranges up to 5800 yards. A maximum range of 6000 yards was quoted in use in the First World War.^[6]

Combat use

Second Boer War

The gun was used by the Royal Horse Artillery, and together with the BL 15 pounder, it provided the main British firepower. Eighteen guns were also used by the Royal Canadian Artillery in this war.^[7] A total of 78 guns fired 36,161 shells.^[8]

World War I

A battery of 6 guns served in the East African Campaign as the 8th Field Battery. It arrived with the Calcutta Artillery Volunteers in October 1914, and the guns were towed by teams of oxen.^[9]

Surviving examples

A survivor in the Royal Artillery Park (Halifax)

The Central Museum of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, Shilo Manitoba
One piece made in 1901 and marked "RCD 1907" on gun-metal sight mount, with King Edward VII cypher and crown inletted in top of barrel, parked in front of Stethem Hall, the HQ building of CFB Kingston.

Notes

↑ British military traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately 12 pounds (5.4 kg). "6 cwt" referred to the weight of the gun and barrel to differentiate it from other "12 pounder" guns. One hundredweight (cwt) is 112 pounds (51 kg), so the total weight was 672 pounds (305 kg)

References

1 2 3 4 Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 52
↑ Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Table XII, Page 336
↑ Hall, June 1971
↑ Hall, June 1971.
↑ Hall, December 1972
↑ Hogg & Thurston 1972
↑ Canada & The South African War, 1899-1902. Units. Brigade Division, Royal Canadian Field Artillery
↑ Appendices 28 and 29 of the Royal Commission on the War in South Africa
↑ Farndale 1988, page 316

Bibliography

Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE
Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Field Army Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2004 ISBN 1-84176-688-7
General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Forgotten Fronts and the Home Base 1914-18 ISBN 1-870114-05-1
Major Darrell D. Hall, "Guns in South Africa 1899-1902" in The South African Military History Society. Military History Journal - Vol 2 No 1, June 1971
Major Darrell D. Hall, "Field Artillery of the British Army 1860-1960. Part I, 1860 - 1900" in The South African Military History Society. Military History Journal - Vol 2 No 4, December 1972 (web page is incorrectly titled 1900-1914)
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 12 pounder 6 cwt Gun.

Diagram of 12pr B.L. 6cwt Field Mark I & II from Victorian Forts and Artillery website

British Empire Small Arms & Ordnance of the Victorian era

Side arms

Muskets and Rifles

Artillery

Field Artillery	SBML 9 pounder 13 cwt RBL 9 pounder RBL 12 pounder RBL 20 pounder RML 9 pounder 8 cwt RML 13 pounder 8 cwt RML 16 pounder 12 cwt BL 12 pounder 7 cwt BL 12 pounder 6 cwt QF 12 pounder 8 cwt BL 15 pounder QF 1 pounder pom-pom

Mountain artillery	RML 7 pounder Mountain Gun RML 2.5 inch Mountain Gun

Howitzers, medium, and heavy artillery	RML 6.3 inch Howitzer RML 6.6 inch howitzer BL 5 inch Howitzer BL 5.4 inch Howitzer

Siege & garrison artillery	SBBL 32 pounder SBML 24 pounder SBML 8 inch 65 cwt RBL 40 pounder RBL 7 inch RML 25 pounder 18 cwt RML 40 pounder gun RML 64 pounder 64 cwt gun RML 64 pounder 58 cwt RML 64 pounder 71 cwt gun RML 80 pounder RML 6.6 inch gun RML 8 inch howitzer BL 5 inch gun Mk I - V BL 6 inch 30 cwt howitzer BL 9.45-inch howitzer

Coastal artillery	QF 4.7 inch BL 6 inch Mk III, IV, VI BL 6 inch Mk V RBL 7 inch RML 7 inch RML 8 inch BL 8 inch Mk VII RML 9 inch BL 9.2 inch Mk IV & VI BL 10 inch Mk I BL 12 inch Mk I, VI, VII RML 12.5 inch RML 16 inch RML 17.72 inch

Mortars

13 inch 36 cwt mortar
10 inch 18 cwt mortar
8 inch 9 cwt mortar

War rockets

Congreve 6-pounder
Congreve 12-pounder
Congreve 24-pounder
Boxer
Hales 9-pounder
Hales 24-pounder

Machine guns

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

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