RML 8 inch howitzer
| RML 8 inch howitzer | |
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| RML 8 inch 46 cwt howitzer diagram
RML 8 inch 46 cwt howitzer diagram, pub. 1879 (HMSO)
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| Type | Howitzer |
| Place of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1872 - 1902 |
| Used by | British Empire |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Woolwich Arsenal |
| Manufacturer | Woolwich Arsenal |
| Variants | 46 cwt Mark I and II 70 cwt Mark I and II[note 1] |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 46-long-hundredweight (2,300 kg) |
| Crew | 9 |
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| Shell | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). (common shell) Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). (shrapnel) |
| Calibre | 8 inches (203.2 mm) |
| Action | RML |
| Breech | none – muzzle-loading |
| Muzzle velocity | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). |
| Effective firing range | 3,500 yards (3,200 m) |
The RML 8 inch howitzer was a British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) Howitzer manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately 180 pounds (82 kg). It was used in siege batteries and in fortifications.
Contents
Design and manufacture
The gun consisted of an 'A' tube of toughened steel, over which was shrunk a 'B' tube of wrought iron and jacket. A cascable was fitted at the end. The Howitzer was rifled in which studs protruding from the side of the shell engaged with four spiral grooves in the barrel.
Three planes were machined on the upper surface of the Howitzer, for use with quadrants enabling it to be elevated to 30 degrees. This enabled the gun to be sighted for indirect, or direct fire.
Operation
The Howitzer was normally deployed in batteries of four guns. Each gun was pulled by a team of elephants. It had a crew of nine men. In addition to each gun, a limbered ammunition trailer was also deployed with each gun.
Ammunition
Guns were fired using a silk bag containing a black powder propellant. They used three types of ammunition – Common shell (for use against buildings or fortifications), shrapnel shell (for use any Infantry or Cavalry) and case shot (for close range use against 'soft' targets. Ignition was through a copper lined vent at the breech end of the gun. A copper friction tube would be inserted and a lanyard attached. When the lanyard was pulled the tube would ignite, firing the gun.[1] A number of different fuzes could be used enabling shells to either burst at a pre-determined time (and range), or on impact. A typical rate of fire was one round per minute.
Service history
Rifled Muzzle Loading howitzers were selected by the Royal Artillery in the 1870s to replace obsolete smooth bore Mortars and howitzers, as they had great range and accuracy. They were only semi-mobile and were used by Garrison batteries of the Royal Artillery in India, drawn by elephants, or kept in fixed emplacements.
See also
Surviving Examples
- A 70 cwt variant is preserved at Fort Rinella, Malta
Notes
- ↑ cwt = hundredweight =112 pounds (51 kg). Britain typically used the weight of the gun barrel rounded to nearest cwt to differentiate versions of guns with the same calibre. Hence there were versions weighing 46 hundredweight (2,337 kg) and 70 hundredweight (3,556 kg). Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance. Mk I = Mark I, Mk II = Mark 2. Hence this article refers to the 2 models each of RML 8 inch 46 cwt and 70 cwt howitzers.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Bibliography
- Captain John F Owen R.A., "Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service", Prepared in the Royal Gun Factory, London, 1877, pages 177-178, 292.
- Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE
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