BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer

BL 6 inch 26 cwt Howitzer
300px A 6 inch 26 cwt on World War II pneumatic tyres at Firepower - The Royal Artillery Museum.
Type	Medium howitzer
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1915 to 1945
Used by	United Kingdom Canada Union of South Africa Australia New Zealand Kingdom of Italy Netherlands Belgium Kingdom of Greece Russian Empire Portugal
Wars	World War I World War II
Production history
Designer	Vickers
Designed	1915
Manufacturer	Vickers, Beardmore, Coventry Ordnance Works, Woolwich Ordnance Factory, Midvale Steel Company
Number built	3,633
Specifications
Weight	Barrel: 2,856 lb (1,295 kg) Total: 8,142 lb (3,693 kg)
Length	21 ft 7 in (6.58 m)
Barrel length	Bore: Total: L/13.3
Width	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Crew	10
Shell	Gas Incendiary High explosive
Shell weight	WWI: WWII:
Calibre
Breech	Welin screw
Recoil	Hydro-pneumatic, variable
Carriage	Box trail
Elevation	0° to +45°
Traverse	4° L & R
Rate of fire	Max: 2 rpm
Muzzle velocity	Max: 1,400 ft/s (430 m/s)
Maximum firing range	WWI shell : 9,500 yards (8,700 m) WWII shell : 11,400 yards (10,400 m)
Sights	Calibrating (1930s) & reciprocating

The Ordnance BL 6 inch 26cwt howitzer was a British howitzer used during World War I and World War II. The qualifier "26cwt" refers to the weight of the barrel and breech together which weighed 26 long hundredweight (1.3 t).

History

World War I

File:6inch26cwtHowitzerBatteryFiring.jpg

Battery firing, World War I

File:6inchHowitzerPozieresSeptember1916.jpg

Use of girdles around wheels, Somme September 1916

File:6inch26cwtHowitzerBoesinghe16August1917.jpg

Near Boesinghe, Battle of Langemarck, August 1917

It was developed to replace the obsolescent 6 inch 25 cwt and 6 inch 30 cwt howitzers which were outclassed by German artillery such as the 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 13. Design began in January 1915, the first proof-firing occurred on 30 July 1915 and it entered service in late 1915. Its combination of firepower, range and mobility (for its day) made it one of the British Empire's most important weapons in World War I.

It was originally towed by horses but from 1916 onwards was commonly towed by the "FWD" 4 wheel drive 3 ton lorry as heavy field artillery. The wooden spoked wheels could be fitted with "girdles" for work in mud or sand to prevent them sinking. Towards the end of the war solid rubber tyres were fitted over the iron tyres on the wheel rims, giving the rims a heavier appearance. It fired 22.4 million rounds on the Western Front.

World War II

British battery in action at Tobruk, 23 January 1941

During the interwar period the carriage had its wooden spoked wheels replaced with modern steel wheels and pneumatic tyres. During World War II, its use was restricted after 1942 when the replacement BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun came into use. It was however reintroduced in Burma due to a number of premature detonations in 5.5-inch (140 mm) guns. It was declared obsolete with the end of the war in 1945.

Captured examples received the designation FH-412(e) in German use.

Surviving examples

File:BL6inch26cwtHowitzer71SiegeBatteryMemorialJburgZooLeftSide.jpg

Restored gun, the Memorial to 71st (Transvaal) Siege Battery at Johannesburg Zoo.

• Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, London
• Army Memorial Museum, Waiouru, New Zealand
• Royal Australian Artillery Museum, North Head, Sydney, Australia
• Museo della guerra (War Museum), Rovereto (Italy)
• South Africa : The Imperial Government presented 6 howitzers to the Union of South Africa after World War I and the six South African Heavy Artillery Memorials were designed, commissioned and paid for by the South African Heavy Artillery Association to honour their fallen Comrades-in-Arms : Memorial to 71st (Transvaal) Siege Battery at Johannesburg Zoo (restored); 72nd (Griqualand West) Siege Battery at Clyde N Terry Museum, Kimberley; 73rd (Cape) Siege Battery at Company Gardens, Cape Town; 74th (Eastern Province) Siege Battery at National Museum, Bloemfontein (Restoration is about to begin, May 2009); 75th (Natal) Siege Battery, Warriors' Gate MOTH Shellhole, Old Fort Road, Durban; 125th (Transvaal) Siege Battery near the Union Buildings, Pretoria.

These guns are being restored by the Gunner's Association of South Africa

• National Museum of Military History, Saxonwold, Johannesburg, South Africa
• The Central Museum of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, Shilo Manitoba

World War I ammunition

Projectiles used in World War I weighed . A lighter long-range projectile was introduced in November 1918, too late to see service in the war

• BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer 4 lb 11.5 oz cordite MD or RDB cartridge Mark II diagrams.jpg

  4lb 11½oz cordite cartridge

• 6-inch BL or QF Mk XIIA common pointed artillery shell diagram.jpg

  Common pointed 100lb shell Mark XIIA

• BL 6 inch 26 cwt howitzer chemical shell light Mk VIII diagram.jpg

  100lb chemical shell Mark VIII

• BL 6 inch 26 cwt howitzer high explosive light shell Mark XVI diagram.jpg

  High explosive 100lb shell Mark XVI

See also

• List of howitzers

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

• Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider French equivalent
• 15 cm sFH 13 German equivalent
• 152 mm howitzer M1910 Russian equivalent

Bibliography

• Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005 ISBN 978-1-84176-788-8
• General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Western Front 1914-18. London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986. ISBN 978-1-870114-00-4
• I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972. ISBN 978-0-7110-0381-1

External links

• Handbook of the B.L. 6-inch 26-cwt. mark I howitzer on mark I travelling carriage, (land service), 1919. Hosted online by State Library of Victoria, Australia
• Video clips on YouTube
• Nigel F Evans, British Artillery in World War 2. 6-Inch Howitzer
• W L Ruffell, BL 6-in 26-cwt howitzer
• 6 inch 26 cwt Howitzer at Landships