QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun

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Ordnance QF 4 inch gun Mk V
300px
High-angle gun aboard sloop HMS Weston on convoy escort during World War II
Type Naval gun
Anti-aircraft gun
Coastal defence gun
Place of origin  United Kingdom
Service history
In service 1914 - 1940s
Used by British Empire
Wars World War I
World War II
Production history
Number built 944[1]
Specifications
Weight Barrel & breech: 4,890 lb (2,220 kg)[2]
Barrel length Bore: Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
(45 cal)
Total: Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).[2]
Shell Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). fixed QF or Separate-loading QF
Calibre Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Breech horizontal sliding block
Recoil hydro-pneumatic or hydro-spring Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Elevation mounting dependent
Traverse mounting dependent
Muzzle velocity Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).[2]
Maximum firing range Surface: Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).[3]
AA: Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).[2]
Filling Lyddite, Amatol
Filling weight Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).

The QF 4 inch Mk V gun[note 1] was a Royal Navy gun of World War I which was adapted on HA (i.e. high-angle) mountings to the heavy anti-aircraft role both at sea and on land, and was also used as a coast defence gun.

Service

Naval service

File:4-inch Mk V gun and crew on HMS Galatea Feb 1917 LAC 3398106.jpg
LA gun and crew on HMS Galatea, February 1917
File:4 inch gun on HMAS Vampire 1938 SLV.jpeg
LA gun on HMS Vampire firing circa 1938

This QF gun was introduced to provide a higher rate of fire than the BL 4 inch Mk VII. It first appeared in 1914 as secondary armament on Arethusa class cruisers, was soon adapted to a high-angle anti-aircraft role. It was typically used on cruisers and heavier ships, although V and W class destroyers of 1917 also mounted the gun.

Mk V was superseded by the QF 4 inch Mk XVI as the HA (i.e. anti-aircraft) gun on new warships in the 1930s, but it continued to serve on many ships such as destroyers, light and heavy cruisers in World War II.[4]

Army anti-aircraft gun

Early in World War I several guns were supplied by the Navy for evaluation as anti-aircraft guns for the home defence of key installations in Britain. They were mounted on static platforms and proved fairly successful after a fixed round was developed to replace the original separate round, and more followed. The AA mounting allowed elevation to 80° but loading was not possible above 62°, which slowed the maximum rate of fire.[5] At the Armistice a total of 24 guns were employed in AA defences in Britain and 2 in France.[6] After World War I the guns were returned to the Navy.

Coast Defence gun

From 1915 to 1928 several guns were mounted in forts to guard the estuary of the River Humber.[7]

Anti-aircraft performance

The following table[8] compares the gun's performance with the other British World War I anti-aircraft guns:-

Gun m/v ft/s Shell (lb) Time to 5,000 ft (1,500 m) at 25° (seconds) Time to 10,000 ft (3,000 m) at 40° (seconds) Time to 15,000 ft (4,600 m) at 55° (seconds) Max. height (ft)[9]
QF 13 pdr 9 cwt 1990 12.5 10.1 15.5 22.1 19,000
QF 12 pdr 12 cwt 2200 12.5 9.1 14.1 19.1 20,000
QF 3 inch 20 cwt 1914 2500 12.5 8.3 12.6 16.3 23,500
QF 3 inch 20 cwt 1916 2000 16 9.2 13.7 18.8 22,000[10]
QF 4 inch Mk V World War I 2350 31 (3 c.r.h.) 4.4?? 9.6 12.3 28,750
QF 4 inch Mk V World War II [11] 2350 31 (4.38/6 c.r.h.) ? ? ? 31,000

Ammunition

Ammunition for the original low-angle guns introduced in World War I was Separate QF i.e. the shell and cartridge were separate items, but in World War II most guns used Fixed QF ammunition i.e. a single unit.

  • QF4inchMkVLAFixedCartridge1934Diagram.jpg
    Fixed QF cartridge for LA (low-angle) gun, 1930s
  • Storing 4-inch ammunition on HMS Widgeon 1943 IWM A 18542.jpg
    Crew storing fixed rounds on the Kingfisher class sloop HMS Widgeon, August 1943

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Surviving examples

Notes

  1. ↑ Mk V = Mark 5. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Mark V indicates this was the fifth model of QF 4-inch gun.

References

  1. ↑ Tony DiGiulian quotes 283 Mk VC built for the navy during WWII; 554 earlier types built for the navy; about 107 earlier types built for the Army in WWI.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 101
  3. ↑ WWI 3 c.r.h. HE shell. Tony DiGiulian, "British 4"/45 (10.2 cm) QF Mark V and Mark XV"
  4. ↑ Tony DiGiulian's webpage provides comprehensive information on this gun's Naval service. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 100
  6. ↑ Routledge 1994, Page 27
  7. ↑ Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 98
  8. ↑ Routledge 1994, Page 9
  9. ↑ Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 234-235
  10. ↑ Routledge 1994, Page 13
  11. ↑ WWII details from Tony DiGiulian's website

Bibliography

External links

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