QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun

Ordnance QF 4 inch gun Mk XVI
Twin Mk XVI on HMCS Haida
Type	Naval gun Naval anti-aircraft gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1936--1950s
Used by	Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy Royal Australian Navy South African Navy
Wars	World War II Korean War
Specifications
Weight	Barrel & breech 4,495 lb (2,039 kg)
Barrel length	(45 cal))
Shell	Fixed QF HE S.A.P.
Calibre
Breech	vertical sliding block
Recoil	hydro - pneumatic
Elevation	mounting dependent (-10 to 80 deg on H.A. twin mark XIX mount)
Traverse	mounting dependent
Rate of fire	15–20 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity
Maximum firing range	19,850 yards (18,150 m) at 45 degrees elevation AA Range: 39,000 feet (11,890 m) at 80 degrees elevation
Filling weight

The QF 4 inch Mk XVI gun was the standard British Commonwealth naval anti-aircraft and dual-purpose gun of World War II.

Service

File:Cruiser Guns' Crews. May 1943, on Board HMS Jamaica and Berwick. A16318.jpg

The crew of a 4-inch dualmount on HMS Berwick preparing for action in 1943.

The Mk XVI superseded the earlier QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun on many Royal Naval ships during the late 1930s and early 1940s, increasing the high-explosive projectile weight from 31 pounds (14 kg) to 35 pounds (16 kg). These guns were usually mounted on HA/LA Mark XIX twin mountings, although several Australian frigates and corvettes had single-gun Mk XX mountings.

As secondary armament (list not complete):

• HMS Hood
• HMS Rodney
• HMS Barham, HMS Malaya, HMS Warspite
• Revenge-class battleships
• County-class cruisers
• HMS Exeter
• Swiftsure-class cruisers
• Crown Colony-class cruisers
• Edinburgh-class cruisers
• Southampton-class cruisers (Town-class)
• Arethusa-class cruisers
• Perth-class cruisers
• Leander-class cruisers
• HMS Effingham
• HMS Danae (ORP Conrad)
• Tribal-class destroyers

As main armament (list not complete):

• Aircraft carriers: HMS Furious, HMS Unicorn
• Escort carriers: Nairana-class escort carriers, HMS Pretoria Castle, HMS Activity
• C-class cruisers (converted to anti-aircraft cruisers)
• Abdiel-class minelayers
• L and M-class destroyer (the first series L: HMS Gorham, Lance, Legion, Lively)
• HMS Petard (modified)
• Weapon-class destroyers
• V and W-class destroyers (after WAIR modification - 15 ships)
• HMS Wallace (after WAIR modification)
• Hunt-class destroyers
• Some Bathurst-class corvettes (single-gun Mk XX mounting)
• Black Swan-class sloops
• Egret-class sloops
• Bittern-class sloop (modified)
• Grimsby-class sloop (modified)
• Bay-class frigates
• River-class frigates (part of Canadian-built)
• 8 auxiliary AA defence ships
• Some landing ships

Allied ships modified in the United Kingdom:

• ORP Błyskawica (Polish)
• HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck (Dutch)
• HNLMS Isaac Sweers (Dutch)
• 4 French Elan-class avisos and Chamois-class avisos

The South African Navy Loch-class frigates (HMSAS Good Hope, HMSAS Natal and HMSAS Transvaal) each had two of these guns mounted on a twin Mark XIX on their foredeck between 1944 and 1976.

Ammunition

• HMAS Swan guns (079323).jpg

  Twin guns of HMAS Swan bombarding shore positions in New Guinea, February 1945

• HMAS Barcoo QF 4 inch Mk XVI single mount breech AWM 119466.jpg

  Single Mk XX mounting on HMAS Barcoo, 1945

• The Royal Navy during the Second World War HMS Glasgow 4-inch AA gun crew A 21143.jpg

  Gunners of HMS Glasgow clearing empty cartridges after a shoot

• 

  Gunners of V-class destroyer HMS Vivien displaying anti-aircraft rounds, 1940
• HMS Belfast - 4 inch guns - shell loading 1.jpg

  A round in a fuze setter on HMS Belfast

See also

• QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun : Royal Navy anti-aircraft predecessor
• List of naval anti-aircraft guns
• List of naval guns

Surviving examples

• On HMCS Haida, Hamilton, Ortario, Canada.
• Naval Museum of Alberta, Canada
• On HMS Belfast, London.
• Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower, Gosport, Hampshire, UK
• On ORP Błyskawica, Gdynia (re-bored to 100 mm).
• A pair at South African National Museum of Military History, Johannesburg
• A pair in a turret from INS Haifa (K-38), at Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, Haifa, Israel.
• Two single guns on HMAS Diamantina, Brisbane, Australia
• One twin gun at the Marinemuseet, Horten, Norway.

One twin gun in the Aldhurst military vehicles collection, Surrey England

External links

• B.R. 257. Handbook for the 4 inch Q.F. Mark XVI* Gun on the H.A. Twin Mark XIX And Single Mark XX Mountings. G3821/41 Naval Ordnance Department, Admiralty, July 1941.
• Tony DiGiulian, British 4"/45 (10.2 cm) QF HA Marks XVI, XVII, XVIII and XXI
• Youtube video clip of demonstration of loading and firing on HMS Belfast
• Youtube video clip of demonstration of loading and firing on HMS Belfast : closeup Note : for safety reasons, cartridges are seen being loaded without the normal attached shell.