The 16.25-inch naval cannon Mk 1 is the first English ship gun of 16 inches with a quarter (413 mm).
| BL 16.25 Mark I | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type of | marine gun |
| A country |  United Kingdom |
| Service History | |
| Years of operation | 1886 |
| Adopted | |
| In service | Navy of Great Britain |
| Production history | |
| Constructor | Armstrong |
| Designed by | 1883 |
| Manufacturer | Armstrong |
| Characteristics | |
| Weight kg | 112.78 t |
| Length mm | 13.21 m |
| Crew (calculation), people | 12 |
| Shell | Pallicer's armor-piercing bombs, steel explosive bombs, shrapnel shells (all ammunition weighing 816.46 kg) |
| Caliber mm | 16.25 ″ (413 mm) |
| Rate of fire rounds / min | 0.5 |
| starting speed projectile, m / s | 616—648 |
| Sighting range , m | 695 m at 0 ° |
Armstrong began designing super-heavy breech-loading artillery systems in the early 1880s , immediately after receiving an order to create a 17-inch gun for the Italian fleet. The final drawings for the 16.25 ″ Armstrong system’s sea gun were submitted to the Artillery Committee for approval on September 16, 1884 . The new artillery systems were intended to be installed as main-caliber guns on an Admiral Benbow-type battleship .
The first tests of the guns took place at the end of 1886 at the shooting range of the Wulich arsenal. In the course of the tests, it was proved that at a distance of 1000 yards a Mark I ship’s gun shell could penetrate a 30-inch (762-mm) iron plate. Thus, the new gun surpassed all the artillery systems that were in service with the English fleet by that time.
Gun Design
In terms of design, the gun practically did not differ from 12 ″ and 13.5 ″ guns developed at the Vulik royal arsenal. 17 fastening rings and a dumbbell, which included a locking mechanism, were drawn into the inner thick-walled tube in a hot state. The breech was reinforced with three layers of rings (the lower layer covered 2/3 of the length of the gun, the next one was slightly more than half, the last only 1/3). In the outer row, in addition to the four ordinary fastening short cylinders, four more comb rings were placed, with the help of which the barrel was fixed on a gun machine .
The gun barrel was cut using a mixed system. From the charging chamber to the section 6′2.2 ″ (1.89 m) from the muzzle, the grooves were progressively steep, in the breech part their step was one revolution per 130 calibers, and closer to the muzzle it was one revolution per 30 calibers . Then they were cut with a constant step of one revolution per 30 calibers. As a locking mechanism, the developer used a piston shutter with a shutter of the Wavasser design. An obturator is a flat copper cup, with its bottom adjacent to the flat face of the shutter, and with its edges on a copper ring embedded in the walls of the barrel. When firing a shot, powder gases, pushing the cup into the face of the piston shutter, expanded it, thereby achieving obturation . The only major drawback of such a system was the sensitivity of the copper ring to contamination. With the formation of soot on it, the rim of the cup did not fit tight enough to it, as a result of which tightness was lost, and powder gases began to leak out, and the obturators often had to be replaced.
Initially, the full ammunition of each main gun mount was supposed to consist of 100 shells and full charges for them, but by the time the Benbow armored vehicles were operational, the ammunition was reduced to 92 shells per barrel (Palliser armor - piercing bombs - 37 pcs., Steel explosive bombs - 44 pcs., Shrapnel - 11 pcs.), And the range of ammunition was reduced from 5 to 3 types. A little later, steel armor-piercing shells appeared in the ammunition, replacing part of Pallicer's armor-piercing bombs. By 1892, 17 cast-iron and 20 steel armor-piercing shells relied on each GK gun.
Shells of all types had a wide leading belt with four grooves, dividing it into five rings, each 10.2 mm wide. For better centering in the barrel, the shells were made with a head thickening . Pallicer’s 1,800- pound (816.46 kg) hardened cast iron bomb was 43.57 ″ (2.68 caliber) long, had a bursting charge of 29.5 pounds (13.38 kg) and was equipped with a bottom fuse . Its value at prices of the 1880s. amounted to 38 pounds 2 shillings (240 tsar rubles). The steel explosive bomb was made of cast steel, had a weight of 1800 pounds, a length of 55 ″ (3.4 caliber) and was equipped with 179.25 pounds (81.31 kg) of black smoke powder. The forged steel explosive bomb had an explosive charge of 187.5 pounds (85.05 kg). All explosive bombs were equipped with a direct-acting head tube. The cost of an explosive cast steel bomb reached 134 pounds 18 shillings (850 rubles). Shrapnel had the same weight and length as the explosive bomb, but unlike the latter, it was equipped with 2,330 cast iron bullets, each weighing 4 ounces (113.4 g), had a steel thin-walled case and attached wooden head.
The ignition charge was ignited using a double-acting tube, similar to that used for other heavy guns. The gun was originally designed for the propellant charge of C2 black cylindrical gunpowder weighing 900 pounds (408.23 kg), but with the advent of slow-burning gunpowders it was decided to replace it with a charge of 960 pounds (435.45 kg) of SBC gunpowder, divided into eight 120 pound cartridges (54.43 kg). The charge accelerated the projectile to an initial speed of 2087 ft / s (636 m / s). For training firing, a 3/4 charge was used. When using a cast-iron explosive bomb, the total cost of a shot with a full charge reached 80 pounds (about 504 rubles).
Literature
- Aleksandrov A. S. Armadillos of the Admiral type. New Defenders of the Empire. - “Maritime Collection”: Appendix to the magazine “Model Designer”. - 2007. - No. 3. - S. 15 - 18.