The QF 4 inch Mk XVI gunMk XVI = Mark 16. Britain used

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

to denote marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Mark XVI indicates this was the sixteenth model of QF 4 inch gun. was the standard

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

naval anti-aircraft and dual-purpose gun of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Service

The Mk XVI superseded the earlier

QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun The QF 4 inch Mk V gunMk 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. was a Royal Navy gun of World War I which was adapted ...

on many Royal Naval ships during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The ammunition fired by the Mk V gun and the Mk XVI guns was different. The Mk V ammunition was long and weighed , while the ammunition fired by the Mk XVI gun was long and weighed . The weight of the high-explosive projectile grew from for the Mk V to for the Mk XVI. There were three variants of the gun produced with differing construction methods. The original Mk XVI had an A tube, jacket to from the muzzle and a removable breech ring. The Mk XVI* replaced the A tube with an autofretted loose barrel with a sealing collar at the front of the jacket. The Mk XXI was a lighter version with an autofretted monobloc barrel and a removable breech ring. The total number of Mk XVI and XVI* guns produced was 2,555 while there were 238 Mk XXI guns produced. Of those totals 604 Mk XVI* and 135 of the Mk XXI guns were produced in Canada and 45 of the Mk XVI* were produced in Australia. These guns were usually mounted on HA/LA Mark XIX twin mountings, although several Australian frigates and corvettes had single-gun Mk XX mountings.Campbell, ''Naval Weapons of WWII'', p.56. The last Royal Navy ship to operate with a Mark XIX twin mounting was , which had originally been designed for the

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and so required a simple and inexpensive main armament. Acquired by the British Government in 1972, she served until 1977 when she was purchased by the

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and renamed KD ''Hang Tuah''.

List of equipped vessels

As secondary armament (list not complete)

* Aircraft carriers: , * Escort carriers: s, HMS ''Pretoria Castle'', HMS ''Activity'' * * s (converted to anti-aircraft cruisers) * HMS ''Barham'', , HMS ''Warspite'' * s * s * * s * s * s * s (Town-class) * ''Arethusa''-class cruisers * s * ''Leander''-class cruisers * * HMS ''Danae'' (ORP ''Conrad'') * Roberts class monitor

As main armament (list not complete)

* s * * Tribal-class destroyers * (the first series L: HMS ''Gurkha'', ''Lance'', ''Legion'', ''Lively'') * HMS ''Petard'' (modified) * s * s (after WAIR modification – 15 ships) * (after WAIR modification) *

Hunt-class destroyer The Hunt class was a class of escort destroyer of the Royal Navy. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in the Second World War, particularly on the British east coast and Mediterranean convoys. They ...

s * Some s (single-gun Mk XX mounting) * s * s * (modified) * (modified) *

Bay-class frigate The Bay class was a class of 26 anti-aircraft (A/A) frigates built for the Royal Navy under the 1943 War Emergency Programme during World War II (one of which was cancelled and six completed as despatch vessels or survey ships). They were based ...

s *

River-class frigate The River class was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic. The majority served with the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), with some serving in the other Al ...

s (part of Canadian-built) * 8 auxiliary AA defence ships * Some landing ships

Allied ships modified in the United Kingdom

* (Polish) * (Dutch) * (Dutch) * 4 French ''Elan''-class avisos and s The

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...

Loch-class frigate The Loch class was a class of anti-submarine (A/S) frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18 ...

s ( 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 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 , 1945 The Royal Navy during the Second World War HMS Glasgow 4-inch AA gun crew A 21143.jpg, Gunners of clearing empty cartridges after a shoot Gunners with 4 inch rounds HMS Vivien 1940 IWM A 1770.jpg, HMS Belfast - 4 inch guns - shell loading 1.jpg,

Surviving examples

* On , Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. *

Naval Museum of Alberta A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inc ...

, Canada * Trenton Park, Trenton, Nova Scotia, Canada * On , London, which retains four twin guns. *

Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower Explosion! is the Museum of Naval Firepower situated in the former Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Priddy's Hard, in Gosport, Hampshire, England. It now forms part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy. The museum includes a wide variety of e ...

, Gosport, Hampshire, UK * On , Gdynia (re-bored to 100 mm). * A pair at

South African National Museum of Military History The South African National War Museum in Johannesburg was officially opened by Prime Minister Jan Smuts on 29 August 1947 to preserve the history of South Africa's involvement in the Second World War. In 1975, the museum was renamed the South Af ...

, Johannesburg * A pair in a turret from INS ''Haifa'' (K-38), at Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, Haifa, Israel. * Two single guns on , Brisbane, Australia * One twin gun at th
Marinemuseet
Horten, Norway. * One twin gun in the Aldhurst military vehicles collection, Surrey England. Further research has proven the left gun was installed on the heavy cruiser HMS ''Devonshire'' from 1943 till she was scrapped in 1954.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:QF 04-inch Mk 16 Naval anti-aircraft guns World War II anti-aircraft guns Naval guns of the United Kingdom 100 mm artillery World War II naval weapons of the United Kingdom Military equipment introduced in the 1930s