The RML 6.3-inch howitzer was a British

rifled muzzle-loading A muzzle-loading rifle is a muzzle-loaded small arm or artillery piece that has a rifled barrel rather than a smoothbore. The term "rifled muzzle loader" typically is used to describe a type of artillery piece, although it is technically accurate fo ...

"siege" or "position" howitzer/mortar proposed in 1874 and finally introduced in 1878 as a lighter version of the successful

8-inch howitzer An 8-inch howitzer is a howitzer with an 8-inch bore. Examples include: *BL 8-inch howitzer Mk I–V - British design of WWI *BL 8-inch howitzer Mk VI – VIII The BL 8-inch howitzer Marks VI, VII and VIII (6, 7 and 8)Britain used Roman numera ...

that could be carried by the existing 40-pounder gun carriage.Treatise on Construction of Ordnance in the British Service, 1879, pages 79; 171; 259-260 By 1880, the RML was superseded by a longer howitzer with a higher muzzle velocity.

Description

The barrel consisted of an inner "A" tube of toughened

mild steel Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states: * no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt ...

, surrounded by wrought-iron "B" tube and jacket. Rifling was of the "polygroove" type, with 20 grooves and a twist increasing from 1 turn in 100 calibres (i.e. ) to 1 in 35 (i.e. ). The

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

s could be mounted on either a travelling siege carriage, which enabled them to be semi-mobile, or on a steel bed, which were then positioned in fixed defences or

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Operational use

Ten Howitzers were landed in Egypt in 1882 to form part of a Royal Artillery Siege Train during the Anglo-Egyptian War, however they were not used in action. Many were mounted in Forts and batteries around the United Kingdom as part of the fixed defences scheme. Most were dismounted and scrapped after 1902. A number of RML howitzers were used by the British forces during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, normally mounted on 40 pr RML carriages.

Ammunition

The Howitzer used a number of different types of projectiles, depending on the selected target. This included common shell for use against buildings, earthworks or vehicles, or shrapnel shell for use against 'soft' targets, such as infantry or cavalry on open ground. Case shot could be used against soft targets at close range, typically less than . The howitzer used black powder propellant, in silk bags which were ignited by friction tube. The gun was the first British rifled muzzle-loader to dispense entirely with studs on shells to impart spin : its shells from the beginning had gas checks attached to their base which expanded and engaged with rifling on firing to impart spin to the shell.

Surviving examples

Two of these guns, called Castor and Pollux, used during the Siege of Ladysmith, stand in front of the Ladysmith town hall. They have been declared Heritage Objects by the

South African Heritage Resource Agency The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) is the national administrative body responsible for the protection of South Africa's cultural heritage. It was established through the ''National Heritage Resources Act, number 25 of 1999'' and ...

. Both the guns and their ammunition were outdated by the time of the siege and they tended to make a lot of smoke when fired.

Notes

References

Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANETreatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service. War Office, UK, 1879

External links

Handbook for the 6.3 inch R. M. L. howitzer on bed and ground platform, or on siege travelling carriage, 1886
at State Library of Victoria

{{DEFAULTSORT:RML 06.3 inch Artillery of the United Kingdom Howitzers 160 mm artillery