The RML 9-pounder 8 cwt gun and the RML 9-pounder 6 cwt gun were British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) field, horse and naval

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

guns manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately . "8 cwt" and "6 cwt" refers to the weight of the gun to differentiate it from other 9-pounder guns.

Service history

The 9-pounder 8 cwt Rifled Muzzle Loader was the field gun selected by the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1871 to replace the more sophisticated

RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt Armstrong gun The Armstrong Breech Loading 12 pounder 8 cwt, later known as RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt, was an early modern 3-inch rifled breech-loading field gun of 1859. Design The gun incorporated some advanced features for its day. It was one of the first ...

, which had acquired a reputation for unreliability. The gun was rifled using the system developed by

William Palliser Sir William Palliser CB MP (18 June 1830 – 4 February 1882) was an Irish-born politician and inventor, Member of Parliament for Taunton from 1880 until his death. Early life Born in Dublin on 18 June 1830, Palliser was the fourth of the eight ...

, in which studs protruding from the side of the shell engaged with three spiral grooves in the barrel.Skaarup, Harold A (2012)
''Shelldrake: Canadian Artillery Museums and Gun Monuments''
iUniverse.com, (p. 131) In 1874, a 6 cwt version was introduced for horse artillery and was later adopted for field artillery use, replacing the 8 cwt version. All variants used the same ammunition, which took the form of shrapnel shell, case shot and common shell. The 9-pounder remained in front-line service with the Royal Artillery until 1878 when the RML 13 pounder 8 cwt gun was introduced, however it remained in use with colonial forces until 1895 and saw action in the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, cou ...

of 1879, the

First Boer War The First Boer War ( af, Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880–1881, also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 betwee ...

of 1881 and the

Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt (1882), also known as Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It ...

in 1882. A number were issued to British Artillery Volunteer units, with the 1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers being issued with some guns as late as 1901.

Variants

* 9-pounder 8 cwt Mark I (Land Service): Introduced into the Royal Artillery in 1871. It was later withdrawn and modified for sea service. * 9-pounder 8 cwt Mark II (Naval Service): Introduced in 1873 by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. * 9-pounder 6 cwt Mark I (N.S.): A few were made for experimental trials but they proved to be too short; some were issued to the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. F ...

. In 1873, forty five were completed for use as boat guns. * 9-pounder 6 cwt Mark II (L.S.): A new design in 1874 for the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link r ...

, it was longer than the 8 cwt gun but had the same carriage. * 9-pounder 6 cwt Mark III (N.S.): Introduced in 1879, a modified Mark II for naval service. * 9-pounder 6 cwt Mark IV (N.S.): Similar to the Mark III with a steel jacket instead of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

previously used, and with a strengthened

cascabel Cascabel may refer to: * Cascabel (artillery), a subassembly of a muzzle-loading cannon * Cascabel chili, a small, round chili pepper * Cascabel, a Shuttle Loop roller coaster at Chapultepec Park in Mexico City * Spanish common name for ''Crotalu ...

Surviving examples

Royal Artillery Museum The Royal Artillery Museum, which was one of the world's oldest military museums, was first opened to the public in Woolwich in southeast London in 1820. It told the story of the development of artillery through the ages by way of a collection o ...

(the collection is currently in storage awaiting relocation to a new site) *

Fort Nelson, Hampshire Fort Nelson, in the civil parish of Boarhunt in the England, English county of Hampshire, is one of five defensive forts built on the summit of Portsdown Hill in the 1860s, overlooking the important naval base of Portsmouth. It is now part of the ...

Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Originally an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, originally housed in the Tower of London from ...

Collection *

Southsea Castle Southsea Castle, historically also known as Chaderton Castle, South Castle and Portsea Castle, is an artillery fort originally constructed by Henry VIII on Portsea Island, Hampshire, in 1544. It formed part of the King's Device programme to p ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, England *

North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the Town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The Batt ...

Museum,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

CFB Petawawa Garrison Petawawa is located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by the Canadian Army. Garrison facts The Garrison is located in the Ottawa Valley in Renfrew County, northwest of Ottawa along the western bank of the Ottaw ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

* New Brunswick Military History Museum,

CFB Gagetown 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, formerly known as and commonly referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base covering an area over , located in southwestern New Brunswick. Construction of the base At the ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

* Fort Hughes (New Brunswick),

* Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club, New Brunswick *

Fort Anne Fort Anne (first established in 1629 as the Scottish Charles Fort) is a four-bastion fort built to protect the harbour of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The fort repelled all French attacks during the early stages of King George's War. Now desig ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Fort St Catherine Fort St. Catherine, or ''Fort St. Catherine's'' (as it is usually referred to), is a coastal artillery fort at the North-East tip of St. George's Island, Bermuda, St. George's Island, in the Imperial fortress British Overseas Territory, colony of ...

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

* Australian Army Artillery Museum,

Manly, New South Wales Manly is a beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is north-east of the Sydney central business district and is currently one of the three administrative centres of the local government area of ...

Fort Lytton Military Museum
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia – gun and ammunition *

Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

Telangana State Archaeology Museum Telangana State Archaeology Museum or Hyderabad Museum is a museum located in Hyderabad, India. It is the oldest museum in Hyderabad. History Archaeologist Henry Cousens first explored the site in the beginning of the 19th century, and around ...

, Hyderabad, India

References

External links

Handbook for the 9-pr. R.M.L. guns of 6 cwt. and 8 cwt. land service, 1889, 1892, 1895
at State Library of Victoria
Handbook for 9-pr. R.M.L. guns of 6 cwt. and 8 cwt. Land service 1895, 1901
at State Library of Victoria
Handbook for 9-pr R.M.L. guns of 6cwt. and 8cwt., (Movable armament) 1898
at State Library of Victoria

{{DEFAULTSORT:RML 09-pounder 8 cwt 76 mm artillery Artillery of the United Kingdom Field artillery Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom

Service history

Variants

Surviving examples

See also

References

Further reading

External links