The British Ordnance BL 12 inch howitzer on truck, railway, a type of
railway gun
A railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval artillery, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railroad car, railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the ...
, was developed following the success of the
9.2-inch siege howitzer. It was similar but unrelated to the
12-inch siege howitzers Mk II and IV.
Design and development
Mark I
Mk I was introduced from March 1916. It is identified by its short barrel and
recuperator
A recuperator is a special purpose counter-flow energy recovery heat exchanger positioned within the supply and exhaust air streams of an air handling system, or in the exhaust gases of an industrial process, in order to recover the waste heat. ...
above the barrel.
Mark III
The longer-barrelled Mk III soon followed, with a heavier breech to balance the gun. It retained the recuperator above the barrel.
Mark V
Mk V, dating from July 1917, moved the recoil buffer and recuperator into a single housing below the barrel, which was common for all new British artillery developed during World War I. It also had a lighter breech with the gun balanced by the redesigned recoil system and altered gun positioning on the cradle.
[Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 186] Mk V also relocated the loading platform from the railway wagon to the revolving gun mounting, which now allowed 120° of traverse, and by overhanging the opposite side provided crew access when the gun fired to the side (90° traverse) and also helped to balance it.
Combat service
All 3 versions served on the
Western Front in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, usually in 2-gun batteries, operated by the
Royal Garrison Artillery
The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...
.
Mk III and MK V were deployed for the home defence of Great Britain in
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 ...
.
Ammunition
Image:BL 12 inch Howitzer Shell Mk V Diagram.jpg,
Image:12inchRailwayHowitzerShell444SiegeBatteryAndKitten19July1918.jpg,
See also
*
List of railway artillery
Railway guns were large guns and howitzers mounted on and fired from specially constructed railway cars. They have been obsolete since World War II and have been superseded by tactical surface-to-surface missiles, multiple rocket launchers, and ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Dale Clarke
British Artillery 1914-1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005
*
I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.
Further reading
* Harry W Miller, United States Army Ordnance Department
Railway Artillery: A Report on the Characteristics, Scope of Utility, Etc., of Railway Artillery, Volume II, Pages 136-145. Washington : Government Print Office, 1921
External links
Newsreel showing 12" Mk I railway howitzer and other heavy weapons in action
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bl 12 Inch Railway Howitzer
World War II railway artillery of the United Kingdom
World War I railway artillery of the United Kingdom
World War I howitzers
305 mm artillery
Elswick Ordnance Company