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The Ordnance BL 5.4-inch howitzer was a version of the British 5-inch howitzer designed for British Indian Army use, especially on the Northwest Frontier.
The unusual calibre of 5.4 inches may have been determined by a requirement to fire a 60 lb shell. Since the 5-inch howitzer with its 50 lb shell was later found deficient in both firepower and range, it is possible the Indian Army may have foreseen this, and in fact the 5.4-inch could fire its 60 lb shell the same distance as the 5-inch fired its 50 lb shell i.e. 4800 yards. Also, Hogg & Thurston surmise that raw weight of shell was seen as necessary in India to "put a reasonable amount of fear into the hearts of obstreperous tribesmen inhabiting home-built but robust local fortresses": different conditions than regular British Army artillery was expected to be employed in.
File:BL 5.4 inch howitzer 13.5 oz cordite cartridge diagrams.jpg, Mk I
Handbook for the 5.4 inch B.L. howitzer mark I 1897, 1902
Hosted online by the State Library of Victoria, Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:BL 05.4 inch howitzer Field artillery World War I howitzers World War I artillery of the United Kingdom 138 mm artillery
Design
The unusual calibre of 5.4 inches may have been determined by a requirement to fire a 60 lb shell. Since the 5-inch howitzer with its 50 lb shell was later found deficient in both firepower and range, it is possible the Indian Army may have foreseen this, and in fact the 5.4-inch could fire its 60 lb shell the same distance as the 5-inch fired its 50 lb shell i.e. 4800 yards. Also, Hogg & Thurston surmise that raw weight of shell was seen as necessary in India to "put a reasonable amount of fear into the hearts of obstreperous tribesmen inhabiting home-built but robust local fortresses": different conditions than regular British Army artillery was expected to be employed in.
Combat service
World War I
Four guns were sent from India and served in the East Africa campaign. They were manned by the 134th (Cornwall) Howitzer Battery ( TF) from England. The battery was formed atMaktau
Maktau is a settlement in Kenya's Coast Province
The Coast Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Pwani) of Kenya, along the Indian Ocean, was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It comprises the Indian Ocean coastal strip with the capital city at Mombasa and was ...
on 4 February 1916 and drawn by oxen.
The battery is reported as firing 102 rounds in the bombardment of German positions on the Mgeta river (approximately SW of Dar es Salam) on 1 January 1917, part of the Rufiji River campaign. This allowed Cunliffe's Nigerian Brigade to cross the Mgeta river and pursue the German force south. One of the guns was destroyed by a premature explosion in this action, with 1 gunner killed and 2 wounded.
The 134th Battery landed at Lindi
Lindi is a historic southern Tanzanian coastal small city and regional capital of the Lindi Region located at the far end of Lindi Bay, on the Indian Ocean in southeastern Tanzania. The town is south of Dar es Salaam and north of Mtwara, t ...
in the far south of German East Africa near the border with Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) in October 1917 and moved west inland. Two of their 5.4-inch howitzers were sent to Morogoro to be used for training, and they took over two 5-inch howitzers from 11th (Hull) Battery, who were short of men through sickness. The 134th were then heavily engaged using one 5.4-inch and two 5-inch howitzers at the major Battle of Nyangao on 16–18 October 1917.Source : war diaries of 11th & 134th batteries. Farndale 1988, pp. 347–349 incorrectly states 134th battery were equipped with two 5.4-inch at Nyangao. The guns knocked out the last of the ten 4.1-inch guns from the ''Königsberg'' which the German forces had used as field guns, and provided fire support for the Indian and Nigerian troops.
Ammunition
cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burn ...
cartridge
Cartridge may refer to:
Objects
* Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition
* ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device
* Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators
Other uses
* Cartridge (surname), a ...
, 13½ oz
File:BL 5.4 inch howitzer common shell iron Mk I diagram.jpg, Mk I common shell, iron
File:BL 5.4 inch howitzer shrapnel shell cast steel Mk I diagram.jpg, Mk I shrapnel shell, cast steel
File:BL 5.4 inch howitzer lyddite shell forged steel Mk I diagram.jpg, Mk I lyddite shell, forged steel
File:T Friction tube Mk I for BL 5.4 inch howitzer diagrams.jpg, T friction tube Mk I
See also
* Howitzer *List of howitzers
Howitzers are one of two primary types of field artillery. Historically, howitzers fired a heavy shell in a high-trajectory from a relatively short barrel and their range was limited but they were slightly more mobile than similar size field gun ...
Notes and references
Bibliography
* General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The Forgotten Fronts and the Home Base, 1914–18. London : The Royal Artillery Institution, 1988. * I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972External links
Handbook for the 5.4 inch B.L. howitzer mark I 1897, 1902
Hosted online by the State Library of Victoria, Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:BL 05.4 inch howitzer Field artillery World War I howitzers World War I artillery of the United Kingdom 138 mm artillery