The BL 9.2-inch Mark XI gun
[Mark XI = Mark 11. Britain use ]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, ...
to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Hence this was the eleventh model of BL 9.2-inch gun. was a British 50
calibre high-velocity
naval gun
Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firing weapons and excludes ...
which was mounted as primary armament on
armoured cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast en ...
s and secondary armament on
pre-dreadnought battleship
Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...
s.
History
The gun with its increased length of 50 calibres was an attempt to extract a higher velocity, and hence more range and armour-piercing capability, from the
9.2-inch gun. Like other British 50-calibre guns of the period, it was relatively unsuccessful and was the last model of 9.2-inch gun Britain built.
Guns were mounted in the following ships :
*
''Minotaur''-class armoured cruisers laid down 1905 & completed 1908–1909: 2 twin mounts.
*
''Lord Nelson''-class battleships laid down 1905 & completed 1908: 4 twin mounts and 2 single mounts.
After the scrapping of these ships, these guns and mountings were retained in storage. There was the intention, at one point, early during World War Two, to use them as armament for small monitors which would have been reduced versions of the
''Roberts''-class monitors; this however never advanced beyond the planning stage.
See also
*
List of naval guns
List of Naval Guns by country of origin in decreasing caliber size
List of naval guns by caliber size, all countries
Naval anti-aircraft guns
See also
* List of artillery
* List of the largest cannon by caliber
*Glossary of British ordnanc ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
The National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew. SUPP 6/61
External links
* Tony DiGiulian
British 9.2"/50 (23.4 cm) Mark XI
{{DEFAULTSORT:BL 09.2-inch Mk 11 gun
Naval guns of the United Kingdom
World War I naval weapons of the United Kingdom
234 mm artillery