The RML 16-pounder 12 cwt gun was a British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) field

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 si ...

gun manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately . "12 cwt" refers to the weight of the gun.

Design and manufacture

The gun consisted of an 'A' tube of toughened steel, over which was shrunk a 'B' tube of wrought iron. The gun was

rifled In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the ...

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. The gun was fitted with a set of side sights on each side of the barrel. This enabled the gun to be sighted for indirect, or direct fire, from either side of the gun. A flat surface was machined on top of the barrel for a clinometer to be used, enabling the gun to be levelled, or to provide an alternate method of indirect sighting. The gun was designed for land service only, with no naval variants. Two marks of field carriage were produced, which only slightly differed in design.

Operation

The 16-pounder was normally deployed in batteries of six or four guns. Each gun was pulled by a team of six horses. It had a crew of nine men – five crew who could be mounted on seats on the limber and gun, three drivers and a gun commander (number one) mounted separately. In addition to each gun, a limbered ammunition trailer was also horse drawn. Field Artillery was designed to move at the same speed as infantry, with Horse Artillery being used where greater speed was required.

Ammunition

The 16-pounder used three types of ammunition – Common shell (for use against buildings or fortifications),

shrapnel shell Shrapnel shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions which carried many individual bullets close to a target area and then ejected them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike targets individually. They relied almo ...

(for use any Infantry or Cavalry) and case shot (for close range use against 'soft' targets. Ignition was through a copper lined vent at the breech end of the gun. A copper friction tube would be inserted and a lanyard attached. When the lanyard was pulled the tube would ignite, firing the gun. A number of different fuzes could be used enabling shells to either burst at a pre-determined time (and range), or on impact. Guns were fired using a silk bag containing a black powder propellant. A typical rate of fire was one round per minute.

Service history

RML16pdr12cwtShropshire&StaffsVolunteers1897

The 16-pounder 12 cwt Rifled Muzzle Loader was the

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artill ...

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, which had acquired a reputation for unreliability. The 16-pounder 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 and 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, as well as 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 ...

of 1882, where four Batteries were deployed. It remained in front-line service with the Royal Artillery until the late 1880s when replaced by the 15-pounder Breech-Loading gun. Many were re-issued to Volunteer Artillery ''Batteries of Position'' from 1889, with 16-pounders among 226 guns issued to the Volunteer Artillery during 1888 and 1889. The 1893 the War Office Mobilisation Scheme shows the allocation of thirty seven Artillery Volunteer position batteries equipped with 16 Pounder guns which would be concentrated in Surrey and Essex in the event of mobilisation. Most remained in use until 1902. In 1906 the 1st Shropshire and Staffordshire Royal Garrison Artillery Volunteers took them to their annual camp in Bare, Morecambe. The last were not finally withdrawn until 1908. Saluting gun, 16-pounder

Some guns were issued to different parts of the British Empire. In South Australia eight guns were issued to the South Australian Volunteer Artillery. Six guns were issued for use by the Trinidad Artillery Volunteers in the 1890s

Surviving examples

Serial number 110, dated 1872, with Mark I carriage held by the

National Army Museum The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the " Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a non-departmental public bo ...

, United Kingdom
Serial number 171, dated 1873 at
Fort Nelson, Hampshire,

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 * Serial number 241, dated 1877,

Victoria Barracks, Sydney Victoria Barracks is an Australian Army base in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Victoria Barracks is located in the suburb of Paddington, between Oxford Street and Moore Park Road. It is just north of the Moore Park, the Sydney Cricket Grou ...

, New South Wales, Australia * Serial number 253, dated 1878, War Memorial, Coonooer bridge, Victoria, Australia * Serial number 285, dated 1878,

Fort Glanville Conservation Park Fort Glanville Conservation Park is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia located in Semaphore Park, a seaside suburb of Adelaide consisting of a functional 19th century fort listed on the South Australian Heritage ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

* Serial number 288, dated 1878, Army Museum of South Australia,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Serial number 289, dated 1879 at
Fort Nelson, Hampshire,

Collection * Fort Brockhurst,

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite ...

, United Kingdom

References in Media

* The Irish rebel song Come Out, Ye Black and Tans refers to the overwhelming firepower the 16-pounders provided against the Zulu during the Zulu wars in the lyrics: '' Like the Zulus they had spears and bow and arrows, How bravely you faced each one, With your 16-pounder guns, And you frightened them damn natives to their marrows. ''

References

Bibliography

* Captain John F Owen R.A.
"Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service"
Prepared in the Royal Gun Factory, London, 1877, pages 177-178, 292.
Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE

External links

Handbook for the 16 – pr. rifled M. L. gun of 12 cwt., 1888, 1891, 1895, 29-9, 1903
at State Library of Victoria
Handbook for the 16 – pr. R.M.L. gun of 12 cwt., movable armament and batteries of position, volunteer artillery, 1900
at State Library of Victoria {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Artillery of the United Kingdom Field artillery Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom