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 railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best-known are ...

, 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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Ammunition

Image:BL 12 inch Howitzer Shell Mk V Diagram.jpg, Image:12inchRailwayHowitzerShell444SiegeBatteryAndKitten19July1918.jpg,

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.

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