100-ton gun

Armstrong 100-ton gun
"Rockbuster" at Napier of Magdala Battery, Gibraltar
TypeNaval gun
Coast defence gun
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
In service1877-1906
Production history
DesignerElswick Ordnance Company
Unit cost£16,000[1] (£176,000 today)
No. built15[2]
Specifications
Mass103 tons
Barrel lengthbore: 362.9 inches (9.22 m) (20.5 calibres)[3]

ShellHE, AP, Shrapnel, 2,000 pounds (910 kg)[3]
Calibre450-millimetre (17.72 in)[3]
Recoil1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Elevation10° 30'
Traverse150°
Muzzle velocity1,548 feet per second (472 m/s)[4]
Maximum firing range6,600 yards (6,000 m)

The 100-ton gun (also known as the Armstrong 100-ton gun)[5] was a 17.72-inch (450 mm) rifled muzzle-loading (RML) gun made by Elswick Ordnance Company, the armaments division of the British manufacturing company Armstrong Whitworth, owned by William Armstrong. The 15 guns Armstrong made were used to arm two Italian battleships and, to counter these, British fortifications at Malta and Gibraltar.

  1. ^ Brassey 1882, Page 95
  2. ^ Italy : 8 for Duilio and Dandolo, 1 for Spezia defences, 2 spare. Britain : 2 for Malta, 2 for Gibraltar. Campbell, "British Super-Heavy Guns".
  3. ^ a b c Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. Table XII, Page 337
  4. ^ Firing 2000 lb projectile with 450 lb Prism powder propellant. Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. Table XII, Page 337.
  5. ^ Roger Possner (1 July 2009). The Rise of Militarism in the Progressive Era, 1900-1914. McFarland. p. 218. ISBN 9780786454112.