 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2011) |
| Ordnance RML 12-inch 25-ton gun | |
|---|---|
_12-inch_gun.jpg) A 12-inch (305 mm) 25-ton gun in an armoured turret aboard the ram HMS Hotspur. A shell is suspended near the muzzle ready for loading. | |
| Type | Naval gun Coast defence gun |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Royal Navy |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1864–1866 |
| Manufacturer | Royal Arsenal |
| Unit cost | £1,716[1] |
| Produced | 1866 – 187? |
| Variants | Mk I, Mk II |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | Mk I : 23.5 long tons (23,900 kg) Mk II : 25 long tons (25,000 kg) |
| Barrel length | 145 inches (3.7 m) (bore + chamber)[2] |
| Shell | 600 to 608.4 pounds (272.2 to 276.0 kg) (Palliser) 497 pounds (225.4 kg) (Common & Shrapnel) |
| Calibre | 12-inch (304.8 mm) |
| Muzzle velocity | 1,300 feet per second (400 m/s)[3] |
The RML 12-inch 25-ton guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns of mid-late 1800s used as primary armament on British ironclad turret battleships and coastal monitors, and also ashore for coast defence. They were the shorter and less powerful of the two 12-inch (305-mm) British RML guns, the other being the 35-ton gun.
- ^ Unit cost of £1,715 13 shillings 5 pence is quoted in "The British Navy" Volume II, 1882, by Sir Thomas Brassey. Page 38
- ^ Treatise on Construction of Service Ordnance 1877, page 292
- ^ MV of 1,300 feet/second firing 600-pound projectile with "Battering charge" of 85 pounds "P" (gunpowder) is quoted in "Treatise on Construction of Service Ordnance 1877", page 348. MV of 1,292 feet/second firing 608 lb 6 oz projectile with "Battering charge" of 85 pounds "P2" (gunpowder) is quoted in "Text Book of Gunnery 1887" Table XVI