| Ordnance RML 12-inch 35-ton gun | |
|---|---|
_12-inch_gun_turret_interior.jpg) An interior view of one of the two main battery turrets aboard the British battleship HMS Devastation, showing a rear view of the turret's two 12-inch (305 mm) 35-ton rifled muzzle-loaders. These guns were replaced in 1891 by 10-inch (254 mm) breech-loading rifles. | |
| Type | Naval gun |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1873–1909 |
| Used by | Royal Navy |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1871 |
| Manufacturer | Royal Arsenal |
| Unit cost | £2,154[1] |
| No. built | 15[2] |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 35 long tons (36,000 kg) |
| Barrel length | 162.5 inches (4.13 m) (bore + chamber)[3] |
| Shell | 706 pounds 12 ounces (320.6 kg) (Palliser) 613 pounds (278.1 kg) (Common & Shrapnel) |
| Calibre | 12-inch (304.8 mm) |
| Muzzle velocity | 1,390 feet per second (420 m/s)[4] |
RML 12-inch 35-ton guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns used as primary armament on British battleships of the 1870s. They were the longer and more powerful of the two 12-inch British RML guns, the other being the 25-ton gun.
- ^ Unit cost of £2,153 13 shillings 9 pence is quoted in "The British Navy" Volume II, 1882, by Sir Thomas Brassey. p. 38
- ^ Treatise on Construction of Service Ordnance, 1879, p. 284
- ^ Treatise on Construction of Service Ordnance 1877, p. 292
- ^ MV of 1,390 feet/second firing 706-pound 12-oz projectile with "Battering charge" of 110 pounds "P2" (gunpowder) is quoted in "Text Book of Gunnery 1887" Table XVI. 110 pounds "P" "Battering charge" is quoted in Treatise on Ammunition 1877, p. 220