View source for QF 6-inch naval gun

{{Infobox weapon
| name               = QF 6-inch 40 calibre naval gun<br />''15&nbsp;cm/40 (6") 41st Year Type''
| image              = QF6inchElswickNavalGun.jpg
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = Typical naval deck mounting. An early long cartridge case for [[gunpowder]] propellant is upended at bottom left, a shell stands next to the cartridge.
| origin             = United Kingdom<br />licence-produced in Japan
| type               = [[Naval gun]]<br />[[Coastal artillery|Coast defence gun]]
<!-- Type selection -->
| is_ranged          = YES
| is_bladed          =
| is_explosive       =
| is_artillery       = YES
| is_vehicle         =
| is_UK              = YES
<!-- Service history -->
| service            = 1892–1945
| used_by            = [[Royal Navy]]<br /> [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]<br /> Chilean Navy<br /> Italian Navy<br /> Argentine Navy<br /> United States<br /> Romanian Navy <br /> [[Royal Canadian Navy]]
| wars               = [[Russo-Japanese War]]<br />[[World War I]]<br />[[World War II]]
<!-- Production history -->
| designer           =
| design_date        =
| manufacturer       = [[Armstrong Whitworth#Elswick Ordnance Company|Elswick Ordnance Company]]<br />[[Royal Arsenal]], Woolwich
| production_date    =
| number             =
| variants           =
<!-- General specifications -->
| weight             = 6.6&nbsp;tons
| length             =
| part_length        = {{convert|240|in|m|sigfig=4}} bore
| width              =
| height             =
| crew               =
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
| cartridge          = [[Quick firing gun|QF]], separate cartridge and shell
|cartridge_weight={{convert|100|lb|kg}}
| caliber            = 6-inch (152mm)
| action             =
| rate               = 5–7 rounds per minute
| velocity           = {{convert|2154|ft/s|m/s|sigfig=3}}<ref>2154 ft/second in British service firing {{convert|100|lb|abbr=on}} projectile, using {{convert|13|lb|4|oz|kg|abbr=on}} Cordite size 30 propellant, at {{convert|60|°F|°C|abbr=on}}. {{convert|1882|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} using {{convert|27|lb|12|oz|kg|abbr=on}} gunpowder propellant. From Text Book of Gunnery, 1902.</ref><br />{{convert|820|ft/s|m/s|sigfig=3}} for anti-submarine shells
| range              = {{convert|10000|yd|m|sigfig=3}} at 20°elevation; {{convert|15000|yd|m|sigfig=3}} at 28°elevation
| max_range          =
| feed               =
| sights             =
<!-- Artillery specifications -->
| breech             =
| recoil             =
| carriage           =
| elevation          = -5 / +20 degrees
| traverse           = +150 / -150 degrees
}}
The '''QF 6-inch 40 calibre naval gun''' ([[Quick firing gun|Quick-Firing]]) was used by many United Kingdom-built warships around the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century. In British service it was known as the '''QF 6-inch Mk I, II, III''' guns.<ref group="note">Mk I, II and III = Marks 1, 2 and 3. Britain used [[Roman numerals]] to denote Marks (models) of service ordnance until after the Second World War. This article describes the first three models of Royal Navy 6-inch QF guns.</ref> As the '''15&nbsp;cm/40 (6") 41st Year Type naval gun''' it was used for [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s, [[armoured cruiser]]s and [[protected cruisers]] of the early [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] built in UK and European shipyards. It was also the heaviest gun ever carried by a pre-[[Cold War]] destroyer.
== Design ==
=== QF technology ===
[[File:Loading QF 6 inch gun LOC ggbain 16785.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|Loading a MK I or II deck gun on {{HMS|Ariadne|1898|6}}. The man at left holds a shell, the men at right hold brass powder cartridges. Note the coned breech screw and lugs on the underside of the breech ring to which recoil cylinders are attached}}]]
These guns were developed to exploit the new "[[British ordnance terms#QF|QF]]" technology, which involved loading the propellant charge in a brass case with integrated primer in its base. This allowed a faster rate of fire than the older "Breech Loading" system, where the propellant was loaded in cloth bags and then a separate friction or percussion tube fitted into the breech for firing. The brass case sealed the breech, allowing a lighter mechanism, and at the same time disposed with the necessity of washing or sponging any smouldering fragments left from the previous shot, which could ignite the charge (then of [[Gunpowder|black powder]]) prematurely. The QF principle had proved successful with the much smaller [[QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss]] and [[Nordenfelt]] QF 3- and 6-pounders from 1885 onwards, and with [[QF 4.7-inch Mk I – IV naval gun]] from 1886.
The Mk I was an Elswick gun of [[Built-up gun|built up construction]], which passed its trials on Elswick range near [[Silloth]] in the presence of [[Lord George Hamilton]] in October 1890.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxcyjD2Tdj0C&pg=PA343 |title=The Engineer |date=1891 |publisher=Morgan-Grampian (Publishers) |language=en}}</ref> Mk II was built by [[Royal Arsenal|Woolwich Arsenal]] and in 1891 became the first Royal Navy gun using the Armstrong [[British ordnance terms#Wire-wound|wire-wound]] construction. The breech mechanisms were developed from the existing {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on}} BL mechanisms, but as it no longer had to provide obturation (sealing of the breech), the front was made coned rather than straight which allowed it to be swung round to the side before it was fully withdrawn, rather than  having to be fully withdrawn before swinging to the side as with the BL gun.<ref name="Hogg&Thurston1972">Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 140.</ref>
=== Recoil system ===
[[File:6 inch gun from HMS Calypso rear.JPG|thumb|left|{{center|MK III gun at [[Fort Nelson, Hampshire|Fort Nelson]]. This shows the left trunnion (detailed in black) by which it is mounted on a Vavasseur recoil slide, and there are no lugs on the underside of the breech ring}}]]
The preceding generation of British 6-inch guns ([[BL 6 inch gun Mk II – VI|BL Mks III, IV and VI]]) had old-style trunnions by which they were mounted on [[Vavasseur mounting|Vavasseur]] inclined slides to absorb recoil. QF Mk I and II dispensed with trunnions and instead on the lower side of the breech ring were lugs to which were attached modern recoil buffer and [[British ordnance terms#Hydro-spring|hydrospring recuperator (runout) cylinders]] to absorb recoil and return the barrel to loading position after firing. This allowed the gun to recoil directly backwards rather than backwards and upwards as previously and is the recoil system which in essence is still in use. Mk III was built by Elswick and was similar to Mk I except that it had trunnions which allowed it to be deployed on the remaining obsolescent but still in service Vavasseur recoil mountings. All 3 Marks had the same dimensions and performance.
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== UK service ==
=== Royal Navy service ===
[[File:HMSPowerfulCirca1905.jpg|thumb|{{center|The 6 starboard casemate guns on [[HMS Powerful (1895)|HMS ''Powerful'']]}}]]
[[File:QF 6 inch 40 calibre gun diagram Brasseys 1896.jpg|thumb|A diagram from Brassey's Naval Annual 1896]]
As the [[Quick firing gun|QF]] 6-inch Mk I, Mk II and Mk III, the gun was used as [[secondary armament]] of pre-dreadnoughts of the 1890s and cruisers to 1905. On the [[protected cruiser]]s of the [[Diadem-class cruiser|''Diadem'']], [[Powerful-class cruiser|''Powerful'']] and [[Edgar-class cruiser|''Edgar'']] classes they made up most of the armament, though the latter class carried two {{convert|9.2|in|mm|adj=on}} guns as well. The pre-dreadnought battleship classes of the {{HMS|Royal Sovereign|1891|2}}-class (including the turreted {{HMS|Hood|1891|6}}-class, {{HMS|Centurion|1911|2}}-class, {{HMS|Majestic|1895|2}}-class and {{HMS|Canopus|1897|2}}-class ships carried up to 12 guns.
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=== Second Boer War land service ===
During the [[Second Boer War]] one gun was brought ashore from{{HMS|Terrible|1895|6}} in [[Colony of Natal|Natal]] in February 1900 at the request of General [[Redvers Buller]], presumably{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} in response to the failure at [[Battle of Colenso|Colenso]].<ref name="MHJ-4-3">{{cite journal|last=Hall|first=D.D.|date=1978-06-03|title=THE NAVAL GUNS IN NATAL 1899–1902|journal=Military History Journal|publisher=The South African Military History Society |volume=4 |issue=3 |issn=0026-4016 |url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol043dh.html|access-date=2009-11-10}}</ref> It was mounted on an improvised field carriage by Captain [[Percy Scott]] and transported by rail to Chieveley, just south of Colenso. There it was manned by Royal Navy gunners to provide useful fire support for the [[British Army]] during the [[relief of Ladysmith]]. It is reported on 17 February to have fired from "Gun Hill" (a small [[kopje]] two miles (3&nbsp;km) north of Chieveley<ref>Burne 1902, Chapter II</ref>) and knocked out a Boer gun at {{cvt|16500|yd}}, followed by a Boer searchlight, as Buller approached Ladysmith from the South East and pushed the Boers back towards the Tugela river.<ref>Bridgland 1998, pp 126–128</ref> On 26 February Lieutenant Burne reports firing from the same position on a Boer gun at {{cvt|15000|yd}} at 28° elevation and falling {{cvt|200|yd}} short.<ref>Burne 1902 Chapter V</ref> The 7-ton weight (compared to the 2½ tons of the Boer [[155 mm Creusot Long Tom|155&nbsp;mm "Long Tom"]]) meant that it was effectively immobile on the battlefield and could not be moved forward to shorten the range. Two guns were also mounted on [[armoured train]]s, crewed by the [[Royal Garrison Artillery]].<ref>Major D Hall, [http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol022dh.html The South African Military History Society. Military History Journal – Vol 2 No 2 December 1971. "Guns in South Africa 1899–1902 Part III and IV"]</ref>
=== Coast defence gun ===
From 1894 a number of guns were adapted for coast defence use, with the original 3-motion breeches replaced by modern single-motion breeches to increase the rate of fire, which designated them as "B" guns.<ref name="autogenerated1">Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 140</ref> Nineteen guns were still active in the defence of the UK as at April 1918 : [[Jersey]] (2), [[Guernsey]] (2), [[Alderney]] (2), [[Shoeburyness]] (2), Blyth (2), [[River Clyde|Clyde]] Garrison (1), [[Mersey]] (2), Berehaven Garrison ([[Bantry Bay]], Ireland) (6).<ref>Farndale 1988, page 398 – 404</ref>
=== World War I anti-aircraft gun ===
[[File:QF6inchAAGunWWI.jpg|thumb|{{center|Anti-aircraft mounting on Prince of Wales Pier, Dover}}]]
At least one gun is known to have been mounted by the Royal Navy on an improvised anti-aircraft mounting on a railway truck, defending docks during the First World War.<ref>Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 206.</ref>
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=== Conversion to 8 inch (203 mm) howitzer ===
{{Main|BL 8-inch howitzer Mk I – V}}
In World War I Britain urgently needed heavy artillery on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], and various obsolete 6-inch naval guns were converted to 8-inch howitzers. Sixty-three QF 6-inch Mk II guns were shortened, bored out  to {{cvt|8|in}} and converted to [[List of British ordnance terms#BL|BL type]] to produce the BL 8-inch howitzer Mk V.<ref>Mk V howitzer used QF Mk II barrels converted to BL (total of 63). Details from Clarke 2005, p. 34, and Tony DiGiulian's website [http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_6-40_mk1.htm Britain 6"/40 (15.2 cm) QF Marks I, II and III]</ref> Four entered service in December 1915 and 59 followed in 1916.<ref>National Archives MUN5/373/9227</ref>
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== Italian naval service ==
The Elswick export designation for guns sold to Italy and Japan was Pattern Z and Pattern Z1.  In Italian service they were known as Cannone da 152/40 A Modello 1891.  These guns armed armoured cruisers, [[ironclad]]s, pre-dreadnought battleships, protected cruisers and [[scout cruiser]]s of the ''[[Regia Marina]]''.  They served aboard ''Regia Marina'' ships in the [[Italo-Turkish War]] and World War I.
== Japanese naval service ==
[[File:Mikasa 6-inch gun.jpg|thumb|{{center|Type 41 6-inch (152&nbsp;mm)/40 naval gun on [[Japanese battleship Mikasa|Japanese battleship ''Mikasa'']]}}]]
The Type 41 naval gun was designed by [[Armstrong Whitworth]], [[Elswick, Tyne and Wear|Elswick]], [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], England as a slightly modified version of the Elswick Ordnance Company [[British ordnance terms#Separate QF|QF]] pattern {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on}} guns used on contemporary [[Royal Navy]] battleships. The Elswick export designation for guns sold to Italy and Japan was Pattern Z and Pattern Z1.  They were the standard secondary armament on pre-dreadnought battleships and the [[main battery]] on several classes of armoured cruisers and protected cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.  They served aboard Japanese ships in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], [[Russo-Japanese War]] and [[World War I]].
The gun was named "Type 41" from the 41st year of the reign of [[Emperor Meiji]] on 25 December 1908. It was further re-named in centimetres on 5 October 1917 as part of the standardisation process for the Imperial Japanese Navy converting to the [[metric system]]. The Type 41 {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on}} gun fired a {{cvt|100|lb|adj=on}} shell with either an [[Armor-piercing shot and shell|armour piercing]], [[Shell (projectile)|high explosive]] or general purpose warhead. An anti-submarine shell of {{cvt|113|lb|adj=on}} was developed and in service from 1943.
== Romanian naval service ==
Three guns were mounted on each of the two Romanian [[Aquila-class cruiser|''Aquila''-class]] [[scout cruiser]]s, ''[[NMS Mărăști|Mărăști]]'' and ''[[NMS Mărășești|Mărășești]]''. The ships were reclassified as destroyers upon commissioning, despite retaining the 6-inch guns for the years to come, thus making the gun the heaviest artillery piece ever mounted on a pre-[[Cold War]] destroyer.<ref>''Revista istorică, Volumul 15, Edițiile 1-2'', Institutul, 2004, p. 221 (in Romanian)</ref>
== US service ==
[[File:Fort Desoto06.jpg|thumb|Gun relocated from [[Fort Dade]] to [[Fort DeSoto]], Florida]]
These guns were adopted in very limited quantity by the [[United States Army Coast Artillery Corps]] as part of the [[Board of Fortifications|Endicott period]] fortifications, and were initially mounted 1898–1907. They were acquired in 1898 due to the outbreak of the [[Spanish–American War]]. It was feared that the Spanish fleet would bombard US ports, and most of the Endicott forts were still years from completion. So the 6-inch guns, along with 34 [[QF 4.7-inch Gun Mk I–IV|4.7-inch Armstrong guns]] and 21 [[8-inch M1888]] guns on 1870s carriages, were acquired to quickly arm some forts with modern quick-firing guns. They were designated as "6-inch Armstrong guns" and mounted on pedestals in US service, and appear to have been withdrawn from service by 1925. A total of nine guns were mounted in one-, two-, or three-gun batteries, with four of the nine transferred to [[Hawaii]] 1913–1917. Eight guns were initially at [[Fort Williams (Maine)]] (1), [[Fort Greble]], [[Rhode Island]] (1), [[Fort Wadsworth]], [[Staten Island]], NY (2), [[Fort Moultrie]], [[Charleston, South Carolina]] (1), [[Tybee Island, Georgia#Fort Screven historic district|Fort Screven, Tybee Island]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] (1), and [[Fort Dade]], [[Tampa Bay]], FL (2).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RUtZAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA3780 Congressional serial set, 1900, ''Report of the Commission on the Conduct of the War with Spain'', Vol. 7, pp. 3778–3780, Washington: Government Printing Office]</ref> The guns at Fort Greble and Fort Moultrie were dismounted in 1903-04. In 1907 three guns were mounted at [[Fort Adams]], [[Rhode Island]], probably the two dismounted guns plus one either newly acquired or from spares. The four guns from Fort Williams and Fort Adams were transferred to [[Ford Island]], [[Pearl Harbor]], Hawaii as Batteries Adair and Boyd beginning in 1913. The two from Fort Dade survive at [[Fort DeSoto]] near [[St. Petersburg, Florida]]. Their battery at Fort Dade has succumbed to tide action over the years.<ref>Berhow, pp. 92–93</ref><ref>[http://cdsg.org/fort-and-battery-list/ US fort and battery list at the Coast Defense Study Group]</ref><ref>[http://www.fortwiki.com/ FortWiki (Fort Williams, Fort Adams, Fort Wadsworth, Fort Dade, and Fort Screven entries)]</ref>
== Canadian service ==
These guns were aboard {{HMS|Niobe|1897|6}} when the ship was transferred to Canada as HMCS ''Niobe'' in 1910.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}
== Surviving examples ==
* On board [[Japanese battleship Mikasa|Japanese battleship ''Mikasa'']], Yokosuka, Japan
* [[:File:Fort Desoto06.jpg|Two coast defence guns]] at [[Fort DeSoto]], Florida, USA.
* [[:File:6 inch gun from HMS Calypso.jpg|A Mk III gun and shield]] from [[HMS Calypso (1883)|HMS ''Calypso'']] at [[Fort Nelson, Portsmouth]], UK
* Two guns are on display at Howe Military Academy in Howe Indiana
* Two guns, originally from [[HMS Gibraltar]], set up on the island of [[Vementry]], Shetland during WW1 to defend the approach to Swarbacks Minn naval anchorage.
== See also ==
=== Weapons of comparable role, performance and era ===
* [[15 cm SK L/40 naval gun]] German equivalent
* [[6"/40 caliber gun]] US equivalent
== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
== Bibliography ==
* [http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/u?/p4013coll11,230 Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120712182551/http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/u?/p4013coll11,230 |date=12 July 2012 }}
* {{cite book | editor-last1 = Berhow | editor-first1 = Mark A. | title = American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide |edition=Second | publisher = CDSG Press | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-9748167-0-1}}
* Tony Bridgland, "[https://www.amazon.com/Field-Gun-Jack-Versus-Boers/dp/0850525802 Field Gun Jack Versus the Boers: The Royal Navy in South Africa 1899–1900]". Leo Cooper, 1998. {{ISBN|0-85052-580-2}}
* {{cite book |last= Brown|first=D. K.|title=Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860–1905|year=2003|publisher=Book Sales|isbn=1-84067-529-2}}
* {{cite book |last= Brown|first=D. K.|title=The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922|year=2003|publisher=Caxton Editions|isbn=978-1-84067-531-3}}
* Lieutenant C. R. N. Burne R.N., [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25117 With the Naval Brigade in Natal (1899–1900). London: Edward Arnold, 1902]
* Dale Clarke, [https://web.archive.org/web/20061021183226/http://www.ospreypublishing.com/title_detail.php/title=S7883 British Artillery 1914–1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005] {{ISBN|1-84176-788-3}}
* General Sir [[Martin Farndale]], History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery : Forgotten Fronts and the Home Base 1914–18. London:The Royal Artillery Institution, 1988
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Lambert|editor2-first=Andrew|title=Steam, Steel and Shellfire: The Steam Warship, 1815–1905|series=Conway's History of the Ship|year=2001 |publisher=Book Sales|isbn=978-0-7858-1413-9}}
* Major Darrell Hall, [http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol043dh.html "THE NAVAL GUNS IN NATAL 1899–1902" The South African Military History Society Military History Journal – Vol 4 No 3, June 1978]
* {{cite book |last= Hodges |first= Peter |title= The Big Gun: Battleship Main Armament, 1860–1945|publisher=United States Naval Institute Press|year=1981|isbn=0-87021-917-0}}
* [[Ian V. Hogg|I.V. Hogg]] & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.
* {{cite book |last=Parkes|first=Oscar|title=British Battleships|publisher=first published Seeley Service & Co, 1957, published United States Naval Institute Press|year=1990|isbn=1-55750-075-4}}
* Admiral [[Percy Scott]], [https://archive.org/details/fiftyyearsinroya00scotuoft "Fifty Years in the Royal Navy"] published 1919
* [https://archive.org/stream/instructionsfor16statgoog#page/n1/mode/2up "Instructions for Mounting, Using, and Caring for 6-inch Rapid-Fire Gun, Armstrong", 1903, revised 1908, reprinted 1917, Washington: Government Printing Office]
== External links ==
{{Commons category|QF 6 inch /40 naval gun}}
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/109300 Handbook of the 6 inch Q. F. Gun, land service, 1898, 1903] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/107919 Handbook of the 6 inch "b" Q.F. guns, land service, 1911] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://www.russojapanesewar.com/rng-pdf/EOC15cm-40-Pattern%20W.pdf Range tables for Pattern W as used by Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192824/http://www.russojapanesewar.com/rng-pdf/EOC15cm-40-Pattern%20W.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }} from Russo-Japanese War Research Society website
* [http://www.russojapanesewar.com/rng-pdf/EOC15cm-40-Pattern%20Z.pdf Range tables for Pattern Z as used by Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302222713/http://www.russojapanesewar.com/rng-pdf/EOC15cm-40-Pattern%20Z.pdf |date=2 March 2012 }} from Russo-Japanese War Research Society website
* {{cite web
| last = DiGiulian
| first = Tony
| url = http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNJAP_6-40_EOC.htm| title = Japanese 15.2 cm/40 (6") Type 41
| work = NavWeaps.com
}}
* {{cite web
| last = DiGiulian
| first = Tony
| url = http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_6-40_mk1.htm| title = British 6"/40 QF Marks I, II, and III
| work = NavWeaps.com
}}
{{VictorianEraBritishNavalWeapons}}
{{GreatWarBritishNavalWeapons}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:QF 06-inch}}
[[Category:Naval guns of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:152&nbsp;mm artillery]]
[[Category:Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Coastal artillery]]
[[Category:World War I guns]]
[[Category:Russo-Japanese war weapons of Japan]]