Ordnance QF 12 pounder 8 cwt

Ordnance QF 12 pounder 8 cwt
Royal Navy gun and crew, late 1890s
Type	Light field gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
Used by	British Empire
Wars	Second Boer War World War I
Production history
Designed	circa. 1894
Specifications
Barrel length	84 inch bore (28 calibres)[1]
Shell	Separate QF, 12.5 pounds (5.67 kg) Shrapnel, Common Lyddite
Calibre	3-inch (76.2 mm)
Carriage	Wheeled, box trail
Muzzle velocity	1,585 feet per second (483 m/s)[2]
Maximum range	5,100 yards (4,660 m)[2]

The Ordnance QF 12 pounder 8 cwt was a Royal Navy "landing gun" intended for navy use ashore. "8 cwt" refers to the weight of the gun and breech, approximately 8 cwt = 8 x 112 lb (51 kg) = 896 lb. This was how the British often differentiated between guns of the same calibre or weight of shell. This gun had a short barrel and was of relatively low power compared to the 12 pounders of 12 and 18 cwt, although it fired the same shells.

History

The Navy eventually replaced the gun with the 3.7 inch Mountain Howitzer.^[3]

Combat use

Second Boer War

The gun was used in the early stages of the Second Boer War in Natal.^[4]

World War I

In action at Fort Dachang, Cameroons, 1915

Australian and British gunners with gun in front lines at Gallipoli

Guns were employed on land in the West Africa campaign.

Also employed in the East Africa campaign ("Logan's Battery" 6th Field Battery, 2 guns, towed first by Hupmobile cars and then REO lorries).^[5]

This gun was briefly used in the Battle of Gallipoli, as the Navy had supplies of ammunition for it when the army was short of ammunition for its own guns. Several guns were landed in July 1915 and operated from frontline trenches.^[3]

Surviving examples

A gun with HMS Victory in the background, at Portsmouth, UK

See also

• This cannon is the type used in the famous British Royal Navy Field Gun Runs.

In popular culture

• The RN Field Gun may be seen 'in action' in the 1957 film "Yangtse Incident", when a group of these guns was used on the banks of the River Orwell to depict Chinese PLA gun batteries on the North bank of the Yangtze, which fired on HMS Amethyst as she steamed up to Nanking in April 1949.

Notes and references

1. ^ Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Page 337
2. ^ ^{a b} 1585 ft/s with 13¾ oz Cordite size 10. Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Page 337
3. ^ ^{a b} Clarke 2004, page 40
4. ^ Hall December 1971
5. ^ Farndale 1988

Bibliography

• Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE
• Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Field Army Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2004 ISBN 1 84176 688 7
• General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery : Forgotten Fronts and the Home Base 1914-18. Royal Artillery Institution, London, 1988. ISBN 1 870114 05 1
• Major Darrell Hall, "Guns in South Africa 1899-1902 Part III and IV" The South African Military History Society Military History Journal - Vol 2 No 2, December 1971
• Major Darrell Hall, "THE NAVAL GUNS IN NATAL 1899-1902" The South African Military History Society Military History Journal - Vol 4 No 3, June 1978

External links

• YouTube Running with 3/4 Soddin Ton! RN team practice with QF 12 pdr for Navy Gun Run