BL 5.4 inch Howitzer

Infobox Weapon
name= Ordnance BL 5.4 inch Howitzer


caption=
origin= UK
type= Field howitzer
is_artillery=yes
is_ranged=yes
is_bladed=
is_explosive=yes
is_UK=yes
service= 1895 - 1919
used_by=
wars=Second Boer War
First World War
designer=
design_date=
manufacturer=
unit_cost=
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number=
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spec_label=
weight=
length=
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width=
height=
diameter=
crew=
cartridge=Separate loading BL; HE shell convert|60|lb|abbr=on Lyddite
caliber= 5.4 inch
action=
rate=
velocity=781 ft/s
range=4800 yds
feed=
sights=
breech=
recoil=6 inch, hydro-spring constant
carriage=wheeled, box trail
elevation=-5° - 45°Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 121]
traverse=
filling=
filling_weight=
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yield=The Ordnance BL 5.4 inch Howitzer was a version of the British 5 inch howitzer designed for Indian Army use, especially on the Northwest Frontier.

History

The unusual calibre of 5.4 inches may have been determined by a requirement to fire a 60 lb shell. Since the 5 inch howitzer with its 50 lb shell was later found deficient in both firepower and range, it is possible the Indian Army may have foreseen this, and in fact the 5.4 inch could fire its 60 lb shell the same distance as the 5 inch fired its 50 lb shell i.e. 4800 yards. Also, Hogg & Thurston surmise that raw weight of shell was seen as necessary in India to "put a reasonable amount of fear into the hears of obstreporous tribesmen inhabiting home-built but robust local fortressess" [Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 122] : different conditions than regular British Army artillery was expected to be employed in.

Combat service

World War I

4 guns were sent from India and served in the East Africa campaign. They were manned by the 134th (Cornwall) Howitzer Battery (TF) from England. The battery was formed at Maktan on 4 February 1916 and drawn by oxen. [Farndale 1988, page 318] The Territorial Force gunners would already have been familiar with the 5 inch howitzer which was closely related.

The battery is reported as firing 102 rounds in the bombardment of German positions on the Mgeta river (approximately convert|100|mi|km SW of Dar es Salam) on 1 January 1917, part of the Rufiji River campaign. This allowed Cunliffe's Nigerian Brigade to cross the Mgeta river and pursue the German force south. One of the guns was destroyed by a premature explosion in this action, with 1 gunner killed and 2 wounded. [Farndale 1988, page 340]

The 134th battery landed at Lindi in the far south of German East Africa near the border with Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) in October 1917 and moved west inland. 2 of their 5.4 inch howitzers were sent to Morogoro to be used for training and they took over 2 5 inch howitzers from 11th (Hull) Battery who were short of men through sickness. The 134th were then heavily engaged using 1 5.4 inch and 2 5 inch howitzers at the major Battle of Nyangao on 16-18 October 1917. [Source : war diaries of 11th & 134th batteries. Farndale 1988, page 347-349 incorrectly states 134th battery were equipped with 2 5.4 inch at Nyangao.] The guns knocked out the last of the 10 4.1 inch guns from the Konigsberg which the German forces had used as field guns, and provided fire support for the Indian and Nigerian troops.

Notes

References

*Dale Clarke, [http://www.ospreypublishing.com/title_detail.php/title=S6887 British Artillery 1914-1919. Field Army Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2004]
*General Sir Martin Farndale, [http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Royal-Regiment-Artillery-M-Farndale/dp/1870114051 "History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The Forgotten Fronts and the Home Base, 1914-18". London : The Royal Artillery Institution, 1988] .
*I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972

See also

*Howitzer
*List of artillery#Towed howitzers and field guns

urviving examples

External links