BL 15 inch Mk I naval gun

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BL 15 inch Mark I
An animation showing the loading cycle of the Mark I turret for the BL 15 inch Mark I.
Type	naval gun
Place of origin	UK
Service history
In service	1913-1959
Used by	UK
Production history
Designed	1912
Manufacturer	see text
Specifications
Weight	100.3 tons (102 tonnes)
Barrel length	52.5 ft (16.5 m)

Shell	separate charges and shell
Calibre	15 in (381 mm)
Rate of fire	2 rounds per minute
Maximum range	32,500 yards (29,720 m): 30° elevation, streamlined shell

The BL 15 inch Mark I was the first British 15 inch (381 mm) gun design and the most widely used and longest lasting of any British designs. The barrel was 42 calibres long (i.e. 15 in x 42 = 630 in) and was referred to as "15 inch/42". The gun fired a 1920 lb (871 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 2,575 fps (785 mps). Maximum range in shipboard mountings was 32,500 yards (29,720 m) (30 degrees elevation) but coastal artillery mounting with higher elevations could reach 44,150 yards (40,370 m). Two coastal guns (Clem and Jane) were mounted near Wanstone Farm in Kent in the 1940's. Five guns were mounted in Singapore in the 1930's.

One of Singapore's 15 inch coastal defence guns elevated for firing

1 Usage
2 Production
3 World War II Ammunition
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Usage

These guns were used on several classes of battleships from 1915 until HMS Vanguard, the last battleship to be built for the Royal Navy, completed in 1946.

Warships with the BL 15 inch Mark I gun:

Queen Elizabeth class battleships (Five ships with eight guns each)
Revenge class battleships (Five ships with eight guns each)
Renown class battlecruisers (Two ships with six guns each)
HMS Hood - battlecruiser (Eight guns)
Glorious class large light cruisers (Two ships with four guns each)
Erebus class monitors (Two ships with two guns each)
Marshal Ney class monitors (Two ships with two guns each)
Roberts class monitors (Two ships with two guns each)
HMS Vanguard - battleship (Eight guns, taken from Courageous and Glorious)

[edit] Production

184 guns were manufactured. They were removed from ships, refurbished, and rotated back into other ships over their lifetime.

Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick, Newcastle: 34
Armstrong Whitworth, Openshaw, Manchester: 12.
William Beardmore & Company, Parkhead, Glasgow: 37
Coventry Ordnance Works, Coventry: 19
Royal Arsenal, Woolwich: 33
Vickers Limited, Sheffield: 49

Two guns, one formerly from HMS Ramillies (left gun) and one from HMS Resolution (right gun), are mounted outside the Imperial War Museum in London.