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BL 5-inch howitzer

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The Ordnance BL 5-inch howitzer was initially introduced to provide the Royal Field Artillery with continuing explosive shell capability following the decision to concentrate on shrapnel for field guns in the 1890s.

Ordnance BL 5-inch howitzer
Territorial Force gunners with howitzer in camp pre-WWI
TypeField howitzer
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
In service1895 – 1919
Used by United Kingdom
 Kingdom of Romania
 Russian Empire
WarsMahdist War
Second Boer War
First World War
Specifications
Mass2,672 lb (1,212 kg)[1]
Barrel length42 inches (1.07 m) bore (8.4 calibres)[2]
Shell50 lb (22.7 kg) Common shell
50 lb (22.7 kg) Lyddite shell
40 lb (18.1 kg) Amatol shell[3]
Calibre5-inch (127.0 mm)
Breech3-motion, interrupted screw[4]
Recoil5.5 in (140 mm), Hydro-spring constant[4]
CarriageWheeled, box trail
Elevation-5° - 45°[4]
Muzzle velocity788 ft/s (240 m/s)[5]
Effective firing range4,800 yards (4,400 m) (50 lb shell);
6,500 yards (5,900 m) (40 lb shell)
Filling weight9 pounds 15 ounces (4.51 kg) (Lyddite)
5 pounds (2.27 kg) (Amatol)

Combat service

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Sudan Campaign

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The weapon was used by the Royal Field Artillery and served successfully at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898. During that campaign they gained the distinction of being the first British guns to fire the new Lyddite shells in action.

Second Boer War

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Major D Hall states that in the Second Boer War the Lyddite shells often failed to detonate; the gun was too heavy to be used as a field howitzer, and for siege use its range was too short and shell too light. However, it achieved some success in Natal when able to get close enough to bombard Boers in trenches.[6]

World War I

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By 1908 it was obsolete and replaced in British Regular Army brigades by the modern QF 4.5-inch howitzer.

Territorial Force brigades, however, continued to use the howitzer in World War I into 1916, including notably at the ANZAC and Suvla beachheads, Gallipoli, and in the East African campaign.

A lighter 40-pound (18.14 kg) shell with Amatol filling replaced the original 50-pound (22.68 kg) Lyddite shell early in World War I Together with an increase in cordite propellant from 11 oz 7 drams to 14 oz 5 drams, this increased the maximum range from 4,800 to 6,500 yards (5,900 m). Administrative error led to the new 40-pound shells being sent to Gallipoli without range tables or fuze keys for the new pattern fuzes, rendering them useless.[7]

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  •  
    A rear view of the BL 5-inch Howitzer.
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    Approaching Maddox Hill, Northern Cape, January 1900.
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    In action on Gallipoli, 1915.
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    A BL 5-inch Howitzer in Romanian service during World War I. Romania received 28 howitzers in 1917.

Ammunition

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Cordite cartridge 11 oz 7 dram Mk V, for 50 lb projectile
50 lb Common shell Mk III
50 lb Common lyddite shell Mk IV
T Friction tube Mk IV

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ Hogg, Ian. Twentieth-Century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000. ISBN 0-7607-1994-2 Pg.46
  2. ^ Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Table XII page 336
  3. ^ Treatise on Ammunition 1915, accurate as at 1 August 1914, mentions that there are both "Heavy" 50 lb (23 kg) and "Light" 40 lb (18.1 kg) shells and mentions a 14 oz 13 dram cartridge for a 40 lb (18.1 kg) shell (page 142). But only 50 lb (22.7 kg) shells are listed in tables. It is possible the 40 lb (18.1 kg) shell was in process of being introduced in 1914.
  4. ^ a b c Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 113
  5. ^ Hogg & Thurston 1972 page113. Text Book of Gunnery 1902 gives 782 ft/s (238 m/s), firing a 50 pounds (22.7 kg) projectile, with 11oz 7dram Cordite size 3¾ propellant.
  6. ^ Hall June 1971
  7. ^ Simpson-Baikie 1920

Bibliography

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Surviving examples

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