The BL 12 inch Gun Mark X
[Mark X = Mark 10. Succeeding versions were Mark XI (11) and XII (12). Britain used ]Roman numerals
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II was a British
45-calibre naval gun
Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. T ...
which was mounted as primary armament on
battleship
A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
s and
battlecruiser
The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...
s from 1906. It first appeared on .
History
The Mk X continued the trend of lengthening gun barrels as far as new construction methods would permit, in order to allow more cordite propellant to be used to attain higher projectile velocities. The Mk X increased the bore length from the
Mk IX's , increasing muzzle velocity from .
Subsequent British attempts to further increase the power of 12-inch guns led to failure with the 50-calibre
Mk XI and Mk XII guns; the Mk X was the last successful 12-inch British gun.
Naval use
Mk X guns were mounted in the following ships which served throughout
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
:
* s, laid down 1905, completed 1908
* Battleship , laid down 1905, completed 1906
* s, laid down 1906, completed 1908–1909
* s, laid down 1906, completed 1909
* s, laid down 1909, completed 1911–1913
World War I use ashore
From 1917 several Mk X guns were deployed ashore on the section of the Belgian coast still held by the Allies, near
Nieuwpoort. They were part of the "Royal Naval Siege Guns" under the command of
Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, and were used for attacking German heavy gun batteries.
Ammunition
See also
*
List of naval guns
List of Naval Guns by country of origin
List of naval guns by caliber size
Naval anti-aircraft guns
See also
*List of artillery
* List of the largest cannon by caliber
*Glossary of British ordnance terms
*Naval artillery
References
Ext ...
Weapons of comparable role, performance and era
*
305mm/45 Modèle 1906 gun French equivalent
*
EOC 12 inch /45 naval gun Elswick Ordnance Company equivalent
*
12"/45 caliber Mark 5 gun US equivalent
Notes
References
Bibliography
"Range Tables for His Majesty's Fleet, 1910. February, 1911"*
Treatise on Ammunition
''Treatise on Ammunition'', from 1926 retitled ''Text Book of Ammunition'', is a series of manuals detailing all British Empire military and naval service ammunition and associated equipment in use at the date of publication. It was published by t ...
, 1915
External links
* Tony DiGiulian
British 12"/45 (30.5 cm) Mark X
{{DEFAULTSORT:BL 12-inch Mk 10 gun
Naval guns of the United Kingdom
World War I naval weapons of the United Kingdom
305 mm artillery
Vickers naval guns