BL 12 inch Howitzer
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The Ordnance BL 12-inch howitzer was a scaled-up version of the successful BL 9.2-inch siege howitzer.


History

Following the success of their BL 9.2-inch howitzer,
Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
designed an almost identical version scaled up to a
calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...
of 12 inches, the Mk II entering service on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
in August 1916.Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 180. Eight complete equipments are reported as arriving in August 1916 and being in action in France shortly afterwards. It was similar but unrelated to the BL 12 inch railway howitzers Mk I, III and V produced by the
Elswick Ordnance Company The Elswick Ordnance Company (sometimes referred to as Elswick Ordnance Works, but usually as "EOC") was a British armaments manufacturing company of the late 19th and early 20th century History Originally created in 1859 to separate William A ...
at the same time. The Mk IV was a more powerful version with longer barrel produced from 1917. Later models were used for British home defence in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.


Service use

As with other large-calibre weapons, it was operated by the
Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...
in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The 12-inch was dismantled and transported in six loads mounted on
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wheels. It was then reassembled on its static siege mounting on top of a steel holdfast, with 22 tons of earth in a box sitting on the front of the holdfast in front of the gun, to counteract the kick of firing.


Ammunition

File:BL 12 inch Howitzer Shell Mk V Diagram.jpg, Mk V HE shell, World War I File:The Battle of Passchendaele, July-november 1917 Q7811.jpg, 12 inch shell being loaded


See also

*
List of siege artillery Siege artillery (also siege guns or siege cannons) are heavy guns designed to bombard fortifications, cities, and other fixed targets. They are distinct from field artillery and are a class of siege weapon capable of firing heavy cannonballs or ...


Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

*
305 mm howitzer M1915 Type 1915 305 mm howitzer (russian: 305-мм гаубица образца 1915 года) was a Russian heavy howitzer that saw service during World War I and II. Originally intended for Naval use, it was later purchased by the Army at a co ...
Russian equivalent *
Skoda 305 mm Model 1911 The Škoda 30.5 cm Mörser M.11 was a siege howitzer produced by Škoda Works and used by the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I and by Nazi Germany in World War II. Development Development began in 1906, when a development contract w ...
Austro-Hungarian equivalent


Notes


References


Bibliography

* Dale Clarke, ''British Artillery 1914-1919. Heavy Artillery''. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005 * I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.


External links


Newsreel showing 12" siege howitzers and other heavy weapons in action
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bl 12 inch Howitzer World War I artillery of the United Kingdom World War I howitzers Siege artillery World War II artillery of the United Kingdom 305 mm artillery Vickers