The RML 6.6 inch howitzer was a British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML)

Howitzer A howitzer () is a long-ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an Artillery, artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a Mortar (weapon), mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and de ...

manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately . It was used in siege batteries and in fortifications.

Design and manufacture

The Mark I gun consisted of an 'A' tube of toughened steel, over which was shrunk a 'B' tube of wrought iron and jacket. A cascable was fitted at the end. The Mark II gun was of steel throughout. A vertical hardened copper vent was fitted horizontally at the breech end of the Howitzer. The howitzer was

rifled In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the ...

on the "Polygroove" pattern with 20 grooves and projectiles had " Automatic gas-checks" attached to the base which engaged the grooves. A horizontal plane was machined on the upper surface of the Howitzer, for use with a clinometer, enabling it to be elevated up to 35 degrees. This enabled the gun to be sighted for indirect, or direct fire.

Ammunition

Guns were fired using a silk bag containing a black powder propellant. They used three types of ammunition – Common shell (for use against buildings or fortifications),

shrapnel shell Shrapnel shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions which carried many individual bullets close to a target area and then ejected them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike targets individually. They relied almo ...

(for use any Infantry or Cavalry) and

case shot Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. Canister shot has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies. However, canister shot saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various ...

(for close range use against 'soft' targets). Ignition was through a copper lined vent at the breech end of the gun. A copper friction tube would be inserted and a lanyard attached. When the lanyard was pulled the tube would ignite, firing the gun. A number of different fuzes could be used enabling shells to either burst at a pre-determined time (and range), or on impact. A typical rate of fire was one round per minute.

Service history

Rifled Muzzle Loading howitzers were selected by the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in the 1870s to replace obsolete smooth bore Mortars and howitzers, as they had great range and accuracy. The 6.6-inch Howitzer was used a semi-mobile siege artillery, so could be mounted on a travelling siege carriage with limber. In addition a limbered ammunition trailer was also deployed with each gun. Alternatively the howitzer could be mounted on fixed bed and ground platform. Numbers of howitzers were mounted in fixed defences, including Fort Widley and Fort Nelson, Portsmouth which in 1898 show a number mounted.The National Archives (TNA) CAB 18/19, Approved Armaments, 1898 By 1902 the Howitzer was declared obsolete and removed from service.

References

Bibliography

* Captain John F Owen R.A.
"Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service"
Prepared in the Royal Gun Factory, London, 1877, pages 177–178, 292.
Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE

External links