Ordnance BL 6-inch gun Mk XIX
BL 6-inch gun Mk XIX
Type	Heavy field gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1916–1940
Used by	United Kingdom United States Brazil Union of South Africa
Wars	World War I, World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	Vickers
No. built	310
Specifications
Mass	10,248 lb (4,684 kg) (gun & breech) 10 tons 3½ cwt (10,340 kg) (total)
Barrel length	35 calibres
Shell	HE 100 lb (45 kg)
Calibre	6 in (152 mm)
Breech	Welin interrupted screw with Asbury mechanism[1]
Recoil	Hydro pneumatic, variable
Carriage	Wheeled, box trail
Elevation	0° to 38°[1]
Traverse	4° L & R[1]
Muzzle velocity	2,350 ft/s (720 m/s)[1]
Maximum firing range	16,500 yd (15,100 m) (2 crh shell); 17,800 yd (16,300 m) (4 crh shell); 18,750 yd (17,140 m) (6 crh shell)[1]

The British BL 6-inch gun Mk XIX^{[note 1]} was introduced in 1916 as a lighter and longer-range field gun replacement for the obsolescent BL 6-inch gun Mk VII.

History, description[edit]

The majority of military planners before the First World War were wedded to the concept of fighting an offensive war of rapid maneuver which in a time before mechanization meant a focus on cavalry and light horse artillery firing shrapnel shells. Although the majority of combatants had heavy field artillery prior to the outbreak of the First World War, none had adequate numbers of heavy guns in service, nor had they foreseen the growing importance of heavy artillery once the Western Front stagnated and trench warfare set in. The theorists hadn't foreseen that trenches, barbed wire, and machine guns had robbed them of the mobility they had been counting on and like in the Franco-Prussian War and Russo-Turkish War the need for heavy artillery reasserted itself. Since aircraft of the period were not yet capable of carrying large diameter bombs the burden of delivering heavy firepower fell on the artillery. The combatants scrambled to find anything that could fire a heavy shell and that meant emptying the fortresses and scouring the depots for guns held in reserve. It also meant converting coastal artillery and surplus naval guns to field guns by either giving them simple field carriages or mounting the larger pieces on rail carriages.^[2]

The Mk XIX was designed and built by Vickers specifically as a field gun, unlike its predecessors which originated as naval guns. Its length was reduced from the 45 calibres of its naval gun predecessors to 35 calibres, to reduce weight and improve mobility. The Mk XIX was a typical British built-up gun of the period constructed of steel with a central rifled tube reinforced with braided wire wound around the liner, a protective outer jacket, breech bush and breech ring.^[3]

The Mk XIX was a breech-loaded design with a Welin interrupted screw breech and used separate-loading, bagged charges and projectiles. "The breech mechanism is operated by means of a lever on the right side of the breech. On pulling the lever to the rear the breech screw is automatically unlocked and swung into the loading position. After loading, one thrust of the lever inserts the breech screw and turns it into the locked position. The breech mechanism is similar to that used on the 8-inch howitzers both in design and operation".^[3]

The Mk XIX utilized the same carriage and recoil mechanism as the BL 8-inch howitzer Mk VI. The carriage was a box trail with two large spoked steel wheels, a hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism, and no gun shield. The carriages had an opening behind the breech to allow high angles of elevation. Due to the weight of the gun, it could not be towed by a horse team and had to be towed by a traction engine or artillery tractor instead.^[3] The Mk XIX was most often used for long-range counter battery fire.

Operational history[edit]

BL 6-inch Mk XIX gun of 484th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery.

Battery of four BL 6-inch Mk XIX guns

British service[edit]

310 were built during World War I^[4] and the gun served in all theaters, with 108 being in service on the Western front at the end of World War I,^[1] but it did not completely replace the Mk VII gun until the end of the war.

3 batteries served with the BEF in France early in World War II, and others were deployed in the home defense of Britain. The gun was superseded by the 155-mm Gun M1, and the carriages used for BL 7.2-inch howitzer^[5]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2008)

US Service[edit]

When the United States entered the First World War it had a need for long-range heavy artillery so guns produced for the US Army were given the designation 6 inch gun M1917.

"Handbook of artillery" of May 1920 stated that:

"The original British ammunition so closely resembled the American that it was decided to use the [US] regular Mark II high-explosive shell... the propellant charge will consist of a base section and increment section having a total weight of approximately 25 pounds".^[6]

Between the wars, the United States modernized the M1917 by fitting pneumatic tires to allow the guns to be towed at higher speeds. The majority of guns were assigned to coastal artillery batteries protecting the Panama Canal Zone. The guns were anchored in the center of a circular steel Panama mount which compensated for the limited on carriage traverse of the M1917.

Brazilian service[edit]

Before the Second World War, the US Army declared the M1917 obsolete and 99 guns were sold to Brazil where they were used as Coastal Artillery until the 1960's when they were retired from service.^[7]

South African service[edit]

Prior to the outbreak of World War II there were plans to use these guns in the fortification of Durban, Cape Town and Saldanha Bay.^[8]

For a short period, two guns were deployed for the protection of Port Elizabeth harbor at the outbreak of World War II.^[9]

Photo gallery[edit]

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  Rear left view
  

  
  

  
  


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  Rear right view
  

  
  

  
  


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  Breech
  

  
  

  
  


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  Example at the South African National Museum of Military History.
  

  
  

  
  


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  Diagram showing left elevation.
  

  
  

  
  


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  Diagram showing plan.
  

  
  

  
  


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  British Mk XVI HE shell, WWI.
  

  
  

  
  


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  Example at the Brazilian Army museum, Copacabana.
  

  
  

  
  

See also[edit]

• List of field guns

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era[edit]

• 
  Canon de 155 mm GPF French equivalent


• 
  15 cm Kanone 16 German equivalent

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• 
  I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.
  ISBN 978-0-7110-0381-1
  


• Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914–1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005
  ISBN 978-1-84176-788-8
  


• Handbook of artillery : including mobile, anti-aircraft and trench matériel (1920). United States. Army. Ordnance Dept, May 1920

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BL 6 inch Mk XIX gun.

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  Handbook of the B.L. 6-inch mark XIX gun, on traveling carriage, land service, 1920 at State Library of Victoria


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  Gun drill for 6-inch B.L. gun mark XIX carriages marks VIII and VIIIa 1920,1924 at State Library of Victoria