BL 14 inch Railway Gun
Encyclopedia
Ordnance BL 14 inch gun on truck, railway were 2 British 14 inch Mk III naval guns mounted on railway carriages, used on the Western Front in 1918. The guns had a very brief service life and were scrapped in 1926, but their railway carriages were re-used for mounting guns in World War II
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but the order was not completed. Hence the breech of the left gun, which became known as "Scene Shifter", opened to the left which was unusual for a British army gun, while that of the right gun, "Boche Buster", opened to the right. Work on mounting them on railway carriages began in 1916 but was not completed until 1918.
The gun was fired from curved sections of track off the main line which allowed it to be pointed in the required direction, and the gun mount could traverse 2° left and right for finer adjustments. To adjust more than 2° the entire gun car was moved forward or backward along its track.
The railway mounting was of the "cradle and rolling recoil" type : the gun was mounted high up in a standard cradle with hydropneumatic buffers which allowed the gun to recoil 34 inches on firing at maximum elevation without striking the ground, and the remaining recoil force was expended by allowing the entire railway car to roll backwards 20–30 feet until stopped by its brakes. The gun car had a winch at the front attached by cable to a strongpoint further ahead, and the winch dragged the gun car back to its firing position. The advantage of this system was that no special track preparation was required and the gun could fire from any position along its curved section of track.
The guns arrived with their carriages in France on 26 May 1918, but incomplete, and were not in action until 8 August. The 2 guns were operated by 471 Siege Battery from May 1918, and were known as "HM Gun Boche Buster", operating near Arras with First Army, and "HM Gun Scene Shifter", operating near Bethune with Fifth Army. They were used for long-range interdiction fire on key German targets such as railway junctions. King George V personally oversaw the firing of the first shell by Boche Buster from near Marœuil
, 6 km NW of Arras, on 8 August in a fireplan to hit German reinforcements being sent south to oppose the British Amiens offensive. This shell heavily damaged a railway junction at Douai and became known as "The King's Shot". A total of approximately 235 rounds were fired by the guns during their four months on the Western Front.
14 inch was not a standard British service calibre and hence it was impractical to keep the guns in service after World War I ended. The guns were declared obsolete in 1926 and scrapped. In 1940 the railway carriages were re-used : Scene Shifter's for mounting a 13.5 inch gun and Boche Buster's for an 18 inches (457.2 mm) howitzer
, for home defence in Britain.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
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Design and development
The guns were built by Armstrongs (Elswick Ordnance Company) and were originally intended to be mounted as a pair in a twin turret on the Japanese battleship YamashiroJapanese battleship Yamashiro
Yamashiro was the Imperial Japanese Navy's second Fusō-class battleship, and was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on November 20, 1913, launched on November 3, 1915, and commissioned on March 31, 1917. She was the first Japanese vessel equipped with aircraft catapults...
but the order was not completed. Hence the breech of the left gun, which became known as "Scene Shifter", opened to the left which was unusual for a British army gun, while that of the right gun, "Boche Buster", opened to the right. Work on mounting them on railway carriages began in 1916 but was not completed until 1918.
The gun was fired from curved sections of track off the main line which allowed it to be pointed in the required direction, and the gun mount could traverse 2° left and right for finer adjustments. To adjust more than 2° the entire gun car was moved forward or backward along its track.
The railway mounting was of the "cradle and rolling recoil" type : the gun was mounted high up in a standard cradle with hydropneumatic buffers which allowed the gun to recoil 34 inches on firing at maximum elevation without striking the ground, and the remaining recoil force was expended by allowing the entire railway car to roll backwards 20–30 feet until stopped by its brakes. The gun car had a winch at the front attached by cable to a strongpoint further ahead, and the winch dragged the gun car back to its firing position. The advantage of this system was that no special track preparation was required and the gun could fire from any position along its curved section of track.
Combat service
Marœuil
Marœuil is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Marœuil is a large farming and light industrial village situated northwest of Arras, at the junction of the D55, D56 and the D60E roads.-History:First recorded as Maraculum around 680, then...
, 6 km NW of Arras, on 8 August in a fireplan to hit German reinforcements being sent south to oppose the British Amiens offensive. This shell heavily damaged a railway junction at Douai and became known as "The King's Shot". A total of approximately 235 rounds were fired by the guns during their four months on the Western Front.
14 inch was not a standard British service calibre and hence it was impractical to keep the guns in service after World War I ended. The guns were declared obsolete in 1926 and scrapped. In 1940 the railway carriages were re-used : Scene Shifter's for mounting a 13.5 inch gun and Boche Buster's for an 18 inches (457.2 mm) howitzer
BL 18 inch railway howitzer
The British Ordnance BL 18 inch howitzer on truck, railway was developed during World War I as part of the progression of ever-larger howitzers on the Western Front, but did not enter service until 1920.-History:...
, for home defence in Britain.
See also
- List of railway artillery
- 14"/50 caliber railway gun14"/50 caliber railway gunThe 14"/50 caliber railway guns were spare US Navy Mk 4 14 inch/50 caliber guns mounted on railway cars and operated by US Navy crews in France in the closing months of World War I.-Background:...
US equivalent - EOC 14 inch /45 naval gunEOC 14 inch /45 naval gunThe BL 14 inch 45 calibre gun were various similar naval guns designed and manufactured by Elswick Ordnance Company to equip ships that Armstrong-Whitworth built and/or armed for several countries before World War I.-History:...
this gun in naval service
External links
- Tony DiGiulian, British 14"/45 (35.6 cm) Marks I and III