Newton 6 inch Mortar
Encyclopedia
The Newton 6 inch Mortar was the standard British medium mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....

 in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 from early 1917 onwards.

Description

The Newton 6 inch replaced the 2 inch Medium Mortar
2 inch Medium Mortar
The 2 inch Medium Trench Mortar, also known as the 2-inch Howitzer, and nicknamed the "Toffee Apple" or "Plum Pudding" mortar, was a British SBML medium trench mortar in use in World War I from mid 1915 to mid 1917...

 beginning in February 1917.

It was a simple smooth bore muzzle-loading (SBML) mortar consisting of a 57 inches (1,447.8 mm) one-piece steel tube barrel, with a "striker stud" inside the centre of the closed base of the tube. The rounded external base of the tube sat in a socket in the flat cast steel base, which in turn sat on a wooden platform. An "elevating guy" (cable) connected to a loop in the upper side of the barrel and the rear end of the bed. "Traversing guys" (cables) connected to loops on each side of the barrel and eyebolts on the upper sides of the bed. Hence aiming of the barrel was done by adjusting the length of the guys via adjusting screws. A socket in the barrel base allowed for emergency firing via a "misfire plug" in the case of misfires (i.e. if the bomb remained in the barrel due to failure of the propellant to ignite).

Combat service

British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 Divisions were initially equipped with 3 batteries of 4 mortars designated X, Y, Z. From February 1918 onwards these were consolidated into 2 batteries, X and Y, of 6 mortars each, and Z was dissolved. In British use they were operated by the Royal Field Artillery
Royal Field Artillery
The Royal Field Artillery of the British Army provided artillery support for the British Army. It came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1 July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924....

 and formed part of the Division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

al Artillery with 1 battery attached to each of the Divisional artillery brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

s.

The United States Army began production and equipping with this mortar late in the war but it is doubtful whether any were used in combat.
The mortar was operated from concealed pits close to the front line during trench warfare
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...

, and was used in the open during the final "mobile warfare" phase of the First World War, as demonstrated in the photograph, depending on available transport. The disassembled weapon was usually transported on horsedrawn carts but the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade
Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade
The Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, also known as Brutinel's Brigade or the Brutinel Brigade, was the first fully mechanized unit of the British Army. It was established on September 9, 1914 by Canadian Brigadier-General Raymond Brutinel, who initiated the program and was the unit's ...

 (the Canadian Independent Force or "Brutinel
Raymond Brutinel
Brigadier-General Raymond Brutinel CB CMG DSO was a geologist, journalist, soldier, entrepreneur and a pioneer in the field of mechanized warfare who commanded the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade during World War I....

's Brigade") is known to have successfully used the mortar both mounted on motor trucks and dismounted in the closing months of the war.

The 52-pound cast-iron fin-stabilised high explosive bomb carried the percussion primer at the base in the intersection of the 4 vanes (fins), consisting of a specially loaded blank .303 rifle cartridge. The basic propellant charges were contained in 4 small white cambric bags each containing 1 oz of guncotton
Nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a propellant or low-order explosive, it is also known as guncotton...

 yarn. These were held in place in the 4 angles between the bomb's fins. For ranges less than 1000 yards 1 or more bags could be removed, as per range tables.

For ranges above 1000 yards (914.4 m), additional charges were loaded before the bomb, held in 2 white cambric bags each containing 1 oz 4 drm cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...

.

In action the gunners would adjust the angle of the barrel via the elevating guy (for distance) and traversing guys (for direction). The manual warns: "See that the elevating and traversing screws of the guys are always tight. A slack guy leads to inaccurate shooting, and the stresses on firing are not equally distributed; this is usually the cause of the guys breaking".

The range tables specified the barrel angle and propellant charges required. The additional cordite propelling charge bags were dropped down the barrel if necessary, or necessary number of propellant charges removed from the bomb, and the bomb's fuze was set. The gunners stood back, the bomb was dropped down the barrel, the detonator in the base of the .303 cartridge in the base of the bomb struck a pin in the bottom of the barrel and fired, igniting the guncotton
Nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a propellant or low-order explosive, it is also known as guncotton...

 charges in the base of the bomb, which in turn ignited the cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...

 charges if present. The resulting rapid gas expansion propelled the bomb up the barrel and to its target.

1917 Range tables

52 lb Bomb, ML 6 inch Trench Mortar.

Propellant : 1-4 one ounce guncotton
Nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a propellant or low-order explosive, it is also known as guncotton...

 charges in the base of the bomb, plus optional 2.5 oz cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...

charge.
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Range

(yards)
1 oz charge
degrees
2 oz charge
degrees
3 oz charge
degrees
4 oz charge
degrees
4 oz + 2.5 oz cordite
degrees seconds
100 77          
120 74          
140 71          
160 67.5          
180 63.5          
200 59          
220 47.5 77.25        
226 45          
240   76        
260   74.75        
280   73.25        
300   72        
320   70.5 77.5      
340   69 76.75      
360   67.5 76      
380   66 75      
400   64.25 74.25      
420   62.25 73.25      
440   60.25 72.25 77.25    
460   57.75 71.5 76.5    
480   55 70.5 76    
500   50.5 69.5 75.25    
510   45        
520     68.5 74.5    
540     67.5 74    
560     66.25 73.25    
580     65.25 72.5    
600     64 72    
620     62.75 71.25    
640     61.25 70.5    
660     59.75 69.75    
680     58.25 69    
700     56.5 68.25 75.25 23.9
720     54.5 67.5 74.75 23.9
740     51.75 66.75 74.25 23.8
760     45.5 65.75 73.75 23.8
761     45      
780       65 73.25 23.7
800       64 72.75 23.6
820       63.25 72.25 23.6
840       62.25 71.75 23.5
860       61 71.25 23.4
880       60 70.75 23.4
900       58.75 70.25 23.3
920       57.5 69.75 23.2
940       56 69.25 23.1
960       54.5 68.75 23.1
980       52.5 68.25 23.0
1000       50 67.5 22.9
1016       45    
1020         67 22.8
1040         66.5 22.7
1060         66 22.6
1080         65.25 22.5
1100         64.5 22.8
1120         64 22.2
1140         63.25 22.1
1160         62.75 22.0
1180         62 21.8
1200         61.25 21.7
1220         60.5 21.5
1240         59.5 21.3
1260         58.75 21.1
1280         57.75 20.9
1300         56.75 20.7
1320         55.75 20.4
1340         54.75 20.2
1360         53.5 19.9
1380         52 19.5
1400         50 19.0
1420         45 17.5

Surviving examples


External links

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