QF 4.

5-inch Mk I V naval gun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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QF 4.5-inch Mk I V naval gun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The QF 4.5 inch gun has been the standard mediumcalibre naval gun used by the Royal Navy as a
medium range weapon capable of use against surface,
aircraft and shore bombardment targets since 1938.
This article covers the early 45-calibre family of guns
up to the 1970s. For the later unrelated 55-calibre
Royal Navy gun, see 4.5 inch Mark 8 naval gun.

Ordnance QF 4.5 inch gun Mk I, II, III, IV, V

Like all British nominally 4.5 inch naval guns, the QF

Mk I has an actual calibre of 4.45 inches
(113 mm).[3][4]
Mk III guns in BD 'RP10' Mk II mountings on
Implacable-class aircraft carrier

Contents
1 Background

Type

Naval gun
Anti-aircraft gun

Place of origin

United Kingdom

2 History
3 Variants
4 Naval service

Service history
Used by

British Commonwealth

Wars

Second World War

Korean War
Falklands War

5 Land service
6 Surviving examples
7 See also
7.1 Weapons of comparable role,

Production history
Number built

Navy: c. 800
Army: 474

performance and era

Specifications

8 References
9 Bibliography

Barrel length

Bore: 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
45 calibres

Shell

Fixed or Separate QF 55
pounds (24.9 kg)

Calibre

4.45-inch (113 mm)

Breech

Mks I - IV: Horizontal

sliding block
Mk V: Vertical sliding

10 External links

Background
From the BL Mark I gun of 1916 onwards the 4.7-inch
(120-mm) calibre was the mid-calibre weapon of
choice for the Royal Navy, used particularly on
destroyers. Apart from some ships armed with QF
4-inch Mk V guns due to supply problems, it remained
the standard weapon for destroyers up to the W-class
destroyers of 1943. However, its usefulness as an
anti-aircraft weapon had been limited by the failure to
develop a mounting with elevation over 55, the lack
of a predictive fire control system in destroyer classes
built prior to the introduction of the 4.7 inch twin
mount, (see HACS) and the setting of fuzes by hand
on early, prewar, mountings. Later 4.7 inch mountings

block
Rate of fire

12 RPM for Mk II BD
mount. 16 RPM recorded
for Mk III UD mount.[1]

Muzzle velocity

2,449 ft/s (746 m/s)[2]

Maximum firing range

20,750 yd (18,970 m) at
2,449 ft/s (746 m/s)

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used mechanical fuze setters that were identical to

those used on the 4.5 inch mountings.[5]

AA:41,000 ft (12,500 m)[2]

History
The QF 4.5 inch L/45 was developed originally as a dual-purpose weapon with which to arm aircraft
carriers and reconstructed battleships and battlecruisers. It was later developed as a new dual-purpose
weapon with which to arm destroyers, supplanting the ubiquitous 4.7 inch gun. Despite the lower calibre, it
actually had a heavier shell, resulting in a more powerful weapon.

Variants
The nomenclature system for guns used by the Royal Navy can be somewhat confusing. The gun and
mounting each have their own Mark number and a letter(s) giving additional information. QF stands for
"quick firing", UD for "upper deck", BD for "between decks" and CP for "central pivot".
QF Mark I: adopted after failure of a 5-inch gun project and
used a fixed round, which proved to be somewhat heavy for
the loaders to keep up the intended firing rate. Was fitted in
twin mountings UD Mark III.
QF Mark II: Land service used by the British Army.
QF Mark III: same as Mark I, except for firing mechanism.
Was fitted in twin mountings BD Mark II, BD Mark II** and
BD Mark IV. HMS Illustrious fired about 3000 rounds of
4.5-inch ammunition, at an average of 12 rounds per gun per
minute, during one prolonged action in January 1941.[6]
QF Mark IV: used a two part (charge and shell) ammunition
system. Designed specifically for use by small warships. Fitted
in mountings BD Mark IV, CP Mark V and UD Mark VI.
QF Mark V: a further development of the Mark IV, designed

Gunner with early fixed round, 1942

from the outset for anti-aircraft use with remote power control
(RPC, where the guns automatically train and elevate the target following the director) and a high
rate-of-fire assisted by automatic ramming. Carried in the mounting UD Mark VI, with separate
high-angle and low-angle hoists for the two types of ammunition (AA and SAP/HE) and a third for
the cartridges. The rate of fire of the Mk V was 24 rounds per minute when power-loaded, 12-14
when hand-loaded, and up to 18 in burst mode when hand-loaded.
Some 800 naval 4.5-inch guns of various marks were built. 474 guns were built for the army, all in 1939-41.
During the 1950s, a change was made in designating the weapons systems which focussed on the gun mount
rather than the gun itself. Together with a change from Roman numerals, the Gun QF Mark V on mounting
BD Mark VI became simply the Mark 6. The Mark 7 was never produced as the planned Malta-class
aircraft carriers they would have been used on were never built.
The majority of new escort vessels built for the Royal Navy in the 1950s and 1960s carried at least one
Mark 6 mounting, with two in the Leopard-class frigates and County-class destroyers and three in the
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Daring-class destroyers. This gave these ships a level of firepower unprecedented only 15 years earlier. The
Type 81 Tribal-class frigates were an exception, using reconditioned Mark V mounts from scrapped C-class
destroyers that were fitted with RPC and known as the Mark 5* Mod 1.
The evolution of the 45-calibre 4.5 inch gun family ended with the Mark V gun / Mark 6 mounting. It has
been replaced by a new weapon of original design, the 4.5 inch Mark 8 with a 55 calibre-long barrel.

Naval service
Ships with 4.5 inch guns QF Mark I in twin mounting UD Mark III
aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal
Dido-class cruisers HMS Scylla and HMS Charybdis
naval auxiliaries
Ships with 4.5 inch guns QF Mark III in twin mounting BD Mark II
reconstructed Queen Elizabeth-class battleships HMS Queen
Elizabeth and HMS Valiant
reconstructed Renown-class battlecruiser HMS Renown
Illustrious-class aircraft carrier
aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable
Implacable-class aircraft carrier
Ships with 4.5 inch guns QF Mark III in twin mounting BD Mark
II**

Twin Mark III guns on

Illustrious-class aircraft carrier
HMS Formidable

Audacious-class aircraft carriers, HMS Eagle and HMS Ark

Royal
Ships with 4.5 inch guns QF Mark III in twin mounting BD Mark IV
Battle-class destroyer
Nueva Esparta-class destroyers D-11 Nueva Esparta, D-21
Zulia and D-31 Aragua
Ships with 4.5 inch guns QF Mark IV in single mounting CP Mark V
Z-class destroyers
Ca, Ch, Co and Cr-class destroyers
"1944" Battle-class destroyers

The Battle-class destroyer HMS

Dunkirk, with two twin mountings
BD Mark IV for Mark III guns.

Ships with 4.5 inch guns Mark 5* (rebuilt mounting CP Mark V).
Rebuilt Ca-class destroyers (Mark 5* Mod 1)
Type 81 Tribal-class frigates (Mark 5* Mod 2)
Ships with 4.5 inch guns QF Mark V in twin mounting UD Mark VI (later renamed gun Mark 6)

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Battle-class destroyers - "1944" or "Australian Battle" class

Daring-class destroyers
County-class destroyers
Type 12 Whitby-class frigates
Type 12I Rothesay-class frigates
Type 12M Leander-class frigates
Van Speijk-class frigates - Netherlands Navy versions of
Leander class
River-class destroyer escorts - Australian versions

The forward 4.5 inch guns Mark 5*

of HMS Cavalier, on rebuilt CP Mark
V mountings.

Condell-class frigates - Chilean versions

Type 41 Leopard-class frigates
Type 61 Salisbury-class frigates

Land service
QF Mark II was a single gun mounting (Mounting Mk 1)
anti-aircraft gun in static sites. The pedestal mount was bolted to
concrete in an unarmoured turret, a travelling platform was available
to transport the gun and mounting between positions. The first unit
became operational in February 1939. These 16.5 ton anti-aircraft
mountings had a maximum elevation angle of 80 degrees. However,
most mountings were Mark 1A with an elevation range of -9.5 to 80
degrees. This enabled the gun to be dual role (anti-aircraft and
coastal defence) in coastal areas. Armour piercing rounds were
provided for anti-ship engagements.

Twin mountings, Upper Deck, Mark

VI on post-war Daring-class
destroyer. BD-s in contrast were
semi-submerged turrets used on some
of the major warships.

The guns were fitted with Magslip electrical data transfer from
Predictors AA Nos 3, 5 and 10 and were probably used inially with
GL radars and UB 10 18 feet base optical height and range finders.
AA control radars evolved rapidly. The gun was laid and fuzes set by
pointer matching, it is unclear the extent to which advances in
3.7-inch fire control were applied to 4.5-inch. During the war
Machine Fuze Setter No 10 was added, This improved the rate of fire
from 8 to 10 rounds per minute and raised the effective ceiling to
34,500 feet.
Gun positions were usually in the vicinity of naval bases where they
could use the naval ammunition supply. However, initially the
standard fuze was an igniferous design, No 199 with a maximum
running time of 30 seonds that limited performance. Subsequently
No 209 a mechanical time fuze was introduced. It appears that VT
fuzes were not issued.

4.5 inch anti-aircraft gun and crew

near Sittingbourne, Kent, January
1941

Guns were usually deployed in troops of 4 as part of a two-troop battery, although sections of two guns
occupied some positions. Deployment included:
UK (Royal Artillery) June 1940:[7]
1st AA Division - 48

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2nd AA Division - 40
3rd AA Division - 64
4th AA Division - 52
5th AA Division - 24
6th AA Division - 52
7th AA Division - 64
(the AA divisions included 3-inch and 3.7-inch regiments in addition to 4.5-inch)
Far East January 1942:[8]
Singapore - 4 (Hong Kong & Singapore Artillery)
Mediterranean June 1943:[9]
Malta - 10
Middle East January 1943:[10]
Aden - 2 (Hong Kong & Singapore Artillery)
Port Said - 2 (Royal Malta Artillery)
West Africa Dec 1941:[11]
Takoradi - 6
India Dec 1941:[12]
Bombay - 6
Colonel Probert of the Armaments Research Department developed rifling with tapered groove depth, and
with the last few inches of the barrel being smoothbore. This was used with a 4.5 barrel lined down to
3.7 inches, but retaining the large chamber, allowing a large propelling charge to be employed. Ordnance,
QF 3.7 inch Mk 6, only on a static mounting, entered service in 1943 and continued in service until 1959. It
had an effective ceiling of 45,000 feet.[13][14]
The high performance of QF 3.7 inch Mk 6 and QF 5.25 inch meant that QF 4.5 inch was not retained in
land service after World War II.

Surviving examples
Australia
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turrets on HMAS Vampire museum ship at Australian National Maritime Museum,
Sydney, Australia.
Twin Mk V/M6 6 turret from HMAS Parramatta on Spectacle Island, Sydney, Australia.[15]
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret [1] (http://images.navy.gov.au/fotoweb/Grid.fwx?archiveId=5000&
search=%28IPTC005%20contains%2820120209ran8209508_018.JPG%29%29) from HMAS Stuart

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on display at HMAS Stirling, Garden Island (Western

Australia).
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret from DE 49 at Rockingham Naval
Memorial Park, Rockingham, Western Australia.
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret [2] (http://www.flickr.com/photos
/9977224@N06/1504288919/in/photostream) from HMAS
Swan at Princess Royal Fortress, Albany, Western Australia.
This turret is open and accessible to visitors.
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret [3] (http://www.flickr.com/photos

Twin Mark 6 guns in turret from Type

12/River class HMAS Derwent

/9977224@N06/1504300295/in/photostream) from HMAS

Torrens at Princess Royal Fortress, Albany, Western Australia.
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret [4] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandy1000/4623288818/) used as a static
training aid outside the Gunnery School, HMAS Cerberus, Crib Point, Australia.
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret [5] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandy1000/4623288806/in/photostream/)
as a gate guardian at the West Head Gunnery Range, Flinders, Australia. Previously used at the
gunnery range as a live training aid, the gun was last fired in 2005.
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret at the Bendigo and District RSL. Owned by the Australian Government, it is
on loan from the nearby defence manufacturer Thales.[16]
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret at Australian Navy Cadets TS Bendigo at Passchendaele Barracks, Junortoun
near Bendigo. As the previous location of TS Bendigo was on the Government Ordnance Factory site
(now Thales Australia), it is probable it is also on loan from Thales.[17]
Israel
Single Mk IV/CP Mk V mounting from Z-class destroyer INS Yaffo, at Clandestine Immigration and
Naval Museum, Haifa, Israel.
New Zealand
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret [6] (http://www.divewreck.co.nz/CantGunTorpTube.jpg) from HMNZS
Canterbury at Devonport Naval Base, Devonport.
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret from HMNZS Taranaki at Te Papapa, Auckland.
United Kingdom
Single Mk IV/CP Mk V mountings on HMS Cavalier museum ship, at Chatham Historic Dockyard.
Twin Mk V/Mk 6 turret at Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower in Gosport, Hampshire.

See also
List of naval guns by caliber
List of anti-aircraft guns
4.5 inch Mark 8 naval gun The Royal Navy's current, but unrelated, 4.5 inch gun

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Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

5"/38 caliber gun : US Navy equivalent
12.8 cm FlaK 40 : German heavy anti-aircraft gun firing heavier shell

References
1. Hughes, p.170.

14. Hogg pg 106 - 107

2. Campbell, p.51

15. http://news.navy.gov.au/en/May2014/Fleet

3. Jane's Ammunition Handbook, 1999-2000 Edition.

/1065/Spectacle-Island---the-guardian-of-Navys-

http://www.janes.com

heart-and-soul.htm#.U3swZRd-_IU

4. Routledge 1994, page 51

16. "RSL adds key gun mount to collection"

5. Destroyer Weapons of WW2, Friedman, p96

(http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local

6. Naval Weapons of WW2, Campbell, p17

/news/general/rsl-adds-key-gun-mount-to-collection

7. Routledge pg 379

/512571.aspx). Bendigo Advertiser. 20 April 2007.

8. Routledge pg 229

Retrieved 19 November 2011.

9. Routledge pg 175

17. "TS Bendigo"

10. Routledge pg 163

(http://navyleag.customer.netspace.net.au

11. Maurice-Jones pg 252

/sd_05e.htm#Bendigo). Navy League of Australia -

12. Maurice-Jones pg 256

Victoria Division. 29 August 2005. Retrieved

13. Routledge pg 77

19 November 2011.

Bibliography
Campbell, John. 1985, Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press,
c1985. ISBN 0-87021-459-4
Tony DiGiulian, Page from Navweapons on Mk 2, 3, 4 and 5 (http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons
/WNBR_45-45_mk1.htm)
Tony DiGiulian, Page from Navweapons on Mk5, Mk 6 and Mk7 (http://www.navweaps.com
/Weapons/WNBR_45-45_mk5.htm)
Hogg, Ian V. 1998. "Allied Artillery of World War Two". The Crowood Press: London. ISBN
1-86126-165-9
Hughes, Robert. 1975. Flagship to Murmansk. Futura Publications Ltd: London. ISBN 0-86007-266-5
Maurice-Jones, Colonel KW. 1957. "The History of Coast Artillery in the British Army". Royal
Artillery Institution: Woolwich. Reprinted by Naval & Military Press 2009.
Routledge, Brigadier NW. 1994. "History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery - Anti-Aircraft Artillery
1914-55". Brassey's: London. ISBN 1-85753-099-3

External links
Newsreel video of HMS Scylla fighting the Luftwaffe with her
4.5 inch guns while protecting convoy PQ18

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to QF 4.5

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(http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=23105)

inch Mk I - V naval gun.

Westwood Works in World War 2. The 4.5" Anti-Aircraft Gun

(http://www.westwoodworks.net/HowItWas
/WestwoodWorksInWW2/index.htm#45antiaircraft)

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to QF 4.5
inch anti-aircraft gun.

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oldid=637756551"
Categories: 113 mm artillery Cold War artillery of the United Kingdom
World War II artillery of the United Kingdom World War II anti-aircraft guns Naval anti-aircraft guns
World War II naval weapons of the United Kingdom Naval guns of the United Kingdom
Coastal artillery

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