Ordnance BL 15 pounder

• Name — Ordnance BL 15-pounder • Origin — United Kingdom • Type — Field gun • Is Ranged — yes • Is Artillery — yes • Is Uk — yes • Service — 1892–1918 • Used By — British Empire • Wars — Second Boer War World War I • Part Length — 84 inch (28 calibres) • Caliber — 3-inch (76.2 mm) • Cartridge — Separate loading BL, 14 lb shrapnel • Rate — 7-8 rds/min • Velocity — 1590 ft/s • Max Range — 6000 yds • Elevation — -5° - 16°

The gun was a modified version of the previous BL 12-pounder 7 cwt gun of 1883. When the modern smokeless propellant cordite replaced gunpowder in 1892 it was decided that the 12-pounder was capable of firing a heavier shell up to 15 lb. A 14 lb shell was adopted and the gun was renamed a 15-pounder. Mk I carriage: recoil was controlled by drag-shoes. These were placed under the wheels, and were connected by chains and cables to the wheel hubs and the trail. Mk II carriage: this had the same drag-shoe system and also a hydraulic buffer. This only allowed a short recoil, and was not successful. Mk III carriage: In 1899 a rudimentary recoil system was added, consisting of a "spade" beneath the axle which dug in when the gun recoiled, connected by a steel wire to a spring in a cylinder on the trail. Mk I and II carriages fitted with these were known as Mk 1* and Mk II*. The latter retained the hydraulic buffer. Although the whole gun jumped and moved backwards on firing, the spring returned it to firing position and hence still increased the rate of fire compared to the old model without any recoil mechanism. Hogg and Thurston comment ironically: "It is said that it checked it [recoil] so well that the gun usually recoiled 1 ft and jumped forward 2 ft". Other Mks of carriage followed, all with axle-spades, but without buffers. From 1904 the BL 15-pounder was superseded by the modern QF 18-pounder. Remaining BL 15-pounders were upgraded as the BLC 15-pounder to equip the Territorial Force with an "ersatz QF gun".

The gun was normally towed by 6 horses, in 3 pairs.

• Illustration — Australians with gun, Second Boer War, 1901 349 guns were in service in the Second Boer War 1899–1902 and fired 166,548 shells out of the British total of 233,714. While the gun could fire a shell up to approximately 5800 -, the No. 56 time and percussion fuze in use in 1899 could only be set for a maximum timed range of 4100 yd because it only burned for 13 seconds. The shrapnel shells in use were usually time-set to burst in the air above and in front of the enemy. Hence the gunners had to get within approximately 4200 yd of the enemy to fire on them. The fuze could be set to explode on contact (percussion) up to the maximum range, but shrapnel exploding on contact was of little use. This was rectified later in the war by the No. 57 "blue fuze" which could be time set up to 5800 -.

• Illustration — Gun of 7th Field Battery towed by oxen, German East Africa, World War I 7th Field Battery (4 guns, originally No. 2 and No. 6 Light Batteries) towed by oxen and known as the Oxo Battery and manned by Mauritian and South African gunners fought in the German East Africa campaign in World War I.

• — — — — • 15+3 4 oz Cordite cartridge, early 1900s — No. 56 Fuze as used in Second Boer War — Mk VI Shrapnel shell — Mk V Case shot — Mk IV T friction tube

• 7.7 cm FK 96 German equivalent

• HM Royal Armouries Fort Nelson, Fareham, Hampshire, England • At the Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, London • BL 15pr cwt number 599 is stored at the Queensland Museum's Hendra facility in Brisbane.