QF 12 pounder 18 cwt gun

• Name — Ordnance QF 12-pounder 18 cwt • Origin — United Kingdom • Type — Naval gun, Coastal defence • Is Ranged — yes • Is Artillery — yes • Is Uk — yes • Service — 1906–1921? • Used By — Royal Navy • Wars — World War I • Designer — Elswick Ordnance Company • Design Date — 189? • Weight — Gun & breech: 2,016 lb (914 kg) • Part Length — Bore: 150-inch (3.81 m) (50 calibres) • Cartridge — Separate QF 12.5 lb (5.66 kg) • Caliber — 3 in • Rate — 20 rd/min • Velocity — 2600 ft/s • Range — 9,300 yards @ +20° (8,500 m @ +20°)

• Illustration — Two guns mounted on roof of "X" turret, Dreadnought • Illustration — Front view, on roof of one of Dreadnought's turrets Guns were mounted in: • Dreadnought commissioned 1906 • The last three s—Britannia, Africa, and Hibernia, commissioned 1906–1907 • s commissioned 1908 • Minotaur-class armoured cruisers commissioned 1908–1909 The gun was superseded in the anti-torpedo boat role on new capital ships from 1909 onwards by the far more powerful BL 4-inch Mk VII gun.

• Illustration — East Africa, circa 1916 In World War I four guns were landed for service in the East Africa campaign, on 10 February 1916, and were used until September. They constituted the 9th Field Battery manned by Royal Marines. They were originally towed by oxen and later by Napier lorries. Fourteen guns (Inchcolm (8 guns), Inchmickery (4) and Cramond Island (2)), were mounted in coast defence batteries in the 'Middle Line' of the defences of the Firth of Forth when it was established in 1915. During the general revision of the defences in 1916/17 two of the guns were removed to store and four moved to other batteries (Hound Point and Downing Point). The document setting out the armaments of the Forth differentiate clearly between the 12cwt and 18cwt types, both of which were in use in the fortress.

The gun fired the same 12.5 lb 3 in shells as the other British "QF 12 pounder" guns, but used its own larger separate cartridge case to accommodate a larger quantity of cordite propellant. • — — — — • 2 lb cordite Cartridge Mk II, 1914 — Mk II common pointed shell — Mk II & Mk III Common Lyddite shell — Mk IV Common Lyddite shell with internal night tracer, 1914 — Mk IX Shrapnel shell, 1918