QF 4 inch Mk XVI gun

• Name — Ordnance QF 4 inch gun Mk XVI • Origin — United Kingdom • Type — Naval gun Naval anti-aircraft gun • Is Ranged — yes • Is Explosive — yes • Is Artillery — yes • Is Uk — yes • Service — 1936- -1950s • Used By — Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy Royal Australian Navy South African Navy Royal Malaysian Navy • Wars — World War II Korean War Suez Crisis • Number — 2,555 • Variants — Mk XVI* and Mk XXI • Weight — Barrel & breech 4495 lb • Part Length — 180 in (45 cal) • Cartridge — Fixed QF 35 lb HE 38.25 lb S.A.P. • Caliber — 4 in • Rate — 15–20 rounds per minute • Velocity — 2660 ft/s • Max Range — 19,850 yards (18,150 m) at 45 degrees elevation AA Range: 39,000 feet (11,890 m) at 80 degrees elevation • Breech — vertical sliding-block • Recoil — hydro - pneumatic 831 mm • Elevation — mounting dependent (-10 to 80 deg on H.A. twin mark XIX mount) • Traverse — mounting dependent • Filling Weight — 9 lb The QF 4 inch Mk XVI gun was the standard British Empire naval anti-aircraft and dual-purpose gun of World War II.

• Illustration — Crew of a dual 4-inch at action stations aboard HMS Berwick while in screening the Atlantic Convoys in May 1943. The Mk XVI superseded the earlier QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun on many Royal Navy ships during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The ammunition fired by the Mk V gun and the Mk XVI guns were different. The ammunition for the Mk V gun was 44.3 in long and weighed 56 lb, while the ammunition fired by the Mk XVI gun was 42.1 in long and weighed 66.75 lb. The weight of the high-explosive projectile grew from 31 lb for the Mk V to 35 lb for the Mk XVI. There were three variants of the gun produced with differing construction methods. The original Mk XVI had an A tube, jacket to 63.5 in from the muzzle and a removable breech ring. The Mk XVI* replaced the A tube with an autofretted loose barrel with a sealing collar at the front of the jacket. The Mk XXI was a lighter version with an autofretted monobloc barrel and a removable breech ring. The total number of Mk XVI and XVI* guns produced was 2,555, while there were 238 Mk XXI guns produced. Of those totals, 604 Mk XVI* and 135 of the Mk XXI guns were produced in Canada and 45 of the Mk XVI* were produced in Australia. These guns were usually mounted on HA/LA Mark XIX twin mountings, although several Australian frigates and corvettes had single-gun Mk XX mountings. The last Royal Navy ship to operate with a Mark XIX twin mounting was Mermaid, which had originally been designed for the Ghana Navy and so required a simple and inexpensive main armament. Acquired by the British Government in 1972, she served until 1977 when she was purchased by the Royal Malaysian Navy and renamed KD Hang Tuah.

(list not complete) Aircraft carriers: • Furious • Unicorn Escort carriers: * • HMS Pretoria Castle • HMS Activity Battleships: * • Barham, Malaya & Warspite (post-refit) Battlecruisers: • Hood Heavy cruisers: * • Exeter (post-refit) • Effingham (post-refit) Light cruisers: • cruisers (converted to anti-aircraft cruisers) * * * * * Others: *

(list not complete) • s • s • destroyer (the first series L: HMS Gurkha, Lance, Legion, Lively) • Petard (modified) • s • destroyers (after WAIR modification – 15 ships) • Wallace (after WAIR modification) • s • Some s (single-gun Mk XX mounting) • s • s • (modified) • (modified) • frigates • s (part of Canadian-built) • 8 auxiliary AA defence ships • Some landing ships

• Błyskawica (Polish) • Jacob van Heemskerck (Dutch) • Isaac Sweers (Dutch) • 4 French Elan-class avisos and s

• Type 15 frigates (converted) • Type 16 frigates (converted) • SAS Jan van Riebeeck and Simon van der Stel converted frigates (South Africa) • NNS Nigeria frigate (Nigerian) • Vosper Mk 3 corvettes (NNS Dorina and Otobo) (Nigerian) The South African Navy s (HMSAS Good Hope and HMSAS Transvaal) each had two of these guns mounted on a twin Mark XIX mount on their foredeck between 1955 and 1976.

• Illustration — Twin guns of Swan bombarding shore positions in New Guinea, February 1945 • Illustration — Single Mk XX mounting on Barcoo, 1945 • Illustration — Gunners of Glasgow clearing empty cartridges after a shoot • Illustration — Gunners of V-class destroyer HMS Vivien displaying anti-aircraft rounds, 1940 • Illustration — A round in a fuze setter on Belfast

• Front Lawn of HMCS York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada • On Haida, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. • A pair in turret from HMCS Huron (G24) at the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, Canada • Naval Museum of Alberta, Canada • HMCS Unicorn, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. • Trenton Park, Trenton, Nova Scotia, Canada • On Belfast, London, which retains four twin guns. • Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower, Gosport, Hampshire, UK • On Błyskawica, Gdynia (re-bored to 100 mm). • A pair at South African National Museum of Military History, Johannesburg • A pair in a turret from INS Haifa (K-38), at Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, Haifa, Israel. • Two single guns on Diamantina, Brisbane, Australia • One twin gun at the Marinemuseet, Horten, Norway. • One twin gun in the Aldhurst military vehicles collection, Surrey England. Further research has proven the left gun was installed on the heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire from 1943 until she was scrapped in 1954.

The following is established of the heading itself. Institutional cataloguing adds that qF 4 inch Mk XVI gun is classified as a naval artillery, anti-aircraft gun or quick-firing gun. Institutional cataloguing adds that qF 4 inch Mk XVI gun is associated with United Kingdom.