EOC 12-inch L/27.5 43-ton gun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| EOC 12-inch L/27 43-ton gun | |
|---|---|
_F.07495.jpg) The gun as used in Cádiz, Spain in 1908 | |
| Type | Naval gun Coastal gun |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1883–? |
| Used by | Spain |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1882 |
| Manufacturer | Elswick Ordnance Company |
| Produced | 1882-1883 |
| No. built | At least 2 |
| Variants | Unknown |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 43 long tons (44 t) |
| Length | 8,382 mm (L/27.5) |
| Barrel length | 7.925 m bore (L/26) |
| Calibre | 12-inch (304.8 mm) |
| Muzzle velocity |
|
| Maximum firing range | 7,900 m |
The EOC 12-inch L/27.5 43-ton gun was a British and Spanish rifled breech-loading naval gun of the early 1880s. The gun probably originated from the troubles that the Woolwich Arsenal faced when it attempted to create the heavy 12-inch Mk I – II breech loader. The EOC 12-inch L/27.5 was of about the same outer dimensions as the 12-inch Mk I – II and at first appeared less powerful than the Woolwich gun. However, in the end, the designers of the Elswick Ordnance Company (EOC) proved to have made the best design. EOC sold at least one gun to Spain.
In 1864/5 the United Kingdom reverted to using muzzle-loading guns. This did not seem problematic, but by 1878 it had become clear that muzzle-loading was a dead end. The Elswick Ordnance Company (EOC) largely owned by William Armstrong had probably reached the same conclusion somewhat earlier. In February 1877, it tested its breech loading EOC 12-inch L/23.5. In September 1878 it tested its chambered BL 6-inch 80-pounder gun. This medium gun combined breechloading and chambering and showed revolutionary results.[1]
At the time, 'chambering' meant that the powder chamber of a gun got a bigger diameter than the barrel. Chambering allowed the use of bigger charges that nevertheless resulted in lower peak pressures inside the gun. In October 1876 the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich had tested the chambered RML 12.5-inch 38-ton gun.[2] The Krupp 24 cm MRK L/25.5 prototype, that was first tested in December 1878, was also a chambered gun. It was about as powerful as the RML 12.5-inch 38-ton gun, but weighed only 18t.[3]
The August 1879 tests by Krupp in Meppen showed the Krupp 24 cm MRK L/25.5 prototype and many other guns. It showed the British public that the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich made guns that were technically far behind those made by Krupp and Elswick.[3] The arsenal had reached the same conclusion somewhat earlier. However, making guns of comparable power required a longer barrel and therefore also a switch to breechloading.[4] The simultaneous switch to longer barrels and breechloading led to the very troubled development of the BL 12-inch Mk I – II naval gun. The development of this 12-inch 43-ton gun started in 1879 or perhaps already in 1878.[5]
Development
After the March–April 1880 United Kingdom general election, the victorious liberals made Gladstone prime minister. A year later, George Trevelyan, Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty said that when the new government took power, its very first act was to organize an alternative for the Woolwich gun.[6]
Indeed, already on 24 May 1880 the government invited Sir William Armstrong of the Elswick Ordnance Company (EOC) to send a 43-ton breechloader to Woolwich for experiment. Armstrong accepted, but asked for ten months to produce it. Manufacture lasted from June 1880 to August 1881.[6]
This one 12-inch gun was not the only one that the Elswick Ordnance Company manufactured. In October 1881, the American colonel S. Crispin visited the EOC. He saw that two 43-ton breech-loading guns of the ordinary Armstrong type (steel tube with coiled jackets) were in progress.[7]
When HMS Conqueror was launched in September 1881, Trevelyan's story about how the EOC gun got ordered was repeated. It was also stated that two of these guns would be used to arm Conqueror.[8] It seems doubtful that the guns of Conqueror were made by EOC.
An EOC 43 ton gun for Spain
In June 1880, the EOC and the Spanish government signed a contract for a 10-inch and a 12-inch gun. Both were to be delivered in 7 months.[9][10] The price for both guns was 418,000 pesetas or 175,600 Austrian florins. The 25.4 cm gun arrived in October 1881.[11] However, in June 1882, the 12-inch gun had not yet been delivered.[9]
During a December 1884 test of the gun in Cadiz, its manufacture was said to have been started in 1882.[12] This remark implies that the Spanish gun was made after the two guns that were in progress in 1881 were made.
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