RML 64-pounder 64 cwt gun explained

RML 64-pounder 64 cwt gun
Origin:	United Kingdom
Type:	Naval gun Fortification gun
Is Artillery:	yes
Is Ranged:	yes
Is Explosive:	yes
Is Uk:	yes
Service:	1865–190?
Used By:	British Empire
Designer:	Woolwich Arsenal
Design Date:	1864
Manufacturer:	Woolwich Arsenal Elswick Ordnance Company
Variants:	Mk I, II, III
Weight:	64-2NaN-2
Length:	9.83inches^[1]
Part Length:	97.5inches bore
Cartridge:	64lb
Caliber:	6.3inches
Action:	RML
Velocity:	Wrought-iron tube : 1252ft/s Mk III steel tube : 1390ft/s^[2]
Range:	5000yd
Breech:	Muzzle-loading

The RML 64-pounder 64 cwt gun is a Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) naval, field or fortification artillery gun manufactured in England in the 19th century,^[3] which fired a projectile weighing approximately 64lb. "64 cwt" refers to the gun's weight rounded up to differentiate it from other "64-pounder" guns.

Description

The calibre of 6.3inches was chosen to enable it to fire remaining stocks of spherical shells originally made for the obsolete 32 pounder guns if necessary.

Mark I (adopted in 1864) and Mark II (adopted 1866) guns, and Mark III guns made from 1867 – April 1871 had wrought-iron inner "A" tubes surrounded by wrought-iron coils.

Mark III guns made after April 1871 were built with toughened mild steel "A" tubes, and earlier Mark III guns were re-tubed with steel and were classified as a siege gun in land service. Remaining guns with iron tubes were used for sea service.^[4]

Rifling of all guns consisted of 3 grooves, with a uniform twist of 1 turn in 40 calibres (i.e. 1 turn in 252inches).

Ammunition

The gun's standard shell was "common shell", for firing on troops in cover, ships and buildings, weighed 57.4lb when empty with a bursting charge of 7.1lb. Shrapnel shells could also be fired; a 66.6lb shell with a 9-1NaN-1 bursting charge propelling 234 metal balls.^[5]

Surviving Examples of Guns

• Mark I, Mark II number 164 and Mark III guns at Fort George, near Inverness, Scotland, UK
• Mark III gun number 17, on board HMS Gannet, Chatham Dockyard, UK
• Mark III gun number 294, dated 1867, Nothe Fort, Weymouth, UK
• Mark III gun at Fort Brockhurst, Gosport, UK
• Two Mark III guns, including no. 318 dated 1867 at Pendennis Castle, Cornwall, UK
• Mark III guns number 462 and 463 at Fort Glanville, Adelaide, South Australia
• Mark III gun number 739, dated 1878, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
• Mark III gun number 742 dated 1878 - ex HMQS Otter (Queensland colonial navy) example displayed in Queens Park Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
• Two Mark III guns, including No 729 dated 1878, at Fort Lytton Historic Military Precinct, Brisbane, Australia^[6]
• Lei Yue Mun Fort's Central Battery, Hong Kong
• 6 guns at Fort Siloso, Singapore including Mark III gun Number 767, dated 1874
• RML 64-pr 64 cwt Mk 3 at Albert Park, Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Surviving Examples of Ammunition

• RML 64pdr shell that has been fired, and RML 64 fuse at Fort Lytton Historic Military Precinct, Brisbane, Australia
• RML 64pdr Mark I shell (no fuse) is held in the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra

See also

• RML 64-pounder 71 cwt gun : conversion of SBML 8-inch 65 cwt gun

Bibliography

• Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service. War Office, UK, 1879
• Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE

External links

• YouTube video showing re-enactment of loading and firing with blank cartridge at Fort Lytton, Queensland
• Handbook for the 64 – pr. R.M.L. gun of 64 cwt., marks I-III land service 1888, 1893, 1900, 1902 at State Library of Victoria
• Diagram of gun on 6-foot parapet platform mounting at Victorian Forts website
• 1916 "The Brisbane Courier" newspaper clipping showing the 64 pounder muzzle loader siege gun,bearing the date 1881, that was on the beach, at Manly (Queensland, Australia) for many years. It may now be one of the surviving guns at Fort Lytton. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1588925 Here are links to other photos of the same gun https://library-brisbane.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/search/asset/23652/0 https://library-brisbane.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/search/asset/23748/0 https://library-brisbane.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/search/asset/23373/0
• A live round was found in the garden of a couple living in Pembrokeshire, UK and detonated by the local Bomb Squad. Here is a link to the news report: Milford Haven: Garden ornament turns out to be live bomb https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-67602627

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Gun Rifled Ordnance . 17 February 2009 . 28 February 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090228131046/http://riv.co.nz/rnza/hist/gun/rifled5.htm . dead .
2. 1,252 feet/second firing a 64-pound projectile with 8lb R.L.G. gunpowder is quoted for wrought-iron tubed guns in "Treatise on Construction and Manufacture of Service Ordnance, 1879", page 363. 1390ft/s firing a 65-pound projectile using 10lb R.L.G.4 gunpowder is quoted for Mk III steel tube gun in Table XII in "Text Book of Gunnery 1902".
3. Book: A Guide to Fort Glanville, South Australia . The Fort Glanville historical association . Semaphore Park, South Australia . 2000.
4. Treatise on Construction and Manufacture of Service Ordnance, 1879, pages 292, 261-265
5. Web site: The 64pr. 64 cwt gun Mark III . Palmerston Forts Society, Fareham Hampshire U.K . 2009-01-20.
6. The two 1878 guns are still fired regularly Web site: Gun-firing Re-enactment Fort Lytton Historic Military Precinct. fortlytton.org.au. 13 August 2016.