Place of origin United Kingdom Wars Second World War | In service 1927 - 1954 Number built 168 | |
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Type Naval gun
Coast defence gun Used by Royal Navy
Royal Australian Navy | ||
The 50 calibre BL 8 inch gun Mark VIII was the main battery gun used on the Royal Navy's County-class heavy cruisers, in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. This treaty allowed ships of not more than 10,000 tons standard displacement and with guns no larger than 8 inches (203 mm) to be excluded from total tonnage limitations on a nation's capital ships. The 10,000 ton limit was a major factor in design decisions such as turrets and gun mountings. A similar gun formed the main battery of Spanish Canarias-class cruisers. In 1930, the Royal Navy adopted the BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval gun as the standard cruiser main battery in preference to this 8-inch gun.
Contents
Description
These built-up guns consisted of a wire-wound tube encased within a second tube and jacket with a Welin breech block and hydraulic or hand-operated Asbury mechanism. Two cloth bags each containing 15 kg (33 pounds) of cordite were used to fire a 116-kg (256-pound) projectile. Mark I turrets allowed gun elevation to 70 degrees to fire high-explosive shells against aircraft. Hydraulic pumps proved incapable of providing sufficient train and elevation speed to follow contemporary aircraft; so simplified Mark II turrets with a maximum elevation of 50 degrees were installed in the Norfolk subgroup ships Dorsetshire and Norfolk and the York-class cruisers York and Exeter. Each gun could fire approximately five rounds per minute. Useful life expectancy was 550 effective full charges (EFC) per barrel.
Naval service
The following ships mounted Mk VIII guns in 188-tonne twin turrets. The standard main battery was four turrets, but Exeter and York carried only three to reduce weight and formed the separate York class.
Coast defence guns
Six single guns capable of elevating to 70 degrees were installed as coastal artillery in the Folkestone-Dover area during the Second World War.