BL 6-inch Gun Mk XIX

Ordnance BL 6 inch gun Mk XIX
BL 6 inch gun Mk XIX, France 1918
Type	Heavy field gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1916 - 1940
Used by	United Kingdom United States Brazil Union of South Africa
Wars	World War I, World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	Vickers
No. built	310
Specifications
Weight	10,248 lb (4,684 kg) (gun & breech) 10 tons 3½ cwt (10,340 kg) (total)
Barrel length	35 calibres
Shell	HE 100 lb (45 kg)
Calibre	6 in (152 mm)
Breech	Welin interrupted screw with Asbury mechanism
Recoil	Hydro pneumatic, variable
Carriage	Wheeled, box trail
Elevation	0° to 38°
Traverse	4° L & R
Muzzle velocity	2,350 ft/s (720 m/s)
Maximum firing range	16,500 yd (15,100 m) (2 crh shell); 17,800 yd (16,300 m) (4 crh shell); 18,750 yd (17,140 m) (6 crh shell)

The British BL 6 inch Gun Mk XIX was introduced in 1916 as a lighter and longer-range field gun replacement for the obsolescent BL 6 inch Gun Mk VII.

The gun was designed and built by Vickers specifically as a field gun, unlike its predecessors which originated as naval guns. Its length was reduced from the 45 calibres of its naval gun predecessors, to 35 calibres, to reduce weight and improve mobility. It utilized the modern carriage and recoil mechanism of the BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk 6.

The gun barrel was of wire-wound construction: "The gun body is of steel and consists of tubes, a series of layers of steel wire, jacket, breech bush and breech ring".

"The breech mechanism is operated by means of a lever on the right side of the breech. On pulling the lever to the rear the breech screw is automatically unlocked and swung into the loading position. After loading, one thrust of the lever inserts the breech screw and turns it into the locked position. The breech mechanism is similar to that used on the 8 inch howitzers both in design and operation".

310 were built during World War I and the gun served in all theatres, with 108 being in service on the Western front at the end of World War I, but it did not completely replace the Mk VII gun until the end of the war.

3 batteries served with the BEF in France early in World War II, and others were deployed in the home defence of Britain. The gun was superseded by the 155-mm Gun M1, and the carriages used for BL 7.2-inch howitzer

"Handbook of artillery" of May 1920 stated that :

"The original British ammunition so closely resembled the American that it was decided to use the [US] regular Mark II high-explosive shell... the propellant charge will consist of a base section and increment section having a total weight of approximately 25 pounds".