BL 5-inch howitzer

Ordnance BL 5-inch howitzer
Territorial Force gunners with howitzer in camp pre-WWI
Type	Field howitzer
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1895 – 1919
Used by	United Kingdom Kingdom of Romania Russian Empire
Wars	Mahdist War Second Boer War First World War
Specifications
Mass	2,672 lb (1,212 kg)^[1]
Barrel length	42 inches (1.07 m) bore (8.4 calibres)^[2]

Shell	50 lb (22.7 kg) Common shell 50 lb (22.7 kg) Lyddite shell 40 lb (18.1 kg) Amatol shell^[3]
Calibre	5-inch (127.0 mm)
Breech	3-motion, interrupted screw^[4]
Recoil	5.5 in (140 mm), Hydro-spring constant^[4]
Carriage	Wheeled, box trail
Elevation	-5° - 45°^[4]
Muzzle velocity	788 ft/s (240 m/s)^[5]
Effective firing range	4,800 yards (4,400 m) (50 lb shell); 6,500 yards (5,900 m) (40 lb shell)
Filling weight	9 pounds 15 ounces (4.51 kg) (Lyddite) 5 pounds (2.27 kg) (Amatol)

The Ordnance BL 5-inch howitzer was initially introduced to provide the Royal Field Artillery with continuing explosive shell capability following the decision to concentrate on shrapnel for field guns in the 1890s.

Combat service[edit]

Sudan Campaign[edit]

The weapon was used by the Royal Field Artillery and served successfully at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898. During that campaign they gained the distinction of being the first British guns to fire the new Lyddite shells in action.

Second Boer War[edit]

Major D Hall states that in the Second Boer War the Lyddite shells often failed to detonate; the gun was too heavy to be used as a field howitzer, and for siege use its range was too short and shell too light. However, it achieved some success in Natal when able to get close enough to bombard Boers in trenches.^[6]

World War I[edit]

By 1908 it was obsolete and replaced in British Regular Army brigades by the modern QF 4.5-inch howitzer.

Territorial Force brigades, however, continued to use the howitzer in World War I into 1916, including notably in the East African campaign.

A lighter 40-pound (18.14 kg) shell with Amatol filling replaced the original 50-pound (22.68 kg) Lyddite shell early in World War I Together with an increase in cordite propellant from 11 oz 7 drams to 14 oz 5 drams, this increased the maximum range from 4,800 to 6,500 yards (5,900 m). Administrative error led to the new 40-pound shells being sent to Gallipoli without range tables or fuze keys for the new pattern fuzes, rendering them useless.^[7]

Gallery[edit]

A rear view of the BL 5-inch Howitzer.
Approaching Maddox Hill, Northern Cape, January 1900.
In action on Gallipoli, 1915.
A BL 5-inch Howitzer in Romanian service during World War I. Romania received 28 howitzers in 1917.

Ammunition[edit]


Cordite cartridge 11 oz 7 dram Mk V, for 50 lb projectile	50 lb Common shell Mk III	50 lb Common lyddite shell Mk IV	T Friction tube Mk IV

Notes and references[edit]

^ Hogg, Ian. Twentieth-Century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000. ISBN 0-7607-1994-2 Pg.46
^ Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Table XII page 336
^ Treatise on Ammunition 1915, accurate as at 1 August 1914, mentions that there are both "Heavy" 50 lb (23 kg) and "Light" 40 lb (18.1 kg) shells and mentions a 14 oz 13 dram cartridge for a 40 lb (18.1 kg) shell (page 142). But only 50 lb (22.7 kg) shells are listed in tables. It is possible the 40 lb (18.1 kg) shell was in process of being introduced in 1914.
^ a b c Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 113
^ Hogg & Thurston 1972 page113. Text Book of Gunnery 1902 gives 782 ft/s (238 m/s), firing a 50 pounds (22.7 kg) projectile, with 11oz 7dram Cordite size 3¾ propellant.
^ Hall June 1971
^ Simpson-Baikie 1920

Bibliography[edit]

Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE
Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Field Army Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2004 ISBN 1-84176-688-7
Major Darrell D. Hall, "Guns in South Africa 1899-1902" in The South African Military History Society. Military History Journal - Vol 2 No 1, June 1971
I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972
Brigadier-General Sir Hugh Simpson-Baikie, Ex-Commander of the British artillery at Cape Helles. Appendix I STATEMENT ON ARTILLERY in General Sir Ian Hamilton, G.C.B. Gallipoli Diary Vol. II. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1920
Hogg, Ian. Twentieth-Century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000. ISBN 0-7607-1994-2 Pg.46
România în războiul mondial 1916-1919, Documente, Anexe, Volumul 1, Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului, București. Pg. 42

Surviving examples[edit]

At Karak Castle, Jordan

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BL 5 inch Howitzer.

Handbook for the 5-inch B.L. howitzer 1905 Hosted online by State Library of Victoria, Australia
Field service manual Field artillery howitzer brigade 5-inch B.L. 1908 Hosted online by State Library of Victoria, Australia
Handbook for the 5-inch B.L. howitzer, 1909 Hosted online by State Library of Victoria, Australia
Handbook and equipment details for the 5-inch B.L. howitzer Mark I field batteries 1896,1901 Hosted online by State Library of Victoria, Australia
5 inch B.L. howitzer gun drill 1915 Hosted online by State Library of Victoria, Australia
Great War Diary - German East Africa 1916 - of Sergeant Joseph Daniel Fewster, 1st. (Hull) Heavy Battery R.G.A.
Bennet Burleigh, Khartoum Campaign, 1898 Describes 5-inch howitzer use in the campaign

[1] Hogg, Ian. Twentieth-Century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000. ISBN 0-7607-1994-2 Pg.46

[2] Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Table XII page 336

[3] Treatise on Ammunition 1915, accurate as at 1 August 1914, mentions that there are both "Heavy" 50 lb (23 kg) and "Light" 40 lb (18.1 kg) shells and mentions a 14 oz 13 dram cartridge for a 40 lb (18.1 kg) shell (page 142). But only 50 lb (22.7 kg) shells are listed in tables. It is possible the 40 lb (18.1 kg) shell was in process of being introduced in 1914.

[Hogg&Thurston1972page113-4] Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 113

[5] Hogg & Thurston 1972 page113. Text Book of Gunnery 1902 gives 782 ft/s (238 m/s), firing a 50 pounds (22.7 kg) projectile, with 11oz 7dram Cordite size 3¾ propellant.

[6] Hall June 1971

[7] Simpson-Baikie 1920

[1]

vteBritish Empire artillery of the First World War
Armoured vehicle guns	QF 3-pounder Vickers QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss QF 6-pounder 6 cwt
Infantry guns	1.59-inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II
Field artillery	BL 12-pounder 6 cwt QF 12-pounder 8 cwt QF 12-pounder 18 cwt QF 13-pounder BL 15-pounder BLC 15-pounder QF 15-pounder QF 18-pounder QF 4-inch gun Mk III BL 4-inch gun Mk VII QF 4.5-inch howitzer
	QF 4.7-inch gun BL 5-inch howitzer BL 5.4-inch howitzer BL 60-pounder gun BLC 6-inch siege gun BL 6-inch gun Mk VII BL 6-inch gun Mk XIX BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer BL 6-inch 30 cwt howitzer BL 8-inch howitzer Mk I – V BL 8-inch howitzer Mk VI – VIII
Siege artillery	BL 7.5-inch Mk III naval gun BL 9.2-inch howitzer BL 9.2-inch Mk X naval gun BL 12-inch howitzer BL 12-inch Mk X naval gun BL 15-inch howitzer
Mountain artillery	RML 2.5-inch mountain gun BL 10-pounder mountain gun BL 2.75-inch mountain gun QF 2.95-inch mountain gun QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer
Mortars	Garland trench mortar 3-inch Stokes mortar Vickers 1.57-inch mortar 2-inch medium mortar Newton 6-inch mortar 9.45-inch Heavy Mortar
Smoke and chemical weapons	4-inch Stokes Mortar Livens Projector Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector
Anti-aircraft guns	QF 1-pounder pom-pom QF 2-pounder "pom-pom" Mk II 75 mm AA gun QF 12-pounder 12 cwt QF 13-pounder 6 cwt QF 13-pounder Mk IV QF 13-pounder 9 cwt QF 3-inch 20 cwt QF 18-pounder QF 4-inch Mk V
Coastal artillery	QF 12-pounder 12 cwt QF 4-inch naval gun Mk I – III BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun BL 9.2-inch Mk IX – X naval gun RML 9-inch
Railway guns	BL 9.2-inch railway gun BL 12-inch railway gun BL 12-inch railway howitzer BL 14-inch railway gun