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Friday 14 September 2012

The guns of HMS Gannet: 7-inch MLR Gun

The main armament of HMS Gannet was the 7-inch MLR (Muzzle Loading Rifled) gun. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, this gun was used aboard a large number of the Royal Navy's ships as well as being a mainstay of the coastal defence artillery.






This weapon was designed by the Royal Gun Factory, Woolwich, and first entered service in 1865. The original design (the Mark I) proved to be very reliable, and over the years improved version of the weapon were introduced. The ones shown above are Mark IIIs.

The 7-inch MLR fired a shell that weighed between 112 pounds and 160 pounds (depending upon the type of shell) and had a maximum range of 5,000 yards.

4 comments:

  1. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those!

    Jim

    ReplyDelete
  2. Quite a gun Bob!
    BTW if you pop over to tradgardland you will see my portable wargames set up...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jim Duncan,

    These were very powerful guns for their era ... and could do a lot of damage!

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tradgardmastare,

    As guns go it was no baby, even though its 'big brother' was sometimes called 'The Woolwich Infant'!

    I look forward to seeing how you made out with the Portable Wargame.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

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