The BAE RO Defence 4.5 inch (110 mm) Mk 8 Mod 0 gun of HMS Grafton

The 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mark 8 is a British naval gun system. 4.5 inch has been the standard medium-gun calibre of the Royal Navy for use against surface, aircraft and shore targets since 1938. The current weapon replaced the earlier lineage of 4.5 inch guns. Like all British 4.5 inch guns, it actually has a calibre of 4.45 inches (113 mm). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x867, 183 KB)050220-N-1444C-053 Persian Gulf (20 February 2005) – The Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Grafton (F80) patrols the Persian Gulf during a regularly scheduled deployment. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x867, 183 KB)050220-N-1444C-053 Persian Gulf (20 February 2005) – The Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Grafton (F80) patrols the Persian Gulf during a regularly scheduled deployment. ... BAE Systems plc is the worlds fourth largest defence contractor[2] and a commercial aerospace manufacturer. ... Royal Ordnance was the state-run arms manufacturer in the United Kingdom which was privatised in 1984 and sold off by the government to British Aerospace (BAe) in 1987. ... HMS Grafton (F80) is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. ... USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a full broadside of nine 16/50 and six 5/38 guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984. ... The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) comes from the Italian calibro, itself from the Arabic quâlib, meaning mould. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging military aircraft in combat from the ground. ... Naval gunfire support (NGFS) comprises the use of naval artillery to provide fire support support for amphibious assault troops. ...

Design

A completely new type of 4.5 inch gun was designed in the 1960s for the Royal Navy's new classes of frigates and destroyers. The new weapons, built by Vickers, was developed by the Royal Armament Research and Development Corporation using the 105 mm gun-howitzer of the Abbot self-propelled gun as a starting point. The outer shell of the gunhouse is built from glass reinforced plastic. Vickers, Limited was a famous British engineering conglomerate that merged into Vickers Armstrong in 1927. ... General Characteristics FV 433 Field Artillery, Self-Propelled (Abbot) Length: (gun forward) 5. ... This article or section should be merged with Fiberglass Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), is a composite material made of a plastic reinforced by fine fibers made of glass. ...

The new weapon emphasised reliability over a high rate of fire, allowing a switch to a lighter, single barrel mounting. The ammunition is also of a new one-piece design. The weapon is semi-automatic and therefore needs fewer people than traditional weapons to operate. There are no personnel in the gunhouse, and only a few in the gunbay to load the feed ring, in addition to the magazine crew. The weapon has a rate of fire of about 25 rounds per minute and a range of 12 nm (22 km).

The first recipient of the new gun and mount, the Mark 8, was the Iranian frigate Zaal in 1971. It entered Royal Navy service on the new destroyer Bristol in 1973. HMS Bristol (D23) was the only Type 82 destroyer of the Royal Navy. ...

Usage

• Type 45 Daring-class guided missile destroyer
• Type 23 Duke-class frigate
• Type 22 Broadsword-class frigate
• Type 21 Amazon-class frigate
• Type 42 Sheffield-class guided missile destroyer
• Type 82 destroyer, Bristol

• Niteroi class (Brazil)
• Inhauma class (Brazil)
• Alvand class (Iran)

Launch of HMS Daring. ... The Type 23 frigate is a class of warship serving with the Royal Navy, also known as the Duke class. ... The Type 22 frigate is a warship class of the Royal Navy also known as the Broadsword Class. ... The Type 21 frigate or Amazon class frigate was an attempt by the Royal Navy to create a cheap escort design. ... Type 42 destroyer HMS Manchester Type 42, also known as the Sheffield class, is a class of destroyers of the Royal Navy. ... The Type 82 or Bristol class destroyer was to be a class of four Royal Navy warships intended as area air-defence destroyers to escort the planned CVA-01 aircraft carriers. ... Constituição (F42) The Niterói class frigates are a class of warships of the Brazilian Navy The Niterói Class Frigates were designed and built by the English shipyard Vosper Thornycroft in the 1970s. ... The Alvand class (also called the Saam class frigate or the Vosper Mk 5 type) comprise four Iranian light patrol frigates. ...

External links

• Page from Navweapons on Mk8