Building a 12" Naval Gun

[Old Harry]

 

[capnsensible]

Amazing pice of engineering. The tolerances those things were built to using the tools of the era......

 

[Beneteau381]

Could I put one on my shotgun licence!

 

[johnalison]

I'd loved to have had one or two at times but it might have adversely affected the stability of my boat.

 

[Kukri]

Thank you for that! I was hoping that they would show the boring of the barrel with the rifling but that may have been a secret.

 

[pagoda]

I'd loved to have had one or two at times but it might have adversely affected the stability of my boat.

Firing broadsides would perhaps be problematic ! For the fish anyway..

 

[Frank Holden]

There are a pair of 15" guns in the forecourt of the IWM... worth a look
15 inch Guns in from of the entrance to the IWM

 

[colind3782]

There are a pair of 15" guns in the forecourt of the IWM... worth a look
15 inch Guns in from of the entrance to the IWM

I use to sit on those when I was a kid. I always thought they were 11" but I stand corrected.

 

[johnalison]

I know that we are obsessed with health and safety, but presumably these chaps knew what they were doing. Some of the supervisors were walking around with Bowler hats and ties, while you may have seen the man who had to shoot up a ladder to initiate the ingot pouring.

 

[Muddy32]

+1 obviously a flat cap was better than a hard hat nowadays!

I know that we are obsessed with health and safety, but presumably these chaps knew what they were doing. Some of the supervisors were walking around with Bowler hats and ties, while you may have seen the man who had to shoot up a ladder to initiate the ingot pouring.

 

[Old Bumbulum]

Could I put one on my shotgun licence!

Er, certainly not as these are rifles...
You might make a case for a 64pounder from the Napoleonic days as a shotgun though, and I believe some of the most modern tanks have smoothbore guns too so if you fancied a bit of wildfowling without getting cold a Challenger might be just the job.

 

[halcyon]

I know that we are obsessed with health and safety, but presumably these chaps knew what they were doing. Some of the supervisors were walking around with Bowler hats and ties, while you may have seen the man who had to shoot up a ladder to initiate the ingot pouring.

Yes but the chap with the bowler hat started by running up the ladder, not at a Uni.

Brian

 

[Bru]

The bowler hat was originally, i believe, invented to protect the wearer from blows to the head (gamekeepers IIRC)

And hasn't the Challenger tank got a rifled gun? The only main battle tank in the NATO inventory not now fitted with a smooth bore gun (again from memory)

 

[Stemar]

Looking at the amount of heavy lifting and heaving, it isn't surprising that workers were knackered by 65 and popping their clogs by 70. An old age pension was affordable then. Not like now when most 65 year olds are in a better state than 50 year olds back then and people expect to go on to 85

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Thank you for that! I was hoping that they would show the boring of the barrel with the rifling but that may have been a secret.

I noted that some processes were named but not described and unclear from the film - shrinking the jacket onto the barrel, for one. I can guess how it's done, but the film doesn't help!

 

[Kukri]

I noted that some processes were named but not described and unclear from the film - shrinking the jacket onto the barrel, for one. I can guess how it's done, but the film doesn't help!

I was wondering about how they shrank it on without affecting the temper of the wire windings.

More generally I think we should not make too much of the « learning on the job » side of things. Tertiary education was very much a requirement for heavy engineering apprenticeships and those chaps in bowlers will mostly have had the equivalent of a degree in today’s money.

 

[scotty123]

Thank you for that! I was hoping that they would show the boring of the barrel with the rifling but that may have been a secret.

They were wire wound, if wreckage of similar naval guns is anything to go on.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I'd loved to have had one or two at times but it might have adversely affected the stability of my boat.

Firing broadsides would perhaps be problematic ! For the fish anyway..

It might work if it was mounted like a punt gun, strapped down along the mid-line pointing forward. But my mast might get in the way... After all, punt guns have a bore measured in inches on a waterline length of 3-4 metres. Several places round here have them on display, and they're fearsome objects that I wouldn't fancy being near when they go off!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

They were wire wound, if wreckage of similar naval guns is anything to go on.

They show the wire-winding; I was a bit surprised they showed that.

 

[halcyon]

I was wondering about how they shrank it on without affecting the temper of the wire windings.

More generally I think we should not make too much of the « learning on the job » side of things. Tertiary education was very much a requirement for heavy engineering apprenticeships and those chaps in bowlers will mostly have had the equivalent of a degree in today’s money.

Did my apprenticeship early 60's, 8 yeas at Tech, looked at the Uni's recently, we did the same engineering syllabus back then, but not an O or A level in sight.

The bowler hat lot would more likely have come up from the shop floor via chargehand, foreman and superintendent and finally production manager. Though this changed in the 60's, as all engineering did, to a academic based system, which just happens to correspond with our decline in manufacture.

Brian