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BREECH-LOADING
AND IMPERIALISM 1815–1914
ARTILLERY

British engineer William Armstrong designed The Armstrong rifled breech- Barrel
the first efficient breech-loading rifled field gun in ▲ ARMSTRONG RBL loading 40-pounder was used
40-POUND GUN
1855. The shell and gunpowder propellant were Date 1861 by the British Royal Navy as a
loaded at the breech, which was closed with a Origin UK broadside gun, and by the army as
a defensive gun in military forts.
“vent-piece” secured in a slot with a hollow screw. Length 9 ⁄4ft (3m) It saw action in the Royal Navy’s
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Armstrong’s 12-pounder gun, of 1859, was the first Caliber 12cm bombardment of Kagoshima,
rifled breech-loading field gun to enter British Army Range 1.59 miles (2.56km) Japan, in August 1863. Rifling within
service, and the Armstrong RBL 40-pounder was barrel
an adaptation of this gun as a medium artillery piece.
The French Canon de 75mm Modèle 1897 added a
key element to artillery design—a recoil-dampening ▶ ARMSTRONG
RBL 12-POUNDER
mechanism that kept the trail and wheels perfectly Date 1859
still when firing, which freed gun crews from Origin UK
having to re-aim the gun after each shot. Length 7ft (2.13m)
Caliber 7.62cm
Y 45mm caliber Range 1.92 miles (3.1km)
steel barrel
The Armstrong rifled 12-pounder
INDUSTR gun required a crew of nine men
to operate it. The gun that entered
British Army service in 1859 had
a 7ft (2.13m) barrel, while the British
Royal Navy used a 6ft (1.83m) barrel
version. In 1863, the shorter version
became standard.

◀ WHITWORTH 45MM
Cone BREECH-LOADING BOAT GUN
mounting Date 1875
Origin UK
Length 37in (94cm)
Caliber 45mm
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Range 393 ⁄4 yards (360m)
This boat gun had hexagonal rifling Trail
with a Whitworth sliding-lock breech-
loading mechanism. It was set on a
cone mounting mostly used for small
naval guns. This example was mounted
on an armed yacht.

Carriage
wheel
Muzzle

▶ BL 15-POUNDER 7CWT
Date 1892 ▶ HOTCHKISS QUICK-FIRING
Origin UK Recoil device 3-POUNDER NAVAL GUN
in trail Date 1885
Length 7ft (2.13m)
Origin France
Caliber 76.2mm
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Length (Barrel) 6 ⁄2ft (2m)
Range 3.26 miles (5.26km)
Caliber 47mm
This 15-pounder was fitted with Range 2.27 miles (3.66km)
an early recoil device—a spade that
dug into the ground on firing, and The Hotchkiss QF (Quick-Firing)
was connected to a spring on the 3-pounder was used by the British Royal
trail. The gun jumped backward on Navy from 1885, as well as the French,
firing and then forward under the Russian, and US navies. These guns were
pressure of the spring. It could fire made by a division of the Armstrong
eight rounds per minute. armaments business. Operated by two
1
men, the gun could fire up to thirty 3 ⁄4lb
(1.5kg) steel shells per minute.