This weapon was introduced to British service when two cruisers being built for Greece, Antinavarhos Kontouriotis and Lambros Katsonis, were taken over at the start of World War I and then renamed HMS Birkenhead and HMS Chester, respectively. Subsequently, this weapon was mounted on the battlecruisers Hood and Furious and later on the aircraft carrier Hermes. This was the only gun obtained in such a manner ever to be adopted for use on other British ships.
This gun caliber was selected by the Greeks over the contemporary British 6" (15.2 cm) weapons because it fired a lighter shell than did the British 6" (15.2 cm) guns and as a result its ammunition could be more easily handled. It is interesting to note that similar considerations led the Japanese to adopt the 14 cm (5.5") caliber for their light cruisers built after World War I.
During World War II, guns removed from the above ships were used to arm two AMC's while others were used for coastal defense batteries. Two ex-HMS Hood guns were sent to Ascension Island, as shown in the photographs below.
These guns were built by Coventry Ordnance Works (COW) and were of wire-wound construction with a tapered inner A tube, A tube, full-length wire, B tube, overlapping jacket, breech ring and breech bush. The Welin breech-block was manually operated with a Holmstrom mechanism. A total of 81 guns were finished out of 246 originally ordered, of which 79 still existed in 1939.
As of 2006, at least five of these guns still exist: One at the Imperial War Museum in London (formerly on HMS Chester), two on Ascension Island at Fort Bedford (formerly on HMS Hood) and two on Stremoy Island (Faroe Islands) at Fort Skansin (formerly on HMS Furious).
Nomenclature note: The 5.5"/42 (14 cm) BL Mark II was intended for DAMS of World War I, but this did not progress beyond the design stage, even though 1,100 guns were planned. Construction would have been A tube, taper wire and full length jacket. Weight without BM would have been 5.625 tons (5.72 mt). Later 5.5" (14 cm) BL guns were Army howitzers of the World War II period.
| Designation | 5.5"/50 (14 cm) BL Mark I |
|---|---|
| Ship Class Used On | Capital ships: Hood, Furious and Hermes
Cruisers: Birkenhead and Chester AMCs: Laurentic and Montclare Submarine: K17 1 |
| Date Of Design | About 1913 |
| Date In Service | 1915 |
| Gun Weight | 15,600 lbs (7,076 kg) |
| Gun Length oa | 284.7 in (7.232 m) |
| Bore Length | 275 in (6.985 m) |
| Rifling Length | 235.9 in (5.992 m) |
| Grooves | 40 |
| Lands | N/A |
| Twist | Uniform RH 1 in 30 |
| Chamber Volume | 1,500 in3 (24.58 dm3) |
| Rate Of Fire | 12 rounds per minute (maximum) 2 |
- ^It had been planned to use this gun on other K class submarines, but this was not carried out and instead they carried 4"/40 (10.2 cm) Mark XI guns.
- ^"Anatomy of the Ship: The Battlecruiser Hood" states that "difficulties were experienced in loading the guns at low angles." This would also indicate that the maximum ROF would be reduced at low elevations.
| Type | Bag |
|---|---|
| Projectile Types and Weights 1a | CPC: 82 lbs. (37.2 kg)
Common: 82 lbs. (37.2 kg) Shrapnel: 82 lbs. (37.2 kg) HE: 82 lbs. (37.2 kg) Shellite: 82 lbs. (37.2 kg) HENT: 82 lbs. (37.2 kg) HE Mark ID: 82 lbs. (37.2 kg) |
| Bursting Charge | 5.25 lbs. (2.4 kg) |
| Projectile Length | N/A |
| Propellant Charge 2a 3a | 1921: 22.25 lbs. (10.1 kg) MD19
1930: 22.54 lbs. (10.22 kg) SC115 |
| Muzzle Velocity | CPC: 2,790 fps (850 mps)
Others: N/A |
| Working Pressure | 18 tons/in2 (2,531 kg/cm2) |
| Approximate Barrel Life | N/A |
| Ammunition stowage per gun 4a | Hood: 5a Others: N/A |
- ^Shells were generally 4crh. The HE Mark ID 8/16crh "streamlined" shell was developed during World War II.
- ^The propellant charge was in a single bag.
- ^A reduced charge of 14.8 lbs. (6.7 kg) MD was used for practice rounds.
- ^Outfit included CPC and HE on all ships during World War II.
- ^Outfit for Hood as built was 1,728 Lyddite, 582 common, 96 shrapnel, 464 practice. After 1929-1931 refit, the outfit was 1,368 HE, 624 Shellite, 360 HENT, 50 starshell (forward shell room only) and 449 practice.
| Designation | Single Mounts 1c Birkenhead and Chester (10): PI Hermes (6), Furious (10) 2c, Laurentic (7) and Montclare (7): PI* K17 (1) 3c: PI** Hood (12) 4c: CPII |
|---|---|
| Weight | PI and PI*: N/A
CPII: 18.68 tons (18.89 mt) including shield |
| Elevation (see Note 3) | PI: -7 / +15 degrees
PI*: -7 / +25 degrees PI**: -7 / +25 degrees CPII: -5 / +30 degrees |
| Elevation Rate | Manually operated, only |
| Train | about -150 / +150 degrees |
| Train Rate | Manually operated, only |
| Gun recoil | N/A |
- ^PI, PI*, PI** and CPII mounts were also used in coastal batteries.
- ^Furious had all of her mounts removed during her 1931-1932 refit.
- ^The PI** mounting used on K17 may actually have been limited to about +20 degrees as the gun barrel height was lower than on the PI* mounts.
- ^In 1935, HMS Hood had all but one gun removed for relining and these were replaced with guns from stock. Many of the relined guns were then used in coastal defense batteries including two that were mounted on Ascension Island (see below). Hood had two mounts removed in 1938-1939 and the remainder removed in 1940. These were replaced with 4"/45 (10.2 cm) QF Mark XVI guns.
| Engraving | Explanation |
|---|---|
| N | Navy and top of gun (orientation that results in the least amount of droop) |
| B.L. 5.5-In wire Mark I | Breech Loading 5.5 inch (14 cm) gun of wire wound construction Mark I |
| C.O.W. 1918 | Built at the Coventry Ordnance Works in 1918 |
| No 56 | Serial Number 56 |
Images by Jan Egil Kristiansen
Gun #35 and Gun #42 at Fort Skansin. Regarding the description for Gun #42; "Holmstrom" is actually the type of breech mechanism.
"Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860-1905" by D.K. Brown
"Naval Weapons of World War Two" by John Campbell
"Warships of World War II" by H.T. Lenton & J.J. Colledge
"Cruisers of the Royal and Commonwealth Navies" by Douglas Morris
"British Battleships of World War Two" by Alan Raven and John Roberts
"Anatomy of the Ship: The Battlecruiser Hood" by John Roberts
20 February 2008 - Benchmark
30 January 2009 - Added information about use on K17, added information about other marks of 5.5" (14 cm) guns
29 February 2012 - Converted link to Wayback Archives
09 August 2019 - Converted to HTML 5 format, reorganized notes, added comment about rate of fire
27 February 2020 - Corrected location of HMS Hood guns in Description section
06 May 2021 - Updated links
19 January 2023 - Updated formatting