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[tonyH]

Hi All,
Has anyone a photo or drawing of the P or P* mount for the above? I'm not certain which of the many variations it is.
Also, does anyone know of drawings for the 7.5" howitzer? I know there's one of these in the depths of Northumbria but......
Cheers
Tony

[ballastanksian]

I could only find this image of HMS Vindictive's weapon.


Here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_7.5-inch_naval_howitzer

[tonyH]

Thanks Ian,


There are also pics from the IWM so, in theory, if it is on show I could take some measurements. Does anyone know?


I also reckon that the P and P* just stand for "pedestal" but which is which?


Cheers


Tony

[Geoff]

I think I saw a picture in Ian Buxton's book Big Gun Monitors of just such a howitzer.


Geoff

[tonyH]

Hi Geoff, It's all rather confusing on howitzers for naval use. Biggest was 13.5 inch and the ones on Severn, Mersey and Humber was 4.75 inch. There was also a 6 inch version. All of these have what I believe to be maintenance pamphlets at Greenwich. The 7.5 inch drawings must be somewhere about but I've tried the usual suspects.That said, since all the a/s weaponry in 1914 was rather suspect and, to be frank, the 200lb bomb thrower looks to be more fun to portray, so I think I'll use ordnance shortage aka. poetic license and use that instead especially since I've got the maintenance brochure for that.
Best wishes for Christmas and the new year to all.
Tony

[ballastanksian]

I know it irks me to even think it, but I occasionally resort to the phrase 'If you don't really know what it looks like (And you have been trying to research it) then most everyone else will not either'. Make a best guess build based on logical specifications and go with that.


If someone turns up a photo album (usually after you have finished building it) make another more accurate model. If you enjoy making ordnance then it won't be a problem.

[deadbeat]

There may be something on this site that could help.
http://www.navweaps.com/

[tonyH]

Thanks DB and I've found the pedestal mount for the 12pdr via them.
I fully understand the irksome nature of the beast as well Ian. However, the saving grace of project Z is that it was, effectively, a prototype and although any (rather limited) references in literature call for a "howitzer" I'm pretty certain that just means a d/c thrower and from the dates involved, that it's just as possible it's the bomb thrower.
Anyhow, that's my story and I think I'm going to stick with it

[ballastanksian]

It probably is a Bomb or DC thrower. Mind you, I have learnt about several howitzers used by the navy in recent years. This surprised me given the Navy's development and desire for longer ranged weapons throughout the late nineteenth century.

[tonyH]

I've gone with the bomb thrower anyway, simply because of the context. The 7.5" depth charge howitzer seems to have been used on larger vessels post-1917.As far as more general use of howitzers on ships is concerned, they were often used on Nile gunboats or the French Tonkin fleet for suppressing the natives. A decent size shrapnel projectile lobbed into the middle of a crowd tended to concentrate the minds quite well!

[ballastanksian]

And shrapnel and lobbing bombs doesn't generate the same pressures as long range or HV projectiles.

[tonyH]

How recently have you come across howitzers on ships Ian and on what type of ship? I only ask so that it may be possible reason the possible situation they would have come across!

[ballastanksian]

Oh, obviously not in recent decades, but the River class monitors had one or two each mounted on them in WW1.

[raflaunches]

I know it was in a turret and 11" in size but the German Brandenburg class (pre-dreadnought) battleship had two mounted in a central turret.

[ballastanksian]

So they did Nick. I forgot those. They were fitted either due to lack of room on the hull for full length guns, or because of budget If I recall. I have read the reason several times but cannot remember for the life of me.

[raflaunches]

A mix of both with a bit of don’t want to upset the Royal Navy as well!

[tonyH]

Yup, but don't forget that the primary reason for howitzers was to lob bombs over walls to destroy the soft bits, such as people, of fortifications. Forts and even castles were still functional then and normal long gun ordnance was not that effective. The a/s ones were, in a sense, misnamed because they happened to look like and were derived from howitzers and the earlier throwers were, to say the least, interesting.