12.5 inch Rifled Muzzle Loading Gun, 1885
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2023
- The 12.5 inch Muzzle Loading Gun Mark I of 1885 fired a shell weighing 820 pounds (372 kg) to a range of 6,000 yards (5,586 M). It weighed 38 tons (38,610 Kg) and was generally used as a coastal defence cannon mounted in forts. The gun could fire 3 types of shell - a Palliser armour piercing shell against armoured warships, a common explosive shell for unarmored ships and a shrapnel shell to be used against small craft and assault forces.
The animation is based upon installation of 7 12.5 inch RML guns at Fort Nothe, Weymouth (UK), which protected Portland harbour. The fort, built between 1860 and 1872, was upgraded to mount these large guns in 1893-4. The underground magazines and shell rooms were also enlarged.
Firing rate would be about 3-4 minutes per gun. While the guns are spaced around the fort, usually three guns could aim on the same bearing. Ready use shells on the gun floor could speed up reloading times, and there were 4 ammunition hoists that could supply cartridges.
The video shows how the very large guns were loaded, aimed and fired from within the cramped casemates of the fort, and without the use of power or hydraulics. The loading drills are taken from the Handbook of the RML 12.5 inch 38-ton Gun, dated 1885, with much assistance and advice from historians familiar with the period.
Fort Nothe is open to the public and has many interesting exhibits covering gunnery and torpedoes from the 1880’s to the 20th century.
While this video focuses on the drill and fort, a further video is planned to show the construction of the gun and the mechanisms of the platform. Please watch this space.
The model and animation were made using Cinema 4D, and iMovie.
Music: Light Expanse (Unicorn heads), Forest of Fear (Aakash Gandhi)
References:
Handbook for the R.M.L 12.5 inch 38-ton Gun, Marks I and II, 1885
Drawings of Fort Nothe, The National Archives
Permanent Fortifications for English Engineers, Major J F Lewis, 1890
Victorian Forts & Artillery (victorianforts.co.uk)
My thanks to all who assisted and advised me, and in particular:
the Curator and team at Fort Nothe
Duncan Williams - Věda a technologie
I can't imagine how laborious it was when these guns were built and installed in the first place!
They had to use mules for most of the pulling and lifting. There are even bigger guns installed at Malta which almost couldn’t be pulled up the hills no matter how many big hauling mules they got pulling them.
Millennial/Gen-Z need not apply.
@@samiamrg7
The 100-ton Armstrong Guns, yes?
@@samiamrg7two were installed on Malta and two at Gibraltar.
The 100 ton guns were also rifled muzzle loading but were on disappearing mounts and were operated by hydraulic machinery powered by steam engines.
What I love about this is you do not just show the gun and how it works but all the support systems around it, including a bit of how the crew lived while operating it.
Nvm
Have always loved the amount of hardwork you had put into it.
@Aitelly Your channel grew very fast.
You started 1 one year ago😮
Great to see you here AiTelly love your work too ❤
Damn 😮 very humble of you @Aitelly to support this channel also
😊 cool to see you here I guess the internet is a small place 😂
Love both channels but AiTelly you started just a year Ago how come you grew so fast.
Anyways please release more videos 🙏
T90 tanks how it works?
I love how you used the same target ship for years now.
Maybe we can see a dedicated video on it in the future?
He gave the name of the ship in some earlier videos
I think it is the Messena French pre dreadnought battleship
Jauréguiberry, a beautiful French ship, 1896.
Your animations are easily amongst the finest on CZcams. Always a huge treat when you post.
Amazing work! Being the guy standing behind the cannon when it fired must have taken some real courage.
It was a mandatory part of the recoil mitigation system, as the cannon would have been scared into stopping due to the guys huge steel balls
I was wondering if they had any sort of ear protection back in the late 19th century. Ouch!
@@abellettiear protection was not worn until ww2.
@@screech2730 A bit before that I think. Interbellum period.
Another excellent video clearly highlighting what a remarkable 'faff' it would have been to actually use these guns in real combat - a considerable amount of man handling of really heavy items (the shell) in a particularly precarious place (an open window facing the enemy).
I can see why we switched to breech loaders on our battleships around this time and these muzzle loaders ended up on shore duty.
Смотри фото береговых батарей 1914 - 1917 гг, когда перешли к заряжанию артиллерии на кораблях с казённой части, тогда и береговая артиллерия стала такой же!!!
@@user-gv3zs4hu5f Exactly - The ships always got the best highest technology guns and the shore batteries got the 'second hand' stuff.
It looks worse than it was - the ship wouldn't have had a rate of fire much better (and from an unstable platform) and its hardly going to sneak up on the fort.
Breachlpaders acrually predate this particular model, but they were not very good breach loaders. Removable screwbreaches meant it took a solid minute to open the breach, plus you had another heavy piece of metal to handle, and the gas seal still wasnt perfect, so the RN ended up going back to breachloaders for a generation. Interrupted screw breaches captive to the chamber solved that issue, plus on smaller caliber guns you started to see the introduction of semiautomatic 'quick firing' actions.
he came as the world needed him
"headshot +500" 💀
Yes✋
🤨
Pretty crazy that they were still using muzzle loaded cannons right at the time when the modern, small-bore, smokeless-powder, manually repeating service rifle was invented.
Whats even crazier is that some of the tech had already been in use on breechloading naval guns.
Breach loding gun did exist, but UK did have bad experience of them, becuse they did try to use breach loding guns before the engenering and the metallurgy was "mature" so they did keep the muzzle loaded cannons a bit longer then "necessary"
Loading time 45 minutes.
@@kirgan1000 The US Army coast defense forces kept the smooth-bore Rodman 15" in service until around 1903.
Imagine you did all this, *only to miss the ship by a few feet*
What I love about this animation is how it highlights just big of a improvement big bore breechloading made to the reload speed and safety with the advent of smokeless powder making it even safer still. The little details of how powder and shells were handled are also amazing to watch as most people seem to think that safety measures are a new invention, but here we see special uniforms and cordoning off the powder room to keep the spread of black powder dust to a minimum so as to limit fire risks.
Weapons are interesting but the systems and means of producing and operating those weapons open up a whole new world of research and learning.
I can't imagine standing behind that beast as it fired. Amazing video
I can only imagine how stressful it had to be for the guys who were briefly in front (4:35 and bit after) with the power loaded as you shove that bullet in.
Amazing! Grew up in Halifax and saw lots of various shore defense cannons from the centuries, thanks for giving me a better understanding of what York Redoubt was like back in the dizzay lol.
Just an FYI for anyone who hasn't ever fired a cannon with a friction primer, there is no need to remove the spent friction primers tube, it will most assuredly be gone when the gun is run back on its recoil. It has well over 15,000 PSI of hot gasses asking it not so politely to clear the way for them, hence no need to remove it.
Maybe it was left in animation as part of checklist after firing?
@@geradkavanagh8240 but he mentioned that the primer was removed, I think he read about it somewhere and just passed on the information without having any experience
The drill specifies removing the friction tube, and special tools were provided to drift it if needed. If the manual of the time specifies this action, who am I to argue.
@@vbbsmyt I'd say it was a check procedure to ensure the tube was cleared for repeated fire. You would do it after the firing and before swabbing the cannon in my opinion only. A left fragment of the primer tube might really not make your day.
@@vbbsmyt I had a feeling it was something along those lines. Manufacturers of cannons would include a tool to clear the vent in the event of a piece of the friction primer was left behind and manuals would specify for the vent to be cleared just in case a piece was left behind because the friction primers of the day were made of much softer material (i.e. copper) than the brass they are made of these days.
I must say, I thoroughly enjoy all of your videos and when explaining guns and other items to students, I always refer them to your channel. I subscribed several years back after I saw the first video that was recommended to me. I thoroughly enjoy them and as a student of history, specifically 19th century military history, I look forward every time I see you have released a new video.
So great to be able to see that in action thank you for the work !
The late 19th century was such an interesting period for naval warfare, traditional technology brought to its zenith and mixed in with what would come to dominate the coming Great War...
Absolutely incredible detail as usual, I don't know how you do it - but I sure am glad that you do! 😁👍
Yup... Blackpowder ruled the earth for 1000 years❤
Always a pleasure to watch your channel. Thanks !
Incredible work, as usual! Thank you for bringing these pieces of history alive for us to see.
Nice work on the animations. Great little history lesson on what the life of a gunner was like in the 19th century.
不知道有啥可羞耻的，这是中国政府的政策导致的，不应该算到香港人身上。大陆居民去香港要港澳通行证，英国人免签，这样的政策一出，必然导致香港人认为自己高于大陆人，但是低于英国人；他们也会认为，英语高于粤语，但是粤语高于普通话。空姐说大陆的乘客不会粤语不说人话，首先是中国政府没有把本国国民当人。在中国，在华洋人甚至黑人，港澳台同胞是一等人婆罗门，少数民族二等人刹帝利，北上广三等人吠舍，其他城市的四等人首陀罗，农村户口（北上广除外）五等人贱民达利特。印度的种姓在文化里，宗教里，我们的种姓在政策上，在身份证户口本里。在印度教里，你可以给一个达利特许诺，只要受够了今生的罪来世会变成婆罗门。在中国这样一个宣扬人人平等，但其实是以户口身份划分的种姓制度中，对于普通中小城城市和农村居民，我们要许给他们什么呢？来生不做中国人？然后就可以享受不用好好学习就上好大学，还给你配异性学伴，学费全免还有生活补助？这和恐怖分子想象中的天堂有七个处女陪伴颇为相似。共产主义就是人间天堂，是的但不是中国人的，尤其不是持有大陆居民身份证的人的，更不是非北上广大陆居民的。
@@taoranchen7130
Well said
Perfect for home defense
You may have trouble fitting it into your pocket, that's why you can mount it on your wall
just like the founding fathers intended
It's good to see you back and making this wonderful animations. Always quality work
Awesome video, I always. Wondered how these muzzle loading beasts like these and at Gibraltar were operated. Thank you very much!! Amazing end of an age technology for black powder muzzle loading guns. 160lbs of black powder, can you imagine the smoke generated? Wow. Instant smoke screen, lol.
Smoke, imagine the bang. I bet it shook your insides
Outstanding video with one of the last muzzle loaders. It puts you right there!
This video feels like an eerie early 2000s video.
Very welcome back, great stuff as always. Thank you.
Some say the gun crew is still reloading to this day...
When the world needed him the most - he returned...
Glad to see you alive! Thanks for the upload.
A tour de force! I love the details like the use of the red bar for the ramrods.
Fantastic as always Rob!
a masterpiece, like always
Great as always, thank you so much for these
it is such a joy seeing a new video from you...
Excellent video as always, thank you so much
Excellent video. Thank you!
Excellent as always. Well done
Love your work ! Thank You ! Always wondered how they rammed the shell from inside the fort . I visited Castle Hurst I guess things were done the same there . Thanks Again !
These videos are mesmerizing. Love them.
We have been waiting for this
First video in a year and it's a great one!
Thanks, i love your animations
Awesome pls. more from this old big Gun's it's stunning 👍👍👍
great work and detail as always
You made a very nice video. Thank you for uploading.
Again - a masterpiece, a pleasure to view and very instructive. Thank you very much for uploading!!!
"instructive"?
@@NerdZEY I did not know how to handle a 12.5 inch gun. So it was instructive for me.
top quality content as always. thank you
Totally worth the wait
Brilliant, as ever, Bob.
Good to see another video, vbbsmyt! Hope you're doing well and enjoying your time and research.
So interesting. The animation is wonderful.
The most beautiful explanation that I had ever seen with animation. Truly Great. 👍👍
Very impressive. Thank you so much 😊!
Fantastic recreation, thank you!
All that sweat and careful engineering to keep a muzzle-loader of that size fed! And then consider when they did shoot, they would (all other things being equal) miss with a majority of shots. I bet the guy on the shell hoist crank bar was like: "Oi! When are we getting a steam engine for this bloody thing!? It's nearly the 20th-Century! Let's get some modern tech going!"
Excellent video, thank you
Another fine animation, I have visited Nothe a number of times and find this particularly fascinating. I noticed the boxes containing fuzes in the magazine, were the fuzes fitted to the shells as they were being taken from the magazine to the gun or stored fitted to the shells?
I am told the common shell would be fitted with a fuze (and safety cap) in the shell room, but the shrapnel would have their time fuzes set on the gun floor. Palliser shell were not fuzed, and relied on the heat of impact to set off the small internal 11 pound gunpowder charge (if used - some Paliser were filled with sand).
When i was a kid i wonderred and imagined how the firearm was work and it's mechanism ,and this chanell answer it all in perfectly detailed piece by piece,never expected that some of the technology behind it was so complicated👍
It's a Monster!
The next time do one about the Winchester 1887.
Thank you. They have these at Ft. Pulaski, GA- about 3 miles away.
Excellent video !!
Amazing, quality work.
I was waiting for an amazing video like this😄👍
fully autonomous! Incredible!
Excellent as ever!
Great to see that you're still making these! Do you have any plans on modeling a disappearing gun mount of some type? I've taken an interest in their function and history recently so it would be awesome to see one animated in all its glorious detail
I found the drawings for a 7 in (aka 110 poinder) Armstrong gun on a Montcrief mount yesterday. I haven't had time yet to look at it in detail, but this is a strong possibility. Also a diasppearing 16 in US coastal gun, but again I haven't had time to examine the drawings.
Phenomenal animation!!
one hour - one shot?
seems like a good option for home defense.
Amazing work!!!
I just came back from a trip in Malta where those cannons could be found in every fort
Great vid !
Thanks, I need this in my life.
Very Good - Thank You !
😎👍
Superbly done.
It's good to have you back, Commander!!
Your army is waiting for you
now, the seat of command shall return to its rightful owner
Breach loading changed the game.
Fascinating... similar to the casements at Fort Tilbury on the Thames.
Excellent animation, perhaps you could do a complementary one for the 9” RML guns which were installed at the nearby High Angle Batteries on Portland?
He's back
Great work!
breech loading truly is a savior
Congratulations on the excellent graphical presentation,it impressive and of a high quality.
In Gibraltar you can find many examples of these guns, and their corresponding Iron shields.
This Video is beautiful and verry interesting!!!.....thanks
Nicely done Video
This is an incredible work of animation and modeling! All I can think while watching the whole process of reloading this huge cannon is, “There has to be an easier way to do this...”. Even a breech-loader would make this simpler. But that was how it was done.
The breeches of large breech loading guns at the time were very heavy and needed power to open and remove them, so only were suitable for steam powered ships. Another point - coastal forts were always the poor relation, so got the obsolescent left-overs. However, with ample man-power, they were very effective. Rob
This so good.
Incredible.
Новое качественное видео. Спасибо. Но почему не в разрешении 1080p?
I love your videos. The "tour" of the magazines was a great feature :) No way would flash from an explosion in the gun bay set off the magazines :) I hope the wooden gun crews don't get charred from the flash :)
If I remember correctly, heavy canvas curtains, hung as vertical strips on rails were used to arrest the flash.
Absolutely great videos! I salute you Sir 🫡
Absolutely fascinating to see how this kind of gun worked and its easy to see how they went obsolete, although the RN and UK did hang onto muzzle loaders for far too long because of the issues they had with their first generation of BL's which were darn unreliable. And I assume the ROF was Minutes per round :D
Fantastic. Well done. This is excellent tool in helping people to understand how these systems work. We have put a link on our social media.
I love this channel.
I would like some videogame, where players must cooperate and work as team in fort like that.
Quite amazing, really ; you are quietly leaving Hollywood and TV behind :) thanks already for all those years.
Impressive work!!!!!!
A very interesting video. Fort Nothe and Fort Gilkicker in Gosport are very similar in their layout to the 12.5 Inch RML. But at Gilkicker they rebuilt the fort, burying the emplacements with a earth bank around the seward side. Then they built new gun emplacements in the rampart for 9.2 and 6 inch BLG's. Still amazes me that in the Portsmouth area they built over 24 forts and batteries on land and at sea and most were manned by the 2nd battalion of the Hampshire volunteers.
They have these at the Needles old battery on the Isle of Wight. A bit worse for wear since they chucked them off the cliff when the battery was decommissioned and had to be pulled out to make a display - impressive though and the installations are open to the elements.
Wow so much complexity
Great video! That is a lot of work to reload.
I cannot imagine how exhilarating it is to see a full size battle, I bet a lot of life was cut short due the shred of metal, brass and gunpowder, flying in and around the place
Great work! Be seeing you next year!