RML 64-pounder 64 cwt gun
The RML 64-pounder 64 cwt gun is a Rifled, Muzzle Loading naval, field or fortification artillery gun manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately. "64 cwt" refers to the gun's weight rounded up to differentiate it from other "64-pounder" guns.
Description
The calibre of was chosen to enable it to fire remaining stocks of spherical shells originally made for the obsolete 32 pounder guns if necessary.Mark I and Mark II guns, and Mark III guns made from 1867 – April 1871 had wrought-iron inner "A" tubes surrounded by wrought-iron coils.
Mark III guns made after April 1871 were built with toughened mild steel "A" tubes, and earlier Mark III guns were re-tubed with steel and were classified as a siege gun in land service. Remaining guns with iron tubes were used for sea service.
Rifling of all guns consisted of 3 grooves, with a uniform twist of 1 turn in 40 calibres.
Ammunition
The gun's standard shell was "common shell", for firing on troops in cover, ships and buildings, weighed when empty with a bursting charge of. Shrapnel shells could also be fired; a shell with a bursting charge propelling 234 metal balls.Surviving Examples of Guns
- , and guns at Fort George, near Inverness, Scotland, UK
- Mark III gun number 17, on board HMS Gannet, Chatham Dockyard, UK
- Mark III gun number 294, dated 1867, Nothe Fort, Weymouth, UK
- at Fort Brockhurst, Gosport, UK
- Two Mark III guns, including no. 318 dated 1867 at Pendennis Castle, Cornwall, UK
- Mark III guns number 462 and 463 at Fort Glanville, Adelaide, South Australia
- , Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Mark III gun number 742 dated 1878 - ex HMQS Otter example displayed in Queens Park Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
- Two Mark III guns, including No 729 dated 1878, at, Brisbane, Australia
- Lei Yue Mun Fort's Central Battery, Hong Kong
- including
- at Albert Park, Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Surviving Examples of Ammunition
- RML 64pdr shell that has been fired, and RML 64 fuse at, Brisbane, Australia
- RML 64pdr Mark I shell is held in the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra