Naval History
This weapon was developed by Coventry Ordnance Works in 1913 and offered to the Greek Navy as main armament for two new cruisers building at Cammell Laird. On the outbreak Of World War I the two ships were purchased by Britain as HMS Chester and HMS Birkenhead. The RN was happy with the performance of the gun as it was significantly lighter than the standard 6 inch gun and fired an 82 lb shell rather than the 100 lb shell of the 6 inch weapon. It therefore had a higher rate of fire with little loss in hitting power. The British ordered more guns as secondary armament for HMS Furious and HMS Hood. A total of 81 guns were made and were used on the following ships
- HMS Chester
- HMS Birkenhead
- HMS Furious
- HMS Hood
- HMS Hermes
Guns removed from Chester, Birkenhead and Furious were used to arm Armed Merchant Cruisers
- HMS Laurentic - Armed Merchant cruiser
- HMS Montclare - Armed Merchant cruiser
Read more about this topic: BL 5.5 Inch Mark I Naval Gun
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