Ordinance Identification

[Flying10uk]

Does anyone know anything about US Naval artillery? I believe that they use/used shells of 6" or roundabout 6" for the main armament on some of their warships too which could be another possibility?

[CINDERS]

I looked at the BL 6" on the British Naval Cruisers and they looked nothing like the G profile of that particular projectile, a further point is the OP does not state where the 152.4mm measurement was taken the body or the driving band I found these but again the profile is wrong I have not tried the Russian side of things besides we have not got a YOM of it.

[Biggunsarebetter]

Cinders, are you able to explain how the shell can be for a 155mm gun when it only measures up as 152.4mm in diameter? To quote a precise dimension such as this (152.4mm) I assume that Biggunsarebetter has measured the shell accurately with vernier callipers or a micrometer, unless he has extremely good eyesight. I recognised the figure of 152.4mm as equating to 6" as soon as I read it but it is easy to check/convert by dividing 152.4 by 25.4 which gives 6 in this example.

The reason that I suggested naval is because it was a commonly used calibre of gun used on cruisers of the Royal Navy and Commonwealth navies during WW2 and beyond. A good example of this is HMS Belfast, now a museum ship, which was originally part of the "Town class" of cruisers and their main armaments consisted of 12X 6" guns mounted in 4 triple turrets. After hitting a magnetic mine in 1939 and nearly being lost, HMS Belfast was substantially rebuilt into a class of her own (improved), featuring many alterations and improvements but still retaining her main armament of 12X 6" guns that she has to this day.

Thank you for your reply. I did measure it with calipers. There are no markings nor stamping so on the shell. I'm going to study the HMS Belfast now. I love this stuff!

[Merle]

Does anyone know anything about US Naval artillery? I believe that they use/used shells of 6" or roundabout 6" for the main armament on some of their warships too which could be another possibility?

Yes, the CL (light cruisers) used 6" guns, mostly in triple turrets that resembled battleship configuration.

[Flying10uk]

Thank you for your reply. I did measure it with calipers. There are no markings nor stamping so on the shell. I'm going to study the HMS Belfast now. I love this stuff!

One of her sister ships, HMS Edinburgh, was sunk during WW2 while transporting Russian gold which was later salvaged in more recent times. I have personally seen the ship's bell from HMS Edinburgh which now resides in the Scottish War museum, Edinburgh Castle. The bell shows some signs of "battle damage" which I assume was caused during the loss of the ship and while looking at it, it made me think of the losses at sea on the Russian convoys; a reality of war.
Link to photo of the bell: https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....179#post413179

I looked at the BL 6" on the British Naval Cruisers and they looked nothing like the G profile of that particular projectile, a further point is the OP does not state where the 152.4mm measurement was taken the body or the driving band I found these but again the profile is wrong

If the shell accurately measures up as 6" or 152.4mm, if you prefer, then surely it has to be a 6" shell. I don't see how it can somehow morph into something larger such as a 155mm shell. A 6" British naval shell is just a suggestion because it was commonly used but it could equally well be a U.S. naval shell or it could be a shell for field artillery.

If someone is able to explain why a shell that measures 6"/152.4mm in diameter is in reality something bigger, please, would they give an explanation here.

[browningautorifle]

I don't see how it can somehow morph into something larger such as a 155mm shell.

Nope, we were still working out had it been measured and with what...but I don't think it's metric, it would be inch.

[old tanker]

Here is an excerpt from TM9-1000-202-14 "Evaluation of Cannon Tubes" A new 155 mm howitzer tube measures 6.100 inches.



If you have need to inspect 120 mm, 155 mm and 8 inch gun tubes, you're in luck...

Ebay: Cannon Tube Pullover Gage

[Flying10uk]

So if we take the 6.1" diameter dimension and convert it back into a metric size by multiplying by 25.4, this time, (6.1 X 25.4) it gives 154.94mm diameter.

[Sunray]

An ordinance is a U.S. law. What you have is ordnance.
"...6" across..." Indicates a 6" gun.
"...how the shell can be for a 155mm gun when..." A 155mm gun's diameter is 6.1". Like rifle cartridges, projectile diameter doesn't always have to do with nomenclature. A 6" naval gun's diameter is 152mm. And the projectile weighs over 100 pounds. Whereas a 155mm howitzer's projectile weighs 90 to 100 pounds. The filler(may or may not be explosives) runs less than 20 pounds.

[browningautorifle]

It sure looks like the 155mm I had...