BL 15-inch Mk I naval gun
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The BL 15-inch Mark I succeeded the BL 13.5-inch Mk V naval gun. It was the first British 15-inch (380 mm) gun design and the most widely used and longest lasting of any British designs, and arguably the most successful heavy gun ever developed by the Royal Navy. It was deployed on capital ships from 1915 until 1959 and was a key Royal Navy gun in both World Wars.
As mounted on monitor HMS Terror, 1915
BL 15-inch Mk I naval guns firing, interwar view of a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship - the right-hand gun in each turret has just fired and the degree of recoil is evident
Forward BL 15-inch Mark I (N) mounts of the battlecruiser HMS Renown c. 1945
'X' turret (Mk II mount) of HMS Hood, trained forward to port – 1926
BL 13.5-inch Mk V naval gun
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The BL 13.5 inch Mk V gun was a British heavy naval gun, introduced in 1912 as the main armament for the new super-dreadnought battleships of the Orion class. The calibre was 13.5 inches (343 mm) and the barrels were 45 calibres long i.e. 607.5 inches. The guns were greatly superior to the unrelated earlier 13.5-inch (30-calibre) Mk I to Mk IV guns used on the Admiral, Trafalgar and Royal Sovereign classes completed between 1888 and 1896.
Rear turrets of HMS Thunderer
Q turret of the battlecruiser HMS Lion in June 1916 after damage at the Battle of Jutland. The turret mounted two 13.5-inch (343 mm) Mark V guns.