´óÏó´«Ã½

17.72in RML 100-ton gun gas check

Contributed by Paul R Syms

17.72in RML 100-ton gun gas check

This is a gas check - the driving band behind a shell - of a 17.72in (450mm) 100-ton coast defence gun from near Valetta, Malta. It was collected by my great-grandfather, Charles Valder (1860-1925), when he was a junior officer in the Royal Garrison Artillery, stationed with a coastal battery in Malta. The gun was one of four made Elswick in the 1880s for the British Army: two were emplaced in Malta, two in Gibraltar. This was the largest rifled muzzle-loading (RML) gun ever made, firing a 910kg shell - the Exocet of its day!

My grandmother, Charles Valder's daughter Isabella, told me that it was the result of a misfire during a practice shoot in the mid-1890s, when the family was stationed in Malta. (Normally, the gas check would have left the barrel with the shell.) They had it mounted as a dinner gong - and at 25lbs of copper it had an impressive ring. The mount made for it has long since disintegrated from woodworm. I saved it from being sold for scrap in 1970, when we turned out my grandparents' house in Sussex. I think it's probably one of the few pieces of this ammunition left in the world - they didn't have one in the 100-ton gun museum in Gibraltar when I visited.

Comments are closed for this object

Share this link:

Most of the content on A History of the World is created by the contributors, who are the museums and members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ or the British Museum. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site’s House Rules please Flag This Object.

About this object

Click a button to explore other objects in the timeline

Location

Elswick Ordnance Works

Culture
Period

Mid 1890s

Theme
Size
H:
4.5cm
W:
45cm
D:
45cm
Colour
Material

View more objects from people in Kent.

Find out more

Podcast

´óÏó´«Ã½ iD

´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation

´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.