Gents,
I recently posted this in the large ordnance forum however it is very applicable to this forum. As such I am reposting this. This is my 4” naval gun projectile which took me approximately 7 years to locate. This particular projectile was used on many Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Australian Naval warships in the 30’s and 40’s up until approximately 1970. This piece of ammunition is 42.1 inches (1.07 m) long and weighs approximately 57.75 pounds and with the piece filled weighs 66.75 pounds (30.28 kg). The weight of just the projectile itself is 35 pounds (16 kg).
The projectile was purchased at a local surplus store approximately 7 years ago and the shell casing was purchased through an Antique arms dealer (very reputable dealer) in the southern U.S. approximately 2 years ago, and only after approximately 5 years of searching. The dealer stated that in his 20 plus years of dealing, he had never run across a shell casing like this as they are extremely rare and only a few known to exist on decommissioned WW2 warships, one being the HMCS Haida which is located in Ontario Canada. As far as I am aware, I currently own the only piece in a private collection in North America. As such, this is an extremely rare piece of WW2 and post war history.
I am not to sure of the actual colour scheme on this projectile is correct however I did repaint it according to the 1940s RN Naval Ordnance Manual. The driving band was missing so I fabricated a new one from pictures. The markings are all original and stamped directly into the projectile and casing as was the norm.
Some of the markings on the projectile and casing indicate the following:
Projectile Upper :
S.E. - unknown
10585 YS - unknown
4 - unknown
Projectile Lower:
4in 35LB N2FA - 35lbs is the weight of the projectile, N2FA is Naval mk2 Fixed Ammunition ie it was crimped in a case
@ 2/56 47 FS - date of manufacture ie FEB. 1956, FS indicating that the projectile is manufactured from forged steel
Bottom of Casing:
Lot 262
Mks XVI & XVI* GUNS
II
DB/C
1943
LOT 262
_90B55218_5E06_402C_93B2_CEBEECAFBA82.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
I recently posted this in the large ordnance forum however it is very applicable to this forum. As such I am reposting this. This is my 4” naval gun projectile which took me approximately 7 years to locate. This particular projectile was used on many Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Australian Naval warships in the 30’s and 40’s up until approximately 1970. This piece of ammunition is 42.1 inches (1.07 m) long and weighs approximately 57.75 pounds and with the piece filled weighs 66.75 pounds (30.28 kg). The weight of just the projectile itself is 35 pounds (16 kg).
The projectile was purchased at a local surplus store approximately 7 years ago and the shell casing was purchased through an Antique arms dealer (very reputable dealer) in the southern U.S. approximately 2 years ago, and only after approximately 5 years of searching. The dealer stated that in his 20 plus years of dealing, he had never run across a shell casing like this as they are extremely rare and only a few known to exist on decommissioned WW2 warships, one being the HMCS Haida which is located in Ontario Canada. As far as I am aware, I currently own the only piece in a private collection in North America. As such, this is an extremely rare piece of WW2 and post war history.
I am not to sure of the actual colour scheme on this projectile is correct however I did repaint it according to the 1940s RN Naval Ordnance Manual. The driving band was missing so I fabricated a new one from pictures. The markings are all original and stamped directly into the projectile and casing as was the norm.
Some of the markings on the projectile and casing indicate the following:
Projectile Upper :
S.E. - unknown
10585 YS - unknown
4 - unknown
Projectile Lower:
4in 35LB N2FA - 35lbs is the weight of the projectile, N2FA is Naval mk2 Fixed Ammunition ie it was crimped in a case
@ 2/56 47 FS - date of manufacture ie FEB. 1956, FS indicating that the projectile is manufactured from forged steel
Bottom of Casing:
Lot 262
Mks XVI & XVI* GUNS
II
DB/C
1943
LOT 262