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The 12-pdr rifle was designed in the early 1850s by British manufacturer Joseph Whitworth, who had recently been contracted to improve the Pattern 1853 Enfield.During his experiments with the Enfield, Whitworth was inspired to begin experimenting with a hexagonally-rifled barrel; Whitworth would later apply these principles to his field guns.
Twelve-pound cannon, cannon sized for a 12-pound ball, see Naval artillery in the Age of Sail 12-pounder Whitworth rifle , British rifled breechloader field gun of 1860s Erroneously, the QF 3 inch 20 cwt gun
The Armstrong Whitworth 12-inch naval gun of 40 calibres length was designed by and manufactured mainly by Armstrong's ordnance branch, Elswick Ordnance Company. It was intended for the Royal Navy's Royal Sovereign-class battleships, but budgetary constraints delayed their introduction. The first units were instead supplied to Japan.
The Whitworth rifle was an English-made percussion rifle used in the latter half of the 19th century. A single-shot muzzleloader with excellent long-range accuracy for its era, especially when used with a telescopic sight , the Whitworth rifle was widely regarded as the world's first sniper rifle .
"New pattern" 72-inch barrel and breech The gun incorporated some advanced features for its day. It was one of the first breech-loaders: shell and gunpowder propellant were loaded through the gunner's end of the barrel, rather than through the muzzle as in previous guns, allowing a higher rate of fire.
Whitworth was born in John Street, Stockport, Cheshire, where the Stockport Courthouse is today.The site is marked by a blue plaque on the back wall of the courthouse. He was the son of Charles Whitworth, a teacher and Congregational minister, and at an early age developed an interest in machinery.
Breech-loading firearms are known from the 16th century. Henry VIII possessed one, which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. [5] Meanwhile, in China, an early form of breech-loading musket, known as the Che Dian Chong, was known to have been created in the second half of the 16th century for the Ming dynasty's arsenals. [6]
The gun used polygonal rifling, a principle invented by Whitworth in 1853.The concept was to use the hexagon to impart a very rapid spin to the projectile. The method of manufacturing the rifling was thus described by the Report of the Armstrong & Whitworth Committee of the British War Office (1866):