Somerset cannon
Script error: No such module "Unsubst".Template:Template other The Somerset cannon was a British cannon designed within the Admiralty and manufactured by Armstrong's.
Its genesis was the unexpected failure of the Armstrong breech-loading rifles recently developed and installed on Royal Navy ships. The Somerset was a 6.5 ton Script error: No such module "convert". calibre smoothbore muzzle-loader, firing a Script error: No such module "convert". shot. With a charge of Script error: No such module "convert". of gunpowder, a steel shot could penetrate Script error: No such module "convert". of armour at Script error: No such module "convert"..
Providing a mounting which could reliably be worked at sea proved difficult for a piece of this size. Traditional truck carriages were inadequate; historical research revealed that a carriage which was suitable had been suggested by Captain Sir Thomas Hardy (Nelson's Flag Captain) many years before. In this system the gun-carriage remained stationary, and the recoil of the gun was absorbed by a system of sliding friction blocks attached to the carriage and to the gun.
The gun was issued for service, and was mounted in HM Ships Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"., Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"., Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". and Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"., but its performance was so poor, largely due to difficulties in controlling the gun, that it was withdrawn from service.