64-pdr 58 cwt RML, Upper Galleries

Ref: ORD073

Date: 1874

Visible Markings: RGF No. 327 1874 on left trunnion, centre of gravity on right trunnion, VR cypher on second reinforce

Material: Cast Iron

Mounting: Garrison Depression Carriage Mk I

Remarks: The RML 64-pounder 58 cwt guns were British rifled muzzle-loading guns often converted from obsolete smoothbore 32-pounder 58 cwt guns.

Lieutenant-Colonel William Dundas, Inspector of Artillery from 1839 to 1852, designed two new 32-pounders for naval service. A short gun of 6 feet and 25 cwt dated from 1845 and a long gun of 9 ½ feet and 58 cwt developed in 1847 which was officially accepted into service in 1853.

Until this time, the old Blomefield model of 9 ½ feet and 56 cwt had been used. In 1861, an ordnance committee recommended that the Dundas gun replace the Blomefield 32-pounder of 56 cwt in coastal batteries. At the same time, many of the old Blomefield 32-pounders were converted on the Palliser principle to 64-pounders RML guns for the land service. The date of conversion is shown on the left trunnion. Also recorded, although now mostly covered with layers of paint are the initials RGF (Royal Gun Factory) and the serial number, in this case No. 327.

The 64-pounders within the Great Siege tunnels are all Dundas pattern 1847 64-pdr 58 cwt RML MK I each measuring 9 ½ feet in length. Only one variant was ever designed as technological advances in armour-plated vessels soon required even bigger and more powerful weapons for coastal defence.

The last of the 64-pounders became obsolete for coast artillery use in 1902, whereupon most of them were scrapped and disposed of.

The weight markings are normally shown on British guns below the cascabel, by the mid-19th Century it became common for these markings to be inscribed on the first reinforce of the gun. Unfortunately, the weighting number for this gun is no longer visible but would on average have weighed just over 6,600 lbs.