Naval Systems

114 mm Vickers Mark 6

Also known as
  • QF 4.5-inch Mk V naval gun
  • 4.5-inch Mark 6 gun mounting
  • 4.5-inch Mk 6
  • 4.5 in Mark V gun in Mark VI twin mounting
  • 4.5-inch Mk V
  • QF 4.5-inch Mark V
  • 4.5-inch/45 QF Mark V
  • 4.5"/45 QF Mark V
  • 4.5-inch Mark VI mounting
  • RP 41 Mark VI
  • Vickers Mk 6 naval gun

The 114 mm Vickers Mark 6 was the postwar designation for the QF 4.5-inch Mark V gun carried in the Mark VI twin mounting, a British dual-purpose naval turret built around high-angle fire, remote power control, and rapid surface, air, and shore engagement. It entered service in 1947, equipped British and Commonwealth destroyers and frigates, and remained relevant in the 1982 Falklands War as Royal Navy escorts used 4.5-inch naval gunfire for shore support and surface engagements.

114 mm Vickers Mark 6, Dual-purpose naval gun turret, Naval Systems
Image source: Commons Mark 5 gun on twin Mark 6 mounting image

Role in Conflicts

1982 Falklands War
Fire Support
Side
United Kingdom

Royal Navy HMS Plymouth carried the Mark 6-era 4.5-inch gun family during the Falklands campaign and used 4.5-inch naval gunfire in shore-support missions, including the Fox Bay mission and broader operations ashore.

Profile / Specs

Profile

Origin
United Kingdom
Type
Dual-purpose naval gun turret
Service note
Early Cold War naval service with later Falklands War use
Designer
United Kingdom
Designed
1944
Produced
1946-1960s
Number built
About 300 guns

Specifications

Caliber
4.5 in nominal; actual bore 4.45 in / 11.3 cm
Gun
QF 4.5-inch/45 Mark V in Mark VI twin mounting
Mounting
RP 41 Mark VI twin turret
Entered Service
1947
Gun Weight
6,304 lb / 2,859 kg including breech mechanism
Mount Weight
98,560 lb / 44,706 kg
Barrel Length
202 in / 5.131 m
Ammunition
Separate-loading 55 lb HE, SAP, and AA projectiles
Muzzle Velocity
2,449 ft/s / 746 m/s new gun
Rate Of Fire
Designed 24 rpm power-loaded; 12-14 rpm service hand-loaded; 18 rpm burst hand-loaded
Range
20,750 yd / 18,970 m at 45 degrees; AA ceiling 41,000 ft / 12,500 m
Elevation
-15 to +80 degrees
Train
About +150 to -150 degrees
Elevation And Train Rate
25 degrees per second
Feed
Two shell hoists per gun for AA and HE/SAP plus one cartridge hoist
Carrier Classes

The Mark 6 designation belongs to a gun-and-mount combination rather than a single-ship weapon. NavWeaps lists the QF Mark V gun in RP 41 Mark VI twin mountings on British Daring, County, Leander, Whitby, Rothesay, Leopard, and Salisbury classes, with Australian River and Daring classes and Dutch Van Speijk and Chilean Condell export fits.

Royal Navy fits

Daring, County, Leander, Whitby, Rothesay, Leopard, and Salisbury classes.

Commonwealth and export fits

Australian Modified Battle, Daring, and River destroyer escorts; Dutch Van Speijk frigates; Chilean Condell-class frigates.

Preserved example

The Australian National Maritime Museum describes HMAS Vampire as a Daring-class destroyer retaining three twin 4.5-inch Mark 6 gun mountings.

Successor context

The 45-calibre 4.5-inch family ended with the Mark V gun / Mark 6 mounting and was replaced by the unrelated 55-calibre 114 mm Vickers Mark 8 generation.

Sources: NavWeaps 4.5-inch Mark V; Australian National Maritime Museum HMAS Vampire; WeaponSystems.net 114mm Vickers Mark 8.

Variants

British nomenclature shifted in the 1950s from gun marks to mounting-based designations, so the QF 4.5-inch Mark V gun in a Mark VI twin mounting became known as the 4.5-inch Mark 6 gun mounting.

VariantConfigurationDesignation notes
QF 4.5-inch Mark VGun component

The 45-calibre gun used in the Mark VI twin mounting; designed for high elevation, remote power control, and higher firing rate than earlier destroyer weapons.

Sources: NavWeaps 4.5-inch Mark V

RP 41 Mark VITwin turret mounting

The service twin mounting behind the Mark 6 designation, fitted to Daring, County, Leander, Whitby, Rothesay, Salisbury, Leopard, Australian River, Van Speijk, and Condell classes.

Sources: NavWeaps 4.5-inch Mark V

RP 41 Mark VIIUnbuilt carrier mounting

A planned mounting for Malta-class aircraft carriers that would have used the same Mark V gun barrel as the Mark 6 mounting, but it was not produced.

Sources: NavWeaps 4.5-inch Mark V

Timeline

114 mm Vickers Mark 6 Key Events

  1. Design date recorded

    NavWeaps lists 1944 as the design date for the QF 4.5-inch Mark V / Mark 6 family.

    Sources: NavWeaps 4.5-inch Mark V

  2. Entered service

    The gun entered service in 1947, initially on Australian Modified Battle-class destroyers before British Daring-class use.

    Sources: NavWeaps 4.5-inch Mark V, WeaponSystems.net 114mm Vickers Mark 6

  3. Mounting designation becomes Mark 6

    British nomenclature shifted from gun-based Roman-numeral marks to mounting-based Arabic-numeral designations, making the Mark V gun in Mark VI mounting the Mark 6 mounting.

    Sources: NavWeaps 4.5-inch Mark V

  4. Falklands War gunfire support

    Royal Navy escorts used 4.5-inch naval gunfire during the Falklands campaign; HMS Plymouth accounts record 909 4.5-inch shells fired, including naval gunfire support around Fox Bay.

    Sources: RNWA HMS Plymouth Falklands account, Royal Marines History Fox Bay NGS, Paget Falklands Naval Gunfire Support

Media

114 mm Vickers Mark 6 Images

114 mm Vickers Mark 6, Dual-purpose naval gun turret, Naval Systems - view 1
Source: Chilean frigate Almirante Condell fires guns in 1999
114 mm Vickers Mark 6, Dual-purpose naval gun turret, Naval Systems - view 2
Source: HMAS Vampire 4.5 inch guns
Related Weapon Systems
114 mm Vickers Mark 8, Single-barrel dual-purpose naval gun, Naval SystemsNaval Systems114 mm Vickers Mark 8Single-barrel dual-purpose naval gunThe 114 mm Vickers Mark 8 is the Royal Navy's post-1970s single-barrel 4.5-inch naval gun, replacing the heavier Mark 6 twin mounting with a 55-calibre automatic system for surface fire, naval gunfire support, and limited air or force-protection roles. It served on Type 21, Type 22, Type 23, Type 42, Type 45, and export warships, with Falklands War use followed by later Mod 1 low-observable gunhouse upgrades and 2011 Libya combat firings by Royal Navy ships.
140mm BL 5.5-inch gun, Towed medium gun-howitzer, ArtilleryArtillery140mm BL 5.5-inch gunTowed medium gun-howitzerThe 140mm BL 5.5-inch gun was a British towed medium artillery piece built around a split-trail carriage, separate-loading ammunition, and a 10-person detachment. British units received the gun in 1941, Australian War Memorial and Royal Artillery sources place its first operational service in May 1942, and the type served with British and Commonwealth forces in North Africa, Italy, and northwest Europe before later South African G2 use in the Border War.

Sources

NavWeaps 4.5-inch Mark VPublisher: NavWeaps | Note: Supports designation, Mark V/Mark 6 nomenclature, design and service dates, bore, gun and mount specifications, rate of fire, ammunition, feed system, ship-class fit, image captions, and direct 1982 Falklands War service context for this gun family. | Accessed: 2026-07-13WeaponSystems.net 114mm Vickers Mark 6Publisher: WeaponSystems.net | Note: Supports common name, UK origin, naval-gun type, Vickers producer attribution, production period, number produced, service entry, rate of fire, range, feed, and mount facts. | Accessed: 2026-07-13RNWA HMS Plymouth Falklands accountPublisher: Royal Naval Writers' Association | Note: Supports 1982 Falklands War direct-use context by recording HMS Plymouth's 4.5-inch shells fired mainly in support of military operations ashore. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Royal Marines History Fox Bay NGSPublisher: Royal Marines History | Note: Supports 1982 Falklands War direct-use context by describing HMS Plymouth inserting 148 Battery naval-gunfire observers, taking station on the gun line, shelling Argentine positions around Fox Bay, and firing 909 4.5-inch shells during the war. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Paget Falklands Naval Gunfire SupportPublisher: University of Portsmouth / War in History post-print | Note: Supports the Falklands War naval-gunfire-support context, including Royal Navy reliance on 4.5-inch guns during Operation Corporate. | Accessed: 2026-07-13WeaponSystems.net 114mm Vickers Mark 8Publisher: WeaponSystems.net | Note: Supports successor context by describing the 114 mm Vickers Mark 8 as the successor to the larger Mark 6 twin mounting. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Australian National Maritime Museum HMAS VampirePublisher: Australian National Maritime Museum | Note: Supports preserved-carrier context by identifying HMAS Vampire as a Daring-class destroyer with three twin 4.5-inch Mark 6 gun mountings still in place. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Commons Mark 5 gun on twin Mark 6 mounting imagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a QF 4.5-inch Mark 5 gun on twin Mark 6 mounting at Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower under CC BY-SA 4.0 terms. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Chilean frigate Almirante Condell fires guns in 1999Publisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports public-domain U.S. Navy image provenance for Almirante Condell firing its forward mount guns during Exercise Teamwork South 1999. | Accessed: 2026-07-13HMAS Vampire 4.5 inch gunsPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for HMAS Vampire's 4.5-inch guns under CC BY-SA 2.0 terms. | Accessed: 2026-07-13