Ordnance ML 4.2 inch Mortar

Ordnance SB 4.2 inch Mortar
Ordnance ML 4.2 inch Mortar on mobile baseplate
Type	Mortar
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1942-
Used by	United Kingdom Australia
Wars	Second World War Korean War Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Production history
Number built	about 3,800^[1]
Specifications
Weight	Barrel: Mk 2 92 lbs Tripod & mounting: 112 lbs Base plate: No 2 baseplate 120 lbs, with auxiliary baseplate fitted 318 lbs, mobile baseplate 602 lbs
Barrel length	Mk 1 64 inches, Mk 2 68 inches

Calibre	4.2 inch (106.7 mm)^[2]^[3]
Elevation	45° - 80°
Traverse	10°
Rate of fire	20 rounds for 1 minute, 15 for 3 minutes, 10 for sustained fire
Maximum firing range	4,100 yards (3,750 m)

The Ordnance ML 4.2 inch Mortar was a heavy mortar used by the British Army during World War II, and by other armies postwar.

History

The 4.2 inch mortar was a Smooth Bore (SB) weapon of the Stokes pattern and was designed by the Armaments Research and Development Establishment and produced by the Royal Ordnance Factories.^[4] It entered British service in 1942, where it was used to equip Royal Engineer chemical warfare companies. The Mark 3 became the standard model. The first combat use was at El Alamein, which expended all the HE ammunition in the theatre.

Around mid-1943, the Royal Engineer chemical warfare companies were disbanded and one heavy mortar company of each infantry division machine-gun battalion was equipped with the mortar. This company was organized with sixteen 4.2-inch Mortars, in four platoons of four mortars each. In early 1944, divisions in Italy also held a pool of mortars for issue to other units as required, usually troops in the divisional anti-tank regiment, some regiments even converted one or more batteries to mortars. The mortars were somewhat slower in reaching the far east, although the Australian forces in the South West Pacific had them before troops fighting in Burma did.

Postwar

After World War II, the mortars were handed over to the Royal Artillery, the 170th Mortar Battery used them at the Battle of Imjin River in Korea. They were used during the 1950s, also by airborne artillery, deployed to Kuwait in 1961 and manned by soldiers from air defence batteries during the Confrontation in Borneo in 1965.

Description

The 4.2-inch Mortar entered production at the end of 1941 with a standard baseplate and tripod. The normal detachment was six men and it was transported with ammunition in a 10 cwt trailer, usually towed behind a Loyd Carrier. There was also an auxiliary baseplate that fitted around it, to increase its area for use on softer ground. Later an integrated trailer/baseplate was developed, called the Mk 1 Mobile Baseplate. The wheels, which were on suspension arms, were unlocked and raised for firing; the Mk1/1 had detachable wheels and the barrel with tripod attached, was stowed on top for towing. The mobile baseplate trailer mounting could be brought into action by 2 men.^[5] Regarding rate of fire, one source reports a crew putting 23 bombs in the air before the first impacted.^[6]

Ammunition

Both HE (9.1 kg) and smoke (10.2 kg) ammunition was used. Smoke include WP and Base Ejection, and in World War II other types for practice.

Two charges were available. In World War II, both streamlined and cylindrical bombs were available.

Users

World War II

Postwar

Gallery

Notes

↑ British Mortars of the Second World War
↑ Brassey’s p. 92
↑ Maintenance Manual for ML 2-inch, ML 3-inch and SB 4.2-inch Mortar
↑ Pugh p. 76
↑ Pugh p. 76
↑ Fendick

References

Pugh, Stevenson (1962). Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of the Modern British Army (First ed.). London: Macdonald.
Bidwell, Shelford (1977). Artillery of the World (First ed.). London: Brassey’s. ISBN 0-904609-04-9.
Horner, David (1995). The Gunners - A History of Australian Artillery (First ed.). St Leonards: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86373-917-3.
Maintenance Manual for ML 2-inch, ML 3-inch and SB 4.2-inch Mortars
Bishop, Chris. The Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII.
Fendick, Rex F. Diary of a CANLOAN Officer (with the Middlesex Regt in NW Europe 1944-5) (self-published ed.). Saint John, NB.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ordnance ML 4.2 inch Mortar.

"British Mortars of the Second World War". WWIIEquipment.

British Commonwealth small arms of World War II and Korea

Side-arms	Webley Mk IV & Mk VI Revolvers Enfield No. 2 Mk I Revolver Browning P-35 "High Power" Pistol M1911/M1911A1 pistol Smith & Wesson "Victory" Revolver Welrod

Rifles & submachine guns	SMLE No.1 Mk III* & Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk.I Pattern 1914 Enfield Lee-Enfield No.5 Mk.I "Jungle Carbine" Ross Rifle Mk.III De Lisle Commando Carbine Sten Lanchester Sterling Austen Kokoda Owen Gun Welgun M1921/M1928/M1 Thompson

Machine-guns & other larger weapons	Besa machine gun Bren Gun Charlton Automatic Rifle Lewis Gun Vickers MG PIAT Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55 in, Boys 29 mm Spigot Mortar "Blacker Bombard" SBML 2inch Mortar Projector, 2½-inch Mk. II "Northover" ML 3-inch Mortar ML 4.2 inch Mortar 3-inch Mk. I OSB Gun "Smith Gun" No.2 "Lifebuoy" Flamethrower

Grenades	British grenades of WWI and WW2 Mills Bomb

Small arms cartridges	.303 British 9mm Parabellum .45 ACP .455 Webley .38/200 .38 Special .50 BMG .55 Boys 15×104 mm Brno

Weapons of the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations 1722–1965

Handguns	Beaumont–Adams revolver Enfield revolver Webley revolver Mk. I–VI Enfield No. 2 revolver Browning Hi-Power

Rifles and carbines	Brown Bess musket Ferguson rifle Nock gun Baker rifle Brunswick rifle Enfield 1853 Rifled Musket Snider–Enfield Martini–Henry Martini–Enfield Lee–Metford Lee–Enfield Ross rifle Lee–Enfield No.5 Mk.I "Jungle Carbine" Howell Automatic Rifle Huot Automatic Rifle Reider Automatic Rifle De Lisle Commando Carbine L1A1 SLR

Submachine guns	Lanchester Sten Owen gun Sterling L2 F1 submachine gun Thompson submachine gun

Rapid-fire weapons	Bira gun Nordenfelt gun Gatling gun Gardner gun Maxim gun QF 2 pdr "Pom-Pom" Vickers Gun Lewis Gun Vickers–Berthier Vickers K machine gun Charlton Automatic Rifle Besa Besal Bren gun

Anti-tank weapons	Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55 in, Boys PIAT 2 pdr Anti-Tank Gun 6 pdr Anti-Tank Gun 17 pdr Anti-Tank Gun L6 Wombat

Field guns and other weapons	25 pdr Field Gun Congreve rocket SBML 2-inch Mortar Ordnance ML 3 inch Mortar No.2 "Lifebuoy" Flamethrower Stokes Mortar OTO Melara Mod 56

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