Ordnance ML 4.2-inch mortar

Ordnance ML 4.2-inch mortar on a bow of Fairmile H LCS(L)(2)

Description

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Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Fairmile H LCS(L)(2)

General info

The weapon will always fire at a range of 1 km, with a dispersion of ~30 meters forwards/backward and ~60 meters to the sides. This might be caused by the boat rocking on the waves rather than being inherent to the weapon.

The depth charge takes about 15 seconds to reach the target. It makes a small splash when it enters the water, and it detonates about one second later, creating a bigger splash. The damage is low - it requires about 10 hits on target to sink an S-38b in a test sail, and that is a stationary target, so you should not expect the same accuracy in combat. The mortar may have some utility when forcing enemies out of cover behind ships on capture zones, or confusing them with an artillery bombardment.

Effective damage

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Mortar bomb launched by the ML 4.2-inch mortar

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

Pros:

• Yeets 2 kg of explosives packed in a depth charge

Cons:

• Has to be manually aimed and fired
• No user interface elements assisting in aiming the mortar, regardless of the mode
• Fixed firing range of 1 km
• Weapon, being a depth charge mortar, makes it extremely difficult to gauge whether the hit was close to the target, or completely off the mark, as there is no splash indicator

History

The British Army remained wedded to the Stokes Mortar design after World War I even when other nations were adopting more modern Brandt Mortar designs in the 1930s. As such, most British Mortars during World War II were still based on the Stokes design including their heavy mortar the Ordnance ML 4.2-inch Mortar. Entering service at the end of 1941, the ML 4.2-inch is a towed mortar design often carried on a trailer by a Loyd Carrier and had a six-man crew. Assigned to the Royal Engineers chemical warfare companies, the ML 4.2-inch first entered combat during the Second Battle of El-Alamein in late 1942. The Australian 24^th Infantry Brigade’s 66^th Mortar Company used these mortars so intensively to protect the infantry, they expended all the 4.2-inch mortar rounds in the North African Theatre.

In 1943, the chemical weapons companies were disbanded, and the ML 4.2-inch mortars were shipped to heavy mortar companies attached to the infantry machine gun battalions. The companies had 16 mortars and were divided into four platoons 4 mortars each. Later the Commonwealth forces in Italy found they had more mortars than they needed for their machine gun battalions usually replacing batteries in divisional anti-tank regiments. In comparison to the forces in Europe and North Africa, the Commonwealth armies in the Pacific Theatre were slower to receive these weapons. The Australians in the South West Pacific Theatre got the Ordnance ML 4.2-inch Mortar before the forces serving in Burma (present-day Myanmar).

After the war, the Royal Engineers who previously used the mortars transferred the 4.2-inch to the Royal Artillery. They were notably used by British forces during the Korean War. The 170^th Mortar Battery during the Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951 along the DMZ. British Airborne forces would also use the mortars in Kuwait in 1961 when the nation became independent from the U.K. in 1961. The British would also man these mortars during the Confrontation of Borneo in 1965 when Indonesia engaged in an armed conflict to prevent the creation of Malaysia. In 1966, the Ordnance ML 4.2-inch Mortar was retired from the British Army.

Media

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See also

• Mk.6 mortar depth charge
• 7.2 in T37
• Mk 2 mortar

External links

• [Wikipedia] ML 4.2-inch mortar

Naval special armaments
USA
Mortars	7.2-inch T37 · Mk 2
Rockets	5-inch GPSR Mk.7 · Mark 108 Weapon alfa
Missiles	RIM-24A
Germany
Rockets	M/50 Bofors
Missiles	Strela-2M
USSR
Mortars	BM-37 · RBM · RBU-1200 · RBU-2500 · RBU-6000 · RKU-36U
Rockets	BM-14-17 · BM-21 · M13 · M-8
Missiles	Volna-M
Britain
Mortars	Ordnance ML 4.2-inch mortar
Japan
Rockets	4.5-inch BBR Mk.7 (USA) · Mark 108 Weapon alfa (USA)
Italy
Missiles	Nettuno
France
Missiles	SS.11