The shell case measures 660 mm long and is 152 mm in diameter at the base, and 116 mm in diameter at the neck though this has been buckled and stretched. The shell case appears to have been either constructed without a base, or it has been removed at some point in the past. The diameter of the neck and its overall size point to it being a 4.5-inch or possibly a 4.7-inch shell case. Without the base with the details of type, manufacturer and date of manufacture, the history and origin of this case is not clear. It would have been part of a fixed round, i.e. the shell was attached to the shell case like a large rifle round. The maximum weight of these rounds was around 36 kg (80 lbs), which was the weight considered to be sustainable for loading manually loaded fixed ammunition. The 4.5-inch gun has been the standard medium-gun calibre of the Royal Navy for use against surface, aircraft and shore targets since 1938, and in the case of the 4.7-inch gun since 1916. The history of this shell case is unknown, however, based on the damage it has sustained and the degree of corrosion, it appears that the shell was pried out of it and the base cut off with a lathe at some point in the past, before the remainder was lost or discarded. The shell case measures 660 mm long and is 152 mm in diameter at the base, and 116 mm in diameter at the neck though this has been buckled and stretched. The shell case appears to have been either constructed without a base, or it has been removed at some point in the past. The diameter of the neck and its overall size point to it being a 4.5-inch or possibly a 4.7-inch shell case. Without the base with the details of type, manufacturer and date of manufacture, the history and origin of this case is not clear. It would have been part of a fixed round, i.e. the shell was attached to the shell case like a large rifle round. The maximum weight of these rounds was around 36 kg (80 lbs), which was the weight considered to be sustainable for loading manually loaded fixed ammunition. The 4.5-inch gun has been the standard medium-gun calibre of the Royal Navy for use against surface, aircraft and shore targets since 1938, and in the case of the 4.7-inch gun since 1916. The history of this shell case is unknown, however, based on the damage it has sustained and the degree of corrosion, it appears that the shell was pried out of it and the base cut off with a lathe at some point in the past, before the remainder was lost or discarded. A RDF representation of MAS-F100104 2017-08-23T08:19:22+01:00 2018-05-08T08:41:12+01:00 MAS-F100104 MAS-F100104 GB en-GB The Trustees of the British Museum The Trustees of the British Museum 1 The period from for the object http://purl.org/NET/Claros/vocab#Thumbnail Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum A thumbnail image of MAS-F100104 With finder MAS Created by MAS Mr Trevor Parker Mr Trevor Parker Identified by Mr Trevor Parker V L Identified by V L Incomplete 660. Length 152. Diameter By Attribution 3.0 Yellow metal Primary material of object Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum A full resolution image of MAS-F100104 Classification of object