The Tiger class Mark 26 six-inch mounting

The Mark 26's 17-round-per-minute ambition demanded heavy ammunition flows, layered shell rooms, and substantial rotating machinery. Designed in 1944, suspended, resumed in 1948, and entering service in 1959, the mounting followed a long interrupted development path. Separate feeds supplied high- and low-angle shells, while powered rammers could load at any elevation. The related triple Mark 25 was intended for the Neptune-class cruisers, while twin versions were planned for the Minotaur and Tiger classes. Tiger, Blake, and Lion also tested different combinations of hydraulic and electric control, showing that the mounting remained a live engineering comparison rather than one settled arrangement. The mounting could discharge roughly two tons of shells in a minute and theoretically exhaust the ship's ammunition quickly. Development delays, unreliable operation, and the need to spray overheated barrels manually show the gap between impressive specifications and dependable sustained fire.