Mystery of the First Russian Rifle Naval Guns

Voennyi Sbornik, 2015, Vol.(9), Is. 3In 1859 France completed the first ocean-going ironclad warship, «La Gloire», and changed the definition of naval power completely. Russia, as all the other Powers, found that her most powerful naval gun, the 60-pdr, was insufficient for modern warfare, and realized the future naval armament relied on heavy rifled artillery. Both the Army and Navy began purchasing such cannon from foreign providers until a suitable domestic weapon could be produced. The relationship between the Russian military and Krupp is well known. But there was another provided, the Blakely Ordnance Company in England sold many guns to the Army and Navy, beginning with 8-inch MLR in early 1863 to a large number of 9- and 11-inch guns. Deliveries began in November 1863 and continued until mid-1866. But no sources on the armament of Russian ships and fortresses mentions these guns. What happened to them is a mystery.