QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt

Infobox Weapon


caption=48 calibres version at Gyltö, western archipelago of Finland, 1999. Photo by Ove Enqvist
name=QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt
target=general
origin=UK
is_artillery=yes
is_UK=yes
is_ranged=yes
used_by=Many countries
wars=
designer=
design_date=1885
manufacturer=Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company
Maxim-Nordenfelt
prod_date=
type=Naval gun
Coast defence gun
date=
service=1885 - 19??
caliber=convert|57|mm|in|sing=on|sigfig=4
part_length=
carriage=
breech=Vertical sliding block with locking wedge
rate=
velocity=convert|1818|ft/s|m/sHogg & Thurston 1972, Page 39 quote 7,500 yards with muzzle velocity 1773 ft/sec, for the British 42-calibres model in 1914 using 7.75 oz cordite Mk 1 propellant. The Victorian Navy manual of 1895 quotes a muzzle velocity of 1,818 ft/sec using a 1 lb 15 oz gunpowder charge, but maximum range of only 5000 yards. Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Page 337 quotes m.v. of 1818 ft/sec and maximum range 4500 yards. 5600 metres is quoted for the 48 calibres model at Krepost Sveaborg, Helsinki.]
cartridge=Fixed QF convert|6|lb|abbr=on
max_range=4500-6000 yards
recoil=
weight=
length=
crew=
number=
elevation=
traverse=The QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt was a light 57-mm naval gun and coast defence gun of the late 1800s used by many countries.

Note that this gun should not be confused with the short-barreled 57-mm Cockerill-Nordenfelt "Canon de caponnière" or fortification gun, which was used to arm the German A7V tank in World War I.

United Kingdom

The UK adopted a 42-calibres (i.e. 95 inch bore) version as Ordnance QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt Mk I, Mk II, Mk III.

United Kingdom Naval service

They were originally mounted from 1885 onwards for use against the new (steam-driven) torpedo boats which started to enter service in the late 1870s. The Nordenfelt gun was adopted at the same time as the very similar QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss, but the Navy was not satisfied with the special Nordenfelt ammunition and fuzes. Following the explosion in 1900 of an ammunition ship due to defective fuses, Britain replaced Nordenfelt fuzes with the Hotchkiss design. Nordenfelt guns were phased out in favour of the Hotchkiss and were declared obsolete by 1919. [Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 36]

Ammunition

Diagrams showing the proprietary Nordenfelt ammunition designs :

urviving examples

ee also

*List of artillery#Naval_guns

Notes

References

* [http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/u?/p4013coll11,230 Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE]
*I.V. Hogg and L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.

External links

* [http://www.cerberus.com.au/manuals_printing.html Victorian Naval Forces manuals 1890 & 1895. Includes QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt details. From Friends of the Cerberus website]