QF 13 pounder Mk IV AA gun

Infobox Weapon
name=QF 13 pounder Mk IV anti-aircraft gun


caption=Salonika, summer 1916
origin=UK
type=anti-aircraft gun
is_ranged=yes
is_artillery=yes
is_UK=yes
service=1915 - 1918
used_by=British Empire
wars=World War I
designer=Elswick Ordnance Company
design_date=
manufacturer=Elswick Ordnance Company
unit_cost=
production_date=1914
number=6
variants=
weight=
length=
part_length=Bore convert|65.92|in|m|sigfig=4; Total convert|70.26|in|m|sigfig=4
width=
height=
crew=
caliber= convert|3|in|sigfig=3|sing=on
cartridge= convert|12.5|lb|kg|sigfig=3 Shrapnel; later HE
action=
rate=
velocity=approx. convert|1600|ft/s|m/s|sigfig=3
range=
max_range=
feed=
sights=
breech=Nordenfeldt screw
recoil=hydro-spring
carriage=high-angle mounting on lorry
elevation=0° - 85°Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 63]
traverse=360°The Ordnance QF 13 pounder Mk IV anti-aircraft gun was an Elswick Ordnance commercial 3 inch 13 pounder gun of which 6 were supplied during World War I. It is unrelated to other British Mks of 13 pounder.

History

Elswick Ordnance had already developed the gun as a commercial venture and supplied the existing 6 guns to the British government in 1915 when the need for anti-aircraft guns became urgent.Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 62] All 6 were eventually sent to the Western Front and then various other theatres. Precise theatres of service are difficult to ascertain due to writers often not differentiating between various Mks of 13 pounder guns.

It is visibly identified by having 2 recoil/recuperator cylinders above the barrel. The cylinder immediately above the barrel is slightly shorter than the barrel, and the top cylinder is about the same length as the barrel. The overall appearance is of a standard 13 pounder with an additional, slightly longer, recuperator cylinder on top.

Combat use

Notes

References

*I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London:Ian Allan, 1972.
*Brigadier NW Routledge, [http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Royal-Regiment-Artillery-Anti-aircraft/dp/1857530993 History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 1914-55. London: Brassey's, 1994]

See also

*List of artillery#Anti-aircraft guns

urviving examples