QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss

Infobox Weapon


caption=Early Elswick gun on recoil mounting
name=QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss
target=general
origin=FRA
is_artillery=yes
is_UK=yes
is_ranged=yes
used_by=FRA
ISL
UK
USA
RUS
JPN
wars=Russo-Japanese War
World War I
World War II
designer=Hotchkiss et Cie
design_date=
manufacturer=
prod_date=
type=Naval gun
Coast defence gun
Tank gun
date=
service=1885 - 1940s
caliber=convert|57|mm|in|sing=on|sigfig=4
part_length=various. 40-58 calibres
carriage=
breech=Vertical sliding block
rate=
velocity=convert|1818|ft/s|m/s [1818 ft/sec in British service, with 90-inch bore, using propellant of 1 lb 15 oz Q.F. black powder or 7¾ oz cordite size 5. Text Book of Gunnery, 1902, Table XII, Page 337.]
cartridge=Fixed QF 57x307R, Steel Shell convert|6|lb|abbr=on
range=convert|4000|yd|m [Hogg&Thurston 1972, Page 36-39 quote 7,500 yards maximum for the British version. Text Book of Gunnery 1902 quotes 4,000 yards.]
recoil=hydro - spring, 4 inch
weight=821-849 lb
(372-385 kg)
barrel & breech [Hogg & Thurston 1972 quote convert|821|lb|abbr=on for the UK 40-calibres coast defence gun. DiGiulian quotes convert|849|lb|abbr=on for the naval gun. Weights varied according to barrel length.]
length=
crew=
number=3,984 (UK)
elevation=
traverse=The QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss was a light 57-mm naval gun and coast defence gun of the late 1800s used by many countries, and was adapted for use in the early British tanks in World War I.

French History

United Kingdom

The UK adopted a 40-calibres (i.e. 90 inch bore) version as Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and Mk II or QF 6 pounder 8 cwt. It was manufactured under licence by the Elswick Ordnance Company.

United Kingdom Naval service

They were originally mounted for use against the new (steam-driven) torpedo boats which started to enter service in the late 1870s.

The original 1885 Mk I lacked a recoil system. The Mk II of 1890 introduced a recoil system, with a pair of recoil/recuperator cylinders.

During World War I the navy required many more guns and a version with a single-tube barrel was developed to simplify manufacture, identified as "6 pdr Single Tube". Initially these guns were only allowed to be fired with a special lower charge but in 1917 they were relined with A tubes as Mk I+++ which enabled them to use the standard 6 pounder ammunition.Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 36-39]

After World War I the gun was considered obsolete for combat use, but continued in use as a saluting gun and as a sub-calibre training gun. Many were brought back into active service in World War II for arming small auxiliary ships for anti-submarine work, and for coastal defence. These included early models of the famous Fairmile D Motor Gunboats, some of which were not re-armed with the modern autoloading 6 pdr MkIIA until late 1944 [See Reynolds 'MGB 658'] .

United Kingdom tank service

The gun was used to equip Male versions of the early British tanks, Mk I - Mk III. In 1916 the British were faced with the difficulty of quickly providing a new class of weapon with no prior battlefield experience, and the existing Hotchkiss 6 pounder naval gun appeared to most closely meet the need. A single gun was mounted in each sponson (side barbette), i.e. 2 per Male tank (tanks armed only with machine guns were designated Female), able to fire forwards or to the side.

The gun turned out to be too long for practical use in action in side sponsons, as it could come into contact with the ground or obstacles when extended to the side as the tank travelled over uneven ground. The British chose to shorten the gun rather than change its location, and replaced it in 1917 in the Mk IV tank onwards by the shorter QF 6 pounder 6 cwt.

United Kingdom anti-aircraft service

Britain lacked any dedicated air defence artillery early in World War I and up to 72 [Routledge 1994, Page 17] 6 pounders were adapted to high-angle pedestal mountings at key establishments in Britain for close air defence by 1916. They are not listed as still being in service in this role at the end of the war [Routledge 1994, Page 27] , presumably because German bombing attacks were conducted from relatively high altitudes which would have been beyond this gun's range.

United Kingdom ammunition

Icelandic History

The 57mm Hotchkiss naval gun was used by the Icelandic Coast Guard, and served as the main gun of most of its patrol vessels between the 1920s until 1990 when it had been completely replaced with 40 mm Bofors auto-cannons. During the Cod Wars these guns were used to disable a number of foreign trawlers, although the Net cutters were preferred and used when possible. The 57mm gun was also occasionally used in self defence against various assailants.

US History

Russian History

The Russian navy tried 40, 50 and 58-calibres versions of the gun from 1904, and later transferred them to the army. [Tony DiGiulian, [http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNRussian_57mm_Hotchkiss.htm Russian 57 mm/40, 57 mm/50 and 57 mm/58 (2.244") 6-pdr (2.72 kg) Hotchkiss guns] ]

Japanese History

The 57mm Hotchkiss naval gun was the standard secondary or tertiary armament on most Japanese destroyers built between 1890 and 1920, and was still in service as late as the Pacific War.

urviving examples

ee also

*List of artillery#Naval_guns
*List of artillery#Tank 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]
*Tony DiGiulian, [http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_6pounder_m1.htm British 6-pdr / 8cwt (2.244"/40 (57 mm)) QF Marks I and II]
*I.V. Hogg and L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.
*LC Reynolds, Motor Gunboat 658. Cassell Military Paperbacks, London, 2002. ISBN 0-304-36183-6
*Brigadier N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914-55. London: Brassey's, 1994

External links