Ordnance QF 6-pounder
Ordnance QF 6-pounder 7 cwt | ||
---|---|---|
Breech Vertical sliding-block[3] | | |
Recoil | Hydro-pneumatic[3] | |
Carriage | Split trail | |
Elevation | -5° to +15° | |
Traverse | 90° | |
Rate of fire | 15 rpm[3] | |
Muzzle velocity | See ammunition table | |
Effective firing range | 1,650 yd (1,510 m) | |
Maximum firing range | 5,000 yd (4,600 m) | |
Sights | No.22c |
The Ordnance Quick-Firing 6-pounder 7 cwt,[note 1] or just 6-pounder, was a British 57 mm gun, serving during the Second World War as a primary anti-tank gun of both the British and United States Army (as the 57 mm Gun M1). It was also used as the main armament for a number of armoured fighting vehicles.
Although designed before the start of the war, it did not reach service until the
Development and production
Development
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Canadian_QF_6-pounder_AT_Gun.jpg/170px-Canadian_QF_6-pounder_AT_Gun.jpg)
Limitations of the existing 2-pounders were apparent even as the gun entered service and an effort was made to replace it with a much more capable weapon starting as early as 1938. The Woolwich Arsenal was entrusted with the development of a new gun with a calibre of 57 mm. Guns of this calibre had been employed by the Royal Navy from the late 19th century and manufacturing equipment was available. The gun design was complete by 1940 but the carriage design took until 1941.[citation needed] The production was further delayed by the defeat in the Battle of France. The loss of equipment – most of the heavy equipment of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was left behind in France during Operation Dynamo – and the prospect of a German invasion made re-equipping the army with anti-tank weapons an urgent task, so a decision was made to carry on the production of the 2-pounder, avoiding the period of adaptation to production and also of re-training and acclimatisation with the new weapon. It was estimated that 100 6-pounders would displace the production of 600 2-pounders.[4] This had the effect of delaying production of the 6-pounder until November 1941 and its entry into service until May 1942.
Unlike the 2-pounder, the new gun was mounted on a conventional two-wheeled split trail carriage on pneumatic tyres but without a spring suspension. The first mass production variant – the Mk II – differed from the pre-production Mk I in having a shorter L/43 barrel, because of the shortage of suitable lathes. The Mk IV was fitted with an L/50 barrel, with muzzle brake. Optional side shields were issued to give the crew better protection but were apparently rarely used.
The 6-pounder was used where possible to replace the 2-pounder in British tanks, requiring work on the turrets, pending the introduction of new tanks designed for the 6-pounder. The Churchill Marks III and IV, Valentine Mark IX and Crusader Mark III all began to enter service during 1942. The Valentine and Crusader both needed to lose a crew member from the turret. Tanks designed to take the 6-pounder were the troubled Cavalier, the Cromwell and the Centaur. When the Cromwell went into combat in 1944, it was armed with the Ordnance QF 75 mm gun, which was a redesign of the 6-pounder to take US 75 mm ammunition and more useful against general targets. The 6-pounder was also fitted to the AEC Armoured Car Mark II.
Although the 6-pounder was kept at least somewhat competitive through the war, the Army started the development of a more powerful weapon in 1942. The aim was to produce a gun with the same general dimensions and weight as the 6-pounder but with improved performance. The first attempt was an 8-pounder of 59 calibre length but this version proved too heavy to be used in the same role as the 6-pounder. A second attempt was made with a shorter 48 calibre barrel but this proved to have only marginally better performance than the 6-pounder and the program was cancelled in January 1943.
The 6-pounder was followed into production by the next generation British anti-tank gun, the Ordnance QF 17-pounder, which came into use from February 1943. As a smaller and more manoeuvrable gun, the 6-pounder continued to be used by the British Army for the rest of World War II and for about 20 years afterwards. A 57/42.6 mm squeeze bore adaptor was developed for the gun but was never adopted. The gun was produced in Canada and South Africa, where the Combined Ordnance Factories (COFAC) produced 300.
Production
Year | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | 201 | 17,854 | 16,586 | 1,964 | - |
US production
Year | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number produced | 3,877 | 5,856 | 3,902 | 2,002 | 15,637 |
The idea of manufacturing the 6-pounder in the US was expressed by the
Two-thirds of American production (10,000 guns) went to US Army Divisions in Europe. About one-third of production (over 4,200 guns) was delivered to the UK and 400 guns were sent to the Soviet Union through Lend-Lease. When the United States re-armed and re-equipped Free French forces for the Normandy landings, their anti-tank units received American-made M1s. Like the British Army, the US Army also experimented with a squeeze bore adaptor (57/40 mm T10) but the program was abandoned. American shell designs and production lagged behind the introduction of the gun once it was accepted for service and so, at first, only AP shot was available. The HE shell was not available until after the Normandy landings and UK stocks were procured to cover its absence. Its use by regular US Army front-line units was discontinued in the 1950s.
Service history
British service
Anti-tank gun
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Desert6Pdr.jpg/170px-Desert6Pdr.jpg)
The 6-pounders (and the US-built M1 of which 4,242 guns were received) were issued to the Royal Artillery anti-tank regiments of infantry and armoured divisions in the western theatres (four batteries with 12 pieces each) and later in the war to the six-gun anti-tank platoons of infantry battalions. An air-landing battalion had an AA/AT company with two four-gun AT platoons. The Far East theatres had lower priority and different organisation, reflecting the lower tank threat. The gun was also employed by Commonwealth forces in formations similar to the British. The anti-tank ammunition was a basic Armour-Piercing (AP) shot, but by January 1943 an Armour-Piercing, Capped (APC) shot and an Armour-Piercing, Capped, Ballistic Capped (APCBC) shot was supplied. A High Explosive shell was produced for use against unarmoured targets.
The 6-pounder first saw action in May 1942 at the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/The_British_Army_in_the_United_Kingdom_1939-45_H23980.jpg/170px-The_British_Army_in_the_United_Kingdom_1939-45_H23980.jpg)
6-pounder gunfire accounted for the first Tigers disabled in North Africa; two Tigers being knocked out by towed 6-pounder AT guns, while the 48th Royal Tank Regiment knocked out the first Tigers by the Western Allies in tank vs. tank action with their Churchill tanks, destroying two Tiger I (the same unit also knocked out the first Panther tanks by the Western Allies in May 1944 in Italy). The North Irish Horse disabled and captured Tiger 131 after the crew had abandoned it after it received several hits, most seriously a shot which struck the turret ring, making traverse impossible. The situation was somewhat improved by the development of more sophisticated ammunition in the form of the Armour-Piercing, Composite Rigid (APCR) shot and the Armour-Piercing, Discarding Sabot (APDS) shot, which was available from 1944 and made it effective against the frontal armour of Tiger Is and Panthers.
In the Royal Artillery regiments, the 6-pounders were joined by the 17-pounders starting in 1943; in infantry units, the gun remained the sole AT gun in service until 1951, when it was finally declared obsolete and replaced by the 17-pounder in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).
Tank gun
The first tank to go into action armed with the 6-pounder gun was the Mark III version of the Churchill tank, in the Dieppe Raid of August 1942. They were deployed to North Africa; six, as KingForce, were in action at El Alamein in October (destroying five tanks and three AT guns for the loss of one Churchill).
Molins gun
The Royal Navy used the 6-pounder extensively in
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Molins_autoloader_and_6-pounder_gun_WWII_IWM_A_25159.jpg/220px-Molins_autoloader_and_6-pounder_gun_WWII_IWM_A_25159.jpg)
The Molins autoloader was also deployed on a small number of Royal Air Force
US service
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/57mm_Gun_M1_-_Saint-Malon_Bretagne.jpg/170px-57mm_Gun_M1_-_Saint-Malon_Bretagne.jpg)
In spring 1943, following the experience of the
The introduction was made in the face of objections by the US Army Infantry Board, which believed it to be too heavy. The Ordnance Board, on the other hand, felt that a more powerful weapon should be introduced; the Airborne and Cavalry rejected it.
According to the
By mid-1944, the M1 was the standard antitank gun of US infantry divisions on the
Preparation for the
The British 6-pounder with the MK III carriage was also used by the Antitank Company of the 442nd Infantry Regiment as part of the glider-borne invasion force assigned at that time to the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, First Airborne Task Force, during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France.
Limited availability of different ammunition types limited the efficiency of the gun in the infantry support role. Only after the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Canadian_Forces_in_the_United_Kingdom_1939-45_H27915.jpg/170px-Canadian_Forces_in_the_United_Kingdom_1939-45_H27915.jpg)
From July, US anti-tank units encountered the Panther tank, which was vulnerable to the 57 mm only from the sides. Towed anti-tank guns were less effective in the hedgerow terrain, where mobility suffered; but, when the Germans went on the offensive in August, they were effective in defence with infantry.[13] Towards the end of the war, towed anti-tank units had gone out of favour due to their lack of mobility compared to self-propelled guns. With few tanks to contend with, some units that would have been equipped with the 57 mm were instead deployed as infantry, or primarily with the Bazooka for tank hunting.[14] The M1 went out of service in the US soon after the end of the war.
Korean service
The M1 anti-tank gun was the main anti-tank weapon operated by the Korean military during the early stages of the Korean War. The South Korean military acquired 117 M1s when the U.S. Forces Korea withdrew from Korea in 1948-49, and the military deployed six guns to each infantry regiment's anti-tank battery. Due to the low number of anti-tank guns, the South Korean military expressed concern over the possibility of the possession of tanks by the North Korean military; however, the U.S. military advisers neglected the concern and claimed South Korea's poor road and bridge conditions are not suitable for effective tank operations.[15]
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, the South Korean military actively used M1 anti-tank guns against North Korean tanks and self-propelled guns, but did not have much effect. Armor-piercing (AP) ammunitions did not have enough firepower to penetrate North Korean tanks, and nearly 70 % of the 35,000 shells were anti-personnel high-explosives (HE). The South Korean military tried to overcome the disadvantage by firing at close range or concentrating on weak parts, but it did not have a significant impact on the war situation.[15]
The South Korean military operated the M1 anti-tank gun as an infantry-assisted firearm from 1950 to 1951, and gradually retired it by replacing it with a M20 Super Bazooka and M20 recoilless rifle. In the end, M1s were eliminated during the war without much achievement due to lack of performance.[15]
Other operators
In addition to being used by the US, UK and other Commonwealth forces, the M1 was supplied under the Lend-Lease program to the
During the
Variants
- Mk I: limited production version with L/50 barrel.
- Mk II: first mass-production version. Shortened L/43 barrel was adopted due to the shortage of suitable manufacturing equipment.
- Mk III: tank version of Mk II.
- Mk IV: L/50 barrel, single baffle muzzle brake.
- Mk V: tank version of Mk IV.
- Molins Class M gun: 6-pounder gun fitted with automatic loader built by the Molins company, a manufacturer of cigarette making machines. It was mounted on the Royal Navy ".
- 57 mm Gun M1: US-built version; although based on Mk II, it had the "original" L/50 barrel.
Carriage types, British:
- Mk I
- Mk IA: different axle and wheels
- Mk II: simplified design
- Mk III: modified for use by airborne troops
Carriage types, US:
- M1
- M1A1: US wheels and tyres
- M1A2 (1942): improved traverse mechanism, allowing free traverse
- M1A3 (1943): modified towing hook; the first version to be adopted by the US Army
- M2 (1944): caster wheel added to the right trail, relocated trail handles, new utility box
- M2A1 (1945): improved elevation gear
Self-propelled mounts
Tank gun versions of the 6-pounder were used in the
Ammunition
Ammunition was of the fixed type made up of projectile - with a tracer in the base - a charge in a brass cartridge and a percussion primer. A drill round made of weighted wood was also used.[20] Propellant was cordite or NH, the latter being more compact than cordite as cordite had a piece of packing between the propellant and base of the projectile.
Type | Model | Weight | Filler | Muzzle velocity (L/43 guns) |
Muzzle velocity (L/50 guns) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
British ammunition | |||||
AP | Shot, AP, Mks 1 to 7 | 2.86 kg (6 lb 5 oz) |
- | 853 m/s (2,800 ft/s) |
892 m/s (2,930 ft/s) |
APC (from September 1942) |
Shot, APC, Mk 8T[note 3] | 2.86 kg (6 lb 5 oz) |
- | 846 m/s (2,780 ft/s) |
884 m/s (2,900 ft/s) |
APCBC (from January 1943) |
Shot, APCBC, Mk 9T | 3.23 kg (7 lb 2 oz) |
- | 792 m/s (2,600 ft/s) |
831 m/s (2,730 ft/s) |
APCR (from October 1943) |
Shot, APCR, Mk 1T | 1.90 kg (4 lb 3 oz) |
- | 1,082 m/s (3,550 ft/s) | |
APDS (from March 1944) |
Shot, APDS, Mk 1T | 1.42 kg (3 lb 2 oz) |
- | 1,151 m/s (3,780 ft/s) |
1,219 m/s (4,000 ft/s) |
HE[note 4] | Shell, HE, Mk 10T | approx. 3 kg (6 lb 10 oz) |
820 m/s (2,700 ft/s) | ||
US ammunition | |||||
AP | AP Shot M70 | 2.85 kg (6 lb 5 oz) |
- | 853 m/s (2,800 ft/s) | |
APCBC/HE | APC Shell M86 | 3.30 kg (7 lb 4 oz) |
Dunnite 34 g (1.2 oz) |
823 m/s (2,700 ft/s) | |
HE (authorised in March 1944) |
HE Shell T18 / M303 | ||||
Canister (in production from January 1945) |
Canister Shot T17 / M305 |
Performance
The zone of dispersion of the gun was 90% in 4 by 3 ft (1.22 by 0.91 m) at 800 yd (730 m).[21]
Type | 100 m (110 yd) |
500 m (550 yd) |
1,000 m (1,100 yd) |
1,500 m (1,600 yd) |
2,000 m (2,200 yd) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
British ammunition | |||||
AP L52 barrel |
135 mm (5.3 in) |
112 mm (4.4 in) |
89 mm (3.5 in) |
70 mm (2.8 in) |
55 mm (2.2 in) |
APCBC L52 barrel |
115 mm (4.5 in) |
103 mm (4.1 in) |
90 mm (3.5 in) |
78 mm (3.1 in) |
68 mm (2.7 in) |
APDS [note 5] | 177 mm (7.0 in) |
160 mm (6.3 in) |
140 mm (5.5 in) |
123 mm (4.8 in) |
108 mm (4.3 in) |
US ammunition | |||||
AP (52 cal gun) |
135 mm (5.3 in) |
112 mm (4.4 in) |
89 mm (3.5 in) |
70 mm (2.8 in) |
55 mm (2.2 in) |
APCBC (52 cal gun) | 110 mm (4.3 in) |
98 mm (3.9 in) |
85 mm (3.3 in) |
73 mm (2.9 in) |
64 mm (2.5 in) |
AP in use as a tank gun, penetration was 81 mm (for Mark 3 gun) and 83 mm (Mark 5) at 500 yards and target at 30°.[23]
Users
Brazil[24]
Australia (in WW2 and in Korea)
Canada
Denmark - As 57 mm Infantry Gun (Fodfolkskanon)
France
Greece
Ireland
Israel
Jordan: Arab Legion[25]
Nazi Germany
Nigeria[17]
- Biafra[17]
Netherlands
New Zealand[26]
Pakistan
Philippines
Republic of Korea: Received 117 from the U.S. in 1948–49.[15]
Taiwan
United Kingdom
United States
Soviet Union
North Vietnam
Kingdom of Yemen[2]
See also
Weapons of comparable role, performance and era
- 57 mm anti-tank gun M1943 (ZiS-2) : Soviet anti-tank gun
- 5 cm Pak 38 : German anti-tank gun
Notes
- ^ British forces traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately 6 pounds (2.7 kg). The approximate weight of the gun barrel and breech, "7 cwt" (cwt = hundredweight), was included in the designation to distinguish this gun from others also firing a 6 lb projectile.
- ^ There were also practice rounds and blank rounds
- ^ Together with different combinations of propelling charge these were Cartridges Mark IT through to Mark IVT and "HV" cartridges IT and IIT
- ^ "HE Shell Mk I, foil" and "HE Shell Mk IIT, foil" using the Mk IM case
- ^ barrel length not given in source
References
- ISBN 9781472828910.
- ^ better source needed]
- ^ OCLC 911907988.
- ^ Postan, British War Production From Dunkirk to Pearl Harbor (part of the History of the Second World War) page 194
- ^ The 6 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun
- ^ Zaloga 2005, p. 13.
- ^ Zaloga 2005, p. 14.
- ^ a b Zaloga 2005, p. 15.
- ^ Williams, Anthony G "The 6 pdr 7cwt and the Molins Gun", 7 January 2016
- ^ a b Zaloga 2005, p. 16.
- ^ War Department Basic Field Manual FM 23-75, 57-mm Gun M1. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1944. p. 19-22.
- ^ Zaloga 2005, p. 24.
- ^ Zaloga 2005, p. 33.
- ^ Zaloga p40
- ^ ISBN 979-11-5598-079-8.
- ^ When the Engines Roared.
- ^ ISBN 978-1472816092.
- ISBN 1-84176-638-0
- ^ Rickard, J (14 April 2014), T44 57 mm Gun Motor Carriage
- ^ Pamphlet, "Section 14"
- ^ Pamphlet . "3. Chracteristics"
- OCLC 71143143.
- ^ Chamberlain & Ellis British and American Tanks of World War II page 203
- ISBN 9781849084833.
- ISBN 0-85045-084-5.
- ^ *Murphy, W. E. (1966). 2nd New Zealand Divisional Artillery. Wellington: Historical Publications Branch. p. 307.
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ignored (help)
Bibliography
- Chamberlain, Peter; Terry Gander (1974). Anti-Tank Weapons. WWII Fact Files. Arco Publishing Company, New York. ISBN 0-668-03505-6.
- Fletcher, David (1983). Cromwell Tank: Vehicle History and Specifications. The Tank Museum. HMSO. ISBN 0-11-290403-3.
- Henry, Chris (2004), British Anti-tank Artillery 1939-45, New Vanguard 98, Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1-84176-638-0
- ISBN 1-86126-165-9.
- Hunnicutt, R. P. (1992). Stuart: A History of the American Light Tank. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-462-2.
- Hunnicutt, R. P. (2002). Armored Car: A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-777-X.
- When the Engines Roared: 50th Anniversary to the Sinai War (ברעום המנועים: 50 שנה למלחמת סיני ). Ministry of Defence, Israel. 2006. ISBN 965-05-1337-X.
- ISBN 1-84176-690-9.
- ISBN 9781846031182.
- Small Arms Training, Volume I, Pamphlet No. 27, 6-pdr., 7-cwt. Anti-Tank Gun, The War Office, 5 February 1944
External links
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- US M-1 57 mm Anti-tank gun at Militaria: Weapons
- Armour penetration table
- Photo gallery at Tanxheaven.com
- [5] TO&E antitank company
- Photographic album of the restoration of a WWII 6-Pounder Mk V
British Equipment from Artillery in the Desert, Military Intelligence Service, Special Series No. 6, November 1942