QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss
QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss | ||
---|---|---|
Type |
| |
Place of origin | France | |
Service history | ||
In service | 1885–1990 | |
Used by | See Breech Vertical sliding-block | |
Recoil | Hydro-spring, 4 inch | |
Elevation | Dependent on mount | |
Rate of fire | 25 / minute[2] | |
Muzzle velocity | 1,818 feet per second (554 m/s)[3] | |
Effective firing range | 4,000 yards (3,700 m)[4] |
The Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and Mk II or QF 6 pounder 8 cwt were a family of long-lived light 57 mm naval guns introduced in 1885 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. There were many variants produced, often under license which ranged in length from 40 to 58 calibers, but 40 caliber was the most common version.
6-pounders were widely used by the navies of a number of nations and often used by both sides in a conflict. Due to advances in torpedo delivery and performance, 6-pounder guns were rapidly made obsolete and were replaced with larger guns aboard most larger warships. This led to their being used ashore during
Operational history
Argentine service
Argentina adopted the 40 caliber Hotchkiss 6-pounder in the 1890s, to arm its four Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruisers, purchased from Italy. The Argentinians were at that time engaged in a naval arms race with Chile. The last ships from this class were retired from service on 2 August 1954. Argentinian ships armed with 6-pounder guns include:
- ARA General Belgrano
- ARA Garibaldi
- ARA Pueyrredón
- ARA San Martin
Brazilian service
Brazil adopted the 40 caliber Hotchkiss 6-pounder in the 1890s, to arm its
- Marshal Deodoro-class coastal defense ships
- Brazilian cruiser Republica
- Brazilian cruiser Almirante Barroso
- Brazilian torpedo gunboat Tiradentes
Chilean service
Chile adopted the 40 caliber Hotchkiss 6-pounder in the 1890s, to arm a battleship, an armored cruiser, and several protected cruisers. The last of these ships was retired in 1933.
- Chilean battleship Capitán Prat
- Chilean cruiser Esmeralda
- Chilean cruiser Presidente Errázuriz
- Chilean cruiser Ministro Zenteno
- Chilean cruiser O'Higgins
- Chilean cruiser Presidente Pinto
Chinese service
China adopted the Hotchkiss 6-pounder in the 1880s, to arm its protected cruisers. During the
.- Zhiyuen-class cruisers
- Chinese cruiser Jingyuen
French service
Despite originating in France the 6-pounder was not widely used by the French. Like the British, who paired their QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns with the larger 6-pounder, the French often paired their 3-pounders with the more powerful Canon de 65mm Modéle 1891. This gun is sometimes referred to as a 9-pounder in English publications. During World War II a few Flower-class Corvettes (Aconit, Commandant Drogou, Commandant Détroyat, Commandant d`Estienne d`Orves, Mimosa, Renoncule, Roselys) of the Free French Navy were armed with two 6-pounder guns.
Irish service
A 6-pounder gun was fitted to the single Vickers Mk. D tank used by the Irish Army between 1929 and 1940. When the tank was scrapped in 1940 the gun was removed and used as an anti-tank weapon.
Italian service
Italy adopted the 40 caliber Hotchkiss 6-pounder in 1886 to arm its armored cruisers, battleships, protected cruisers,
Japanese service
Japan adopted the 40 caliber Hotchkiss 6-pounder in the 1880s to arm its destroyers, protected cruisers and unprotected cruisers. The Japanese versions of the 6-pounder were known as Yamanouchi guns and were largely identical to their British equivalents.[5] Ships on both sides of the First Sino-Japanese war and Russo-Japanese war were armed with Hotchkiss 6-pounder guns. The 6-pounder was the standard secondary and tertiary armament on most Japanese destroyers built between 1890 and 1920, and was still in service as late as the Pacific War.[6]
Russian service
The Russians began purchasing 40 caliber 6-pounders from France starting in 1904 to replace its 3-pounder and 1-pounder guns in the anti-torpedo boat role. In addition to 40 caliber guns, 50 and 58 caliber guns were also produced under license at the
- Bars-class submarines
- Morzh-class submarines
- Narval-class submarines
- Finn-class torpedo cruisers
- Okhotnik-class torpedo cruisers
- Ukrayna-class torpedo cruisers
- Vsadnik-class torpedo cruisers
Spanish service
Spain adopted both the 40-caliber Hotchkiss 6-pounder and the 42-caliber Nordenfelt 6-pounder in the 1880s to arm its armored cruisers, battleships, protected cruisers and unarmored cruisers. Seven ships (1 battleship, 3 unarmored cruisers and 3 protected cruisers) carried the Hotchkiss guns and eleven (8 unarmored cruisers and 3 protected cruisers) carried the Nordenfelt guns. Ships on both sides of the
- Torpedo gunboat Destructor
- Alfonso XII-class cruisers
- Isla de Luzón-class cruisers
- Spanish battleship Pelayo
United Kingdom service
The UK adopted a 40 calibre (i.e. 90inch barrel) version as Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun
The UK also adopted the competing 42 calibre Ordnance QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt at the same time as the QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss, but the Royal 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 designs and Nordenfelt guns were phased out in favor of the Hotchkiss guns and were declared obsolete by 1919.[8]
The original 1885 Hotchkiss Mk I was a built-up gun with a barrel, jacket and a locking hoop screwed to the front of the jacket. The Mk I lacked a recoil system, but the Mk II of 1890 introduced a hydraulic recoil mechanism with a pair of hydro-spring cylinders.[9] During World War I the navy required many more guns and an autofretted, mono-block barrel version was developed to simplify manufacture and 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.[9]
After World War I the gun was considered obsolete for combat use, but continued in use as a
Royal Navy ships armed with QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns include:
- A-class destroyers
- Admiral-class ironclads
- Adventure-class cruisers
- Apollo-class cruisers
- B-class destroyers
- Banff-class sloops
- British H-class submarines
- C and D-class destroyers
- C-class cruisers
- C-class destroyers
- Castle-class trawlers
- CD-class naval drifters
- Centurion-class battleships
- Conqueror-class ironclad rams
- D-class destroyers
- Daring-class destroyers
- Devastation-class ironclads
- Dryad-class torpedo gunboats
- E and F-class destroyers
- Fly-class gunboats
- G and H-class destroyers
- Indefatigable-class battlecruisers
- Lion-class battlecruisers
- M15-class monitors
- M29-class monitors
- Marathon-class cruisers
- Orlando-class cruisers
- River-class destroyers
- Royal Sovereign-class battleships
- Stour-class destroyers
- Trafalgar-class ironclads
- Surprise-class cruisers
- Victoria-class battleships
- Warrior-class cruisers
Tank service
The 6-pounder was used to equip Male versions of the early British
The gun turned out to be too long for practical use as the end of the barrel could come into contact with the ground or other obstacles as the tank traveled over uneven ground. The British chose to shorten the gun rather than change its location and replaced it in 1917 in the
Anti-aircraft service
Britain lacked any dedicated air-defence artillery early in World War I and up to 72[13] 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,[10] presumably because German bombing attacks were conducted from relatively high altitudes which would have been beyond the gun's range.
United States service
Manufacturer | Manufacturers Designation | US Designation | Caliber |
---|---|---|---|
Hotchkiss | Mk I | Mk I | 40 |
Hotchkiss | Mk I (trunnionless) | Mk II | 40 |
Hotchkiss | Mk I long | Mk III | 45 |
Driggs-Schroeder | Nos. 2, 4 and 5 rapid-fire field gun | Mk IV | 50 |
? | Lynch field gun | Mk V | 35 |
Driggs-Schroeder | Mk I rapid-fire | Mk VI | 45 |
Hotchkiss | Mk II long | Mk VII | 45 |
Driggs-Schroeder | Mk II | Mk VIII | 50 |
Vickers-Maxim | Mk II semi-automatic | Mk IX | 42 |
Nordenfelt | Mk II rapid-fire | Mk X | 42 |
Driggs-Seaburry | Mk II semi-automatic | Mk XI | 50 |
Bethlehem Steel | Mk I | (No US designation sold to Britain in WWI) | 50[5] |
The history of the Hotchkiss 6-pounder (called the Rapid Fire gun rather than Quick Firer in the US) in
There is no question that the Driggs-Schroeders were predominant in the new protected and armored cruisers that were being commissioned by 1895. However,
Beginning in 1910 6-pounder guns were replaced by
- Amphitrite-class monitors
- Arkansas-class monitors
- Bainbridge-class destroyers
- Cincinnati-class cruisers
- Columbia-class cruisers
- Denver-class cruisers
- Dubuque-class gunboats
- Florida-class battleships
- Hawk-class minesweepers
- Illinois-class battleships
- Indiana-class battleships
- Kearsarge-class battleships
- Montgomery-class cruisers
- New Orleans-class cruisers
- Tampa-class cutters
- Treasury-class cutters
- Truxtun-class destroyers
- Yorktown-class gunboats
- USCGC Taney (WHEC-37)
- USS Annapolis (PG-10)
- USS Atlanta
- USS Baltimore (C-3)
- USS Boston
- USS Charleston (C-2)
- USS Chicago
- USS Dolphin (PG-24)
- USS Elcano (PG-38)
- USS Iowa (BB-4)
- USS Isla de Cuba (1886)
- USS Isla de Luzon (1886)
- USS Katahdin (1893)
- USS Machias (PG-5)
- USS Marietta (PG-15)
- USS Monocacy (PG-20)
- USS Nashville (PG-7)
- USS Newark (C-1)
- USS Newport (PG-12)
- USS Palos (PG-16)
- USS Pampanga (PG-39)
- USS Paragua
- USS Philadelphia (C-4)
- USS Puritan (BM-1)
- USS Quiros (PG-40)
- USS Samar (PG-41)
- USS San Francisco (C-5)
- USS Vicksburg (PG-11)
- USS Washington (ACR-11)
- USS Wheeling (PG-14)
- USS Whitney (AD-4)
US Army service
The US Army also used the Hotchkiss 6-pounder, referred to as a "2.24-inch gun" in some period references. As the primary defender of coastal fortifications and harbors, the US Army had a need for lighter guns to supplement their shore batteries, particularly since land defense against infantry was a consideration in the 1890s.[b] The Army was in an experimental phase like the Navy, testing new weapons in an era when military budgets were expanding after decades of Congressional stinginess.
It appears that the US Army and US Navy, while both using the "Mark" system, assigned their designations to different ordnance. References indicate that
Ammunition
The 6-pounder fired
-
Mk XIV and XIII steel shell rounds with Mk V shell, 1914
-
Common shell rounds with Mk II shell from 1891
-
QF 6-pounder common projectile 1891 close-up.
-
Mk II Shell base, showing fuze hole
-
Mk IV base percussion fuze
-
6-pounder ammunition label from 1893
Photo gallery
-
QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss diagram.
-
A 45 caliber 6-pounder at Kuivasaari, Finland. The markings on this gun indicate it was produced by Driggs-Seabury in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
-
A Russian 58 caliber 6-pounder gun, at Kuivasaari, Finland.
-
German troops with a capturedMk II tank, showing the unwieldy length of the gun barrel (projecting from sponsonon left side of tank).
-
A Russian Austin-Putilov armored car with a 6-pounder anti-aircraft gun.
-
A 6-pounder gun and crew aboard the USS Oregon.
Licensed production
Wars
- First Sino-Japanese War
- Spanish–American War
- Russo-Japanese War
- Italo-Turkish War
- First Balkan War
- Second Balkan War
- World War I
- Russian Civil War
- Second Sino-Japanese War
- Winter War
- World War II
- Cod Wars
Users
Surviving examples
- Twin 6 pounder QF Guns Mk I on Pedestal Mount Mk I, Belmont Battery,
- One 6 pounder QF Gun Mk I (#502 Hotchkiss) on Garrison Carriage Mk I** (Hotchkiss Cone Mount), Fort Rodd Hill, Victoria, British Columbia
- One 6 pounder QF Gun Mk I (tube only), Fort Rodd Hill, Victoria, British Columbia
- One 6 pounder QF Gun Mk I (13980 & N1584) on Pedestal Mount Mk I (5110), Bay Street Armoury, Victoria, British Columbia
- One 6 pounder QF Gun Mk III on wheeled carriage, private tank museum, Mattituck, New York[19]
- One 6 pounder QF Gun Mk III on wheeled carriage, Virginia War Museum, Newport News, Virginia[19]
- One 6 pounder QF Gun on wheeled carriage, Veterans' Memorial Park, Plymouth, Michigan[16]
- One 6 pounder QF Gun M1900 on wheeled carriage, Maquoketa, Iowa
- Several 6 pounder RF Guns (Driggs-Schroeder) on USS Olympia (C-6), Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia
- Three 6 pounder QF Gun 1892 on recoil mounts, Yacht Club Argentino, Buenos Aires
See also
- 5.2 cm SK L/55 naval gun : German equivalent
- QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt: Maxim-Nordenfelt equivalent
- Canon de 65 mm Modèle 1891 : French equivalent
Notes
- ^ British forces traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately 6 lb (2.7 kg)
- ^ Somewhat inexplicably, defense against land attack disappeared from the design of forts built after 1900, and the Land Defense Project of the World War I era was apparently not repeated.[citation needed]
- ^ Hogg & Thurston 1972 quote 821 lb (372 kg) for the UK 40-calibres coast defence gun. DiGiulian quotes 849 lb (385 kg) for the naval gun. Weights varied according to barrel length.
- ^ 25 rounds per minute is the figure given by Elswick Ordnance for their 40-calibres model. Quoted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1901
- ^ 1818 ft/s in British service, with 90-inch (2.3 m) bore, using propellant of 1 lb 15 oz (0.88 kg) Q.F. black powder or 7¾ oz cordite size 5. Text Book of Gunnery, 1902, Table XII, Page 337.
- ^ Hogg&Thurston 1972, Page 36–39 quote 7,500 yards (6,900 m) maximum for the British version. Text Book of Gunnery 1902 quotes 4,000 yards (3,700 m).
- ^ OCLC 751804655.
- OCLC 13085151.
- ^ "FINNISH ARMY 1918–1945: LIGHT COASTAL GUNS". www.jaegerplatoon.net. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
- ^ Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 36
- ^ a b Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 36-39
- ^ a b Routledge 1994, Page 27
- ^ Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.65.
- ^ See Reynolds 'MGB 658'
- ^ Routledge 1994, Page 17
- ISBN 978-0-87021-459-2.
- ^ Lohrer, George L. Ordnance Supply Manual, U. S. Ordnance Dept., 1904, pp. 282-295
- ^ a b c Williford, pp. 44-45
- ^ Berhow, pp. 188-189, 217
- ^ Surviving seacoast artillery at the Coast Defense Study Group Archived 2016-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Berhow, p. 235
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2021) |
Bibliography
- Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE Archived 2012-07-12 at archive.today
- Berhow, Mark A., ed. (2004). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide (Second ed.). CDSG Press. ISBN 978-0-9748167-0-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7110-0381-1
- 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 ISBN 1-85753-099-3
- Williford, Glen M. (2016). American Breechloading Mobile Artillery, 1875–1953. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7643-5049-8.
- Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-459-2.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
External links
- DiGiulian, Tony, British 6-pdr / 8cwt (2.244"/40 (57mm)) QF Marks I and II
- DiGiulian, Tony, US 6-pdr (2.72 kg) (2.244" (57mm)) Marks 1 through 13
- DiGiulian, Tony, Russian 57mm/40, 57mm/50 and 57mm/58 (2.244")
- Handbook of the 6 pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing gun Land service 1892 at State Library of Victoria
- Handbook for Hotchkiss 6-pr and 3-pr. quick-firing guns 1896 at State Library of Victoria