QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss
| QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss | |
|---|---|
 Early Elswick gun on recoil mounting | |
| Type | Naval gun Coast defence gun Tank gun |
| Place of origin |  France |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1885 - 1940s |
| Used by | France Iceland United Kingdom United States Russia Japan |
| Wars | Russo-Japanese War World War I World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Hotchkiss et Cie |
| No. built | 3,984 (UK) |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 821-849 lb (372-385 kg) barrel & breech[1] |
| Barrel length | various. 40-58 calibres |
| Shell | Fixed QF 57x307R, Steel Shell 6 lb (2.7 kg) |
| Calibre | 57-millimetre (2.244 in) |
| Breech | Vertical sliding block |
| Recoil | hydro - spring, 4 inch |
| Muzzle velocity | 1,818 feet per second (554 m/s)[2] |
| Effective firing range | 4,000 yards (3,700 m)[3] |
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
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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.
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.[4]
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.[4]
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[5].
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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.
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United Kingdom anti-aircraft service
Britain lacked any dedicated air defence artillery early in World War I and up to 72[6] 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[7], presumably because German bombing attacks were conducted from relatively high altitudes which would have been beyond this gun's range.
United Kingdom ammunition
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Icelandic History
The 57 mm 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 57 mm gun was also occasionally used in self defence against various assailants.
US History
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Russian History
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The Russian navy tried 40, 50 and 58-calibres versions of the gun from 1904, and later transferred them to the army.[8]
Japanese History
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The 57 mm 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.
Surviving examples
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See also
Notes
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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).
- ^ a b Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 36-39
- ^ See Reynolds 'MGB 658'
- ^ Routledge 1994, Page 17
- ^ Routledge 1994, Page 27
- ^ Tony DiGiulian, Russian 57 mm/40, 57 mm/50 and 57 mm/58 (2.244") 6-pdr (2.72 kg) Hotchkiss guns
References
- Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE
- Tony DiGiulian, 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