Ordnance QF 3-pounder Vickers

This article is about the 1900s-1940s Vickers gun. For other 3-pounder guns, see 3 pounder gun.

Ordnance QF 3-pounder Vickers
On a Royal Navy monitor circa. 1918
Type	Naval gun, Anti-aircraft gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1905-1940
Wars	World War I, World War II
Production history
Designer	Vickers
Designed	1902–03
Manufacturer	Vickers
Produced	1905-?
Number built	600
Variants	Mk I Mk II
Specifications
Weight	1,323 lb (600 kg) in total
Barrel length	8 ft 8 in (2.64 m) bore (50 calibres)

Shell	47×360mmR 3.3 lb (1.50 kg) shell.
Calibre	47 mm (1.85 in)
Breech	semi-automatic vertical block
Carriage	three-leg platform
Elevation	-5° to +12°
Traverse	360°
Rate of fire	20 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	2,575 ft/s (785 m/s) (HE)
Effective firing range	2,000 yd (1,829 m)(AA)
Maximum firing range	5,600 yd (5,100 m) at 12° elevation; 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (AA ceiling)
Sights	telescopic

The Ordnance QF 3-pounder Vickers (47mm / L50) was a British artillery piece first tested in Britain in 1903. It was used on Royal Navy warships. It was more powerful than and unrelated to the older QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss, with a propellant charge approximately twice as large, but it initially fired the same Lyddite and steel shells as the Hotchkiss.^[1]

Development

Starting in 1904, the Royal Navy bought over 154 of these for use as anti-torpedo boat weapons on capital ships and to arm smaller ships. British production of these guns started in 1905 at Vickers and by the time production stopped in 1936 a total of 600 weapons had been made.

Royal Navy use

RNAS gun on improvised anti-aircraft mounting, Tenedos, Dardanelles, 1915. Photo by Ernest Brooks.

By 1911 about 193 guns of this type were in service, and they became standard equipment in the Royal Navy until 1915. In that year, service during the First World War proved these weapons to be ineffective and they were quickly removed from most of the larger ships. During the interwar years they were widely used to arm light ships and river craft. A number of them were converted into anti-aircraft guns and by 1927 at least 62 guns had been converted.

References

Notes

↑ Treatise on ammunition 10th Edition 1915. War Office, UK. Page 404

Bibliography

British Vickers 3-pdr (1.4 kg) (1.85"/50 (47 mm)) QF Marks I and II
Ian Buxton Big Gun Monitors: The History of the Design, Construction and Operation of the Royal Navy's Monitors

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to QF 3 pounder Vickers.

Tony DiGiulian, British Vickers 3-pdr (1.4 kg) (1.85"/50 (47 mm)) QF Marks I and II

British Empire naval weapons of the First World War

Monitor guns	BL 9.2 inch Mk VI BL 9.2 inch Mk VIII BL 9.2 inch Mk X BL 9.2 inch Mk XII BL 12 inch Mk VIII US 14 inch 45 cal BL 18 inch Mk I

Capital ship main armament	Vickers 10 inch 45 cal EOC 10 inch 45 cal BL 12 inch Mk VIII BL 12 inch Mk IX BL 12 inch Mk X BL 12 inch Mk XI & XII EOC 12 inch 45 cal Mk XIII BL 13.5 inch Mk V EOC 14 inch 45 cal Mk I BL 15 inch Mk I

Armoured cruiser main armament	BL 7.5 inch Mk I BL 9.2 inch Mk X BL 9.2 inch Mk XI

Secondary armament and light cruiser main armament	QF 12 pdr 18 cwt QF 14 pounder Maxim-Nordenfelt QF 14 pounder Mk I & II QF 4 inch Mk III BL 4 inch Mk VII QF 4 inch Mk V BL 4 inch Mk IX BL 5.5 inch Mk I QF 6 inch BL 6 inch Mk VII BL 6 inch Mk XI BL 6 inch Mk XII BL 6 inch Mk XIII-XVIII BL 7.5 inch Mk II - Mk V

Destroyer and small cruiser armament	QF 12 pdr 12 cwt Mk II QF 4 inch Mk III BL 4 inch Mk VIII QF 4 inch Mk IV BL 4.7 inch Mk I

Merchant ship armament	QF 4.7 inch Mk I - IV QF 4.7 inch Mk V*

Submarine guns	BL 4 inch Mk XI QF 4 inch Mk XII

Anti-aircraft guns	QF 2 pounder "pom-pom" Mk II QF 3 inch 20 cwt QF 4 inch Mk V

Light weapons	.303 Vickers machine gun QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss QF 3 pounder Vickers QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss

Torpedoes	18 inch Mk V - VIII 21 inch Mk II 21 inch Mk IV

Mines	Spherical Mk I, II and III Vickers Elia mine Type H mine

Anti-submarine weapons	Type A Depth charge Type B Depth charge Type C Depth charge Type D Depth charge Type E Depth charge Type F Depth charge Type G Depth charge Cruiser Mine 7.5 inch howitzer

Landing guns	QF 12 pounder 8 cwt

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Ordnance QF 3-pounder Vickers

Development

Royal Navy use

See also

References

External links