The Ordnance Quick-Firing 17-pounder (or just 17-pdr)Under the British standard ordnance weights and measurements the gun's approximate projectile weight is used to denote different guns of the same calibre. Hence this was a 3-inch gun, of which there were several types in British service, which fired a projectile weighing approximately was a 76.2 mm (3 inch)

gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

developed by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was used as an

anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...

on its own carriage, as well as equipping a number of British tanks. Used with the APDS shot, it was capable of defeating all but the thickest

armour Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...

on German tanks. It was used to "up-gun" some foreign-built vehicles in British service, notably to produce the

Sherman Firefly The Sherman Firefly was a medium tank used by the United Kingdom and some armoured formations of other Allies in World War II, Allies in the Second World War. It was based on the US M4 Sherman but was fitted with the more powerful British cal ...

variant of the US M4 Sherman tank, giving British tank units the ability to hold their own against their German counterparts. In the anti-tank role, it was replaced after the war by the

120 mm BAT recoilless rifle The L2 BAT (Battalion, Anti-Tank) was a 120 mm calibre recoilless rifle, recoilless anti-tank rifle used by the British Army. It was also produced in the MOBAT version without a gun shield, and the ConBAT version with a new spotting rifle att ...

. As a tank gun, it was succeeded by the 84 mm 20 pounder.

Development history

Gun development

Before the QF 6-pounder had entered service, the British predicted that it would soon be inadequate given the increasing armour of German tanks. In late 1940, the design of a replacement began, and was largely completed by the end of 1941. A prototype production line was set up in spring 1942, and with the appearance of

Tiger I The Tiger I () was a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of World War II that began operational duty in 1942 in North African Campaign, Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent German heavy tank battalion, heavy tank battalions. It g ...

tanks in early 1943 in the

North African Campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

, the first 100 prototype 17-pounder anti-tank guns were quickly sent to help counter this new threat. So great was the rush that they were sent before proper carriages had been developed, and the guns had to be mounted in the carriages of

25-pounder The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, with a calibre of 3.45 inches (87.6 mm), was a piece of field artillery used by British and Commonwealth forces in the Second World War. Durable, easy to operate and versatile, ...

gun-

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

s. These early weapons were known as 17/25-pounders and given the codename ''Pheasant''. They first saw action in February 1943. Fully developed 17-pounders started production in 1943 and were first used during the Italian Campaign. They became one of the most effective weapons on the battlefield, on both carriages and tanks. The 17-pounder anti-tank guns also saw action in Korea against tanks and in general support use against bunker positions. After Korea, the gun was largely replaced in the tank role by the 84mm calibre,

Ordnance QF 20 pounder The Ordnance QF 20 pounder (known as 20 pounder, 20 pdr or simply 20-pr) was a British 84 mm (3.307 inch) tank gun. It was introduced in 1948 and used in the Centurion main battle tank, Charioteer medium tank, and Caernarvon Mark I ...

, and in the anti-tank role by the BAT, MOBAT and 120 mm L6 WOMBAT series of

recoilless rifle A Recoilless rifle (rifled), recoilless launcher (smoothbore), or simply recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated to "rr" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some fo ...

Adaptation into tanks and AFVs

The 17-pounder outperformed all other Allied armour-piercing guns, and was quickly adapted for use on various tank chassis. However, few tanks were capable of carrying such a large gun due to the size limitations of their turret rings. A new British tank specification, A29, was produced to meet the need for a 17-pounder armed

cruiser tank The cruiser tank (sometimes called cavalry tank or fast tank) was a British tank concept of the interwar period for tanks designed as modernised armoured and mechanised cavalry, as distinguished from infantry tanks. Cruiser tanks were develop ...

. While the A29 was eventually cancelled without a successful design being produced, an amended specification, A30, reached production in 1943. The A30 specification reduced weight and enabled the use of

Cromwell tank The Cromwell tank, officially Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M), was one of the series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in the Second World War. Named after the English Civil War–era military leader Oliver Cromwell, the Cromwell was ...

components as a design expedient. The resulting

Cruiser Mark VIII Challenger The Tank, Cruiser, Challenger (A30) was a British tank of World War II. It mounted the QF 17-pounder anti-tank gun on a chassis derived from the Cromwell tank to add anti-tank firepower to the cruiser tank units. The design compromises made ...

had a longer hull and provided a larger turret, allowing the 17-pounder to be mounted along with space for a second loader, thought to be required for the gun's larger ammunition. However, production of the tank took time and few could be completed before the allied invasion of Normandy. While developing the Challenger tank, the British devised a conversion for their US-supplied

M4 Sherman The M4 Sherman, officially medium tank, M4, was the medium tank most widely used by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. I ...

tanks to mount the 17-pounder. This was applied in sufficient numbers to put them into service in time for

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

as the

. The gun was a modified design that was produced specifically for the Firefly, the MkIV. A new horizontal-sliding breech was designed as the usual vertical-sliding breech of the Mks I and II made loading very difficult. An additional box was welded to the back of the turret to take the radio, which was moved to allow for the breech and its recoil.Being a long gun, adequate length inside the turret was needed in order to give a satisfactory balance. A new recoil mechanism, based on the 6-pounder design, was developed and the thicker section of the gun barrel in contact with the cradle was lengthened to match the new recoil system. The original experimental Sherman mounting at Lulworth was actually rigid with no recoil system. Production of the Challenger was cancelled with only about 200 built, and 2,200 - 2,400 Sherman Is and Vs were converted as Fireflies (sources vary) and deployed in Sherman regiments Italy and NW Europe. The Challengers were deployed with Cromwell regiments. M10 Achilles facing forward

The British also converted some of their US-produced M10 tank destroyers, replacing the 3-inch (76 mm) M7 gun with the 17-pounder; the resulting vehicles were called 17pdr SP Achilles or just ''17-pdr M10C''. These served with

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

as self-propelled guns. The 17-pounder was also successfully trialled on the Australian-designed

Sentinel tank The AC1 Sentinel was a cruiser tank designed in Australia in World War II in response to the war in Europe, and to the threat of Japan expanding the war to the Pacific or even a feared Japanese invasion of Australia. It was the first tank to be b ...

, though no Sentinels equipped with this gun entered service with the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

. Efforts to fit the 17pdr on a Cromwell chassis in a better manner than the ungainly Challenger resulted in the

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

tank. However the Comet could still not take the 17pdr. The 75mm High Velocity Gun project was resurrected and redesigned to use a shortened version of the 17pdr barrel and the 17pdr projectiles mated to the cartridge of the 3 inch 30cwt anti-aircraft gun. While often confused with the 17pdr, the 77mm HV, was an entirely separate weapon and was only used on the Comet. As the war came to a close, the 17-pdr was fitted to the new

Centurion tank The FV4007 Centurion was the primary main battle tank of the British Army during the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing comba ...

, then designated as a "heavy cruiser" tank until ultimately being replaced by the 20-pounder in 1949. The Centurion was the first tank designed around the 17pdr gun. The United States Army did not use the 17-pdr. Although the gun was offered to them and tested, they chose to stick with their

76 mm gun M1 The 76 mm gun M1 was an American World War II–era tank gun developed by the U.S United States Ordnance Department in 1942 to supplement the 75 mm gun on the basic Medium tank M4. It was also used to arm the M18 Hellcat tank destroyer. ...

. US forces did however request some Firefly conversions in March 1945 and as many as 18 were converted but the war ended before they were shipped from the UK.

Variants

;Mark I : first production versions. ;Mark II : intended for tank use. Removed the carrier mountings and replaced the

muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral (ported barrel) to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter re ...

with a counterweight. The brake was added back on in March 1944 with the introduction of the APDS shot. The Mk. II was used on the

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

self-propelled anti-tank gun and

tank. ;Mark III :

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

adaptation for use on

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

, generally similar to the Mk. I, but included an automatic loading system. Unused. ;Mark IV : Another tank adaptation, this time with a different breech where the block slid to the side instead of down to take up less room. Used on

. ;Mark V : A version of the Mk IV with different mounts to allow it to replace the US 3 in (76.2 mm) Gun M7 on the

M10 tank destroyer The M10 tank destroyer, formally known as 3-inch gun motor carriage M10 or M10 BBC, was an American tank destroyer of World War II. After US entry into World War II and the formation of the Tank Destroyer Force, a suitable vehicle was needed t ...

, creating the 17pdr SP Achilles. ;Mark VI : Another Mk. IV adaptation with a shortened breech. ;Mark VII : Similar to the Mk. VI, yet another change to the breech. ;Straussler Conversion : This was an experimental gun, designed by

Nicholas Straussler Nicholas Peter Sorrel Straussler (in Hungarian: ''Straussler Miklós Péter'') (7 May 1891 – 3 June 1966) was an engineer mainly remembered for devising the flotation system used by Allied amphibious DD tanks during World War II. He also des ...

that was fitted with a motorized gun-carriage. A modified ammunition limber would be attached to the gun's trails, making a four-wheeled, self-propelled vehicle and removing the need for a truck to tow the gun.

77 mm HV

The British started work on developing a gun that was small enough to fit on their tank designs—particularly the

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

cruiser tank then at the design stage. It was intended to fire the US 75 mm projectiles (AP shot and HE) at a higher velocity, avoiding a downgrade in armour penetration versus the 6-pounder, which the dual purpose 75 mm was replacing. The new 50-calibre long gun, known as the Vickers HV 75 mm, fired a 75 mm projectile attached to a necked down 3-inch (76.2 mm) 20 cwt AA gun cartridge through a modified breech. The larger 3" cartridge provided a greater propellant charge compared with normal 75 mm shells. Although the 75 mm HV was a promising weapon, it proved to be too big for the

, which was ultimately fitted with the normal QF 75 mm gun in use on other British tanks. To account for this difference, tank squadrons were teamed with Challenger and

tanks armed with the 17-pounder. When the Cromwell's replacement, the

, was at the design stage, the 75 mm HV concept was reworked to fire the same projectiles as the 17-pounder through a shortened 17-pounder barrel but retaining the 3-inch cartridge case firing from a standard 3-inch breech. This has the benefit of greater ease of use on tanks, many of which would not have sufficient turret space to accommodate the breech length and recoil distance of the 17-pounder. Similarly, the smaller 3"-based ammunition was easier to store and handle in the tank's cramped interior. This new gun's ammunition was not interchangeable with the 17-pounder and to prevent confusion over ammunition supplies, it was renamed the 77 mm HV—the 'HV' standing for ''High Velocity''—although it was the same 76.2 mm calibre as the 17-pounder.

Ammunition

The British Army in the Normandy Campaign 1944 B6056

The 17-pounder used the following ammunition types: ;Armour Piercing Capped (APC) : Armour Piercing Capped was a basic AP shell used with field guns, but was not used when the 17pdr was mounted in the Sherman Firefly tank. ;Armour Piercing, Capped, Ballistic Capped (APCBC) : Armour Piercing, Capped, Ballistic Capped ammunition could penetrate 163 mm of armour at 500 metres and 150 mm at 1000 m. ;Armour-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) :

Armour-piercing discarding sabot Armor-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) is a type of Rifling, spin-stabilized kinetic energy penetrator, kinetic energy projectile for anti-armor warfare. Each projectile consists of a sub-caliber round fitted with a Sabot (firearms), sabot. The co ...

could penetrate 256 mm of armour at 500 m and 233 mm at 1000 m,A

Bovington Tank Museum The Tank Museum (previously the Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about north of the village of Wool, Dorset, Wool and west of the major port of Poole. ...

document states the 17-Pounder Mk II firing APDS could penetrate 187 mm at 500 yards with a 30° angle of obliquity, while ''Jane's Armour and Artillery 1981-82'' gives a penetration of 231 mm at 1,000 yards with the same strike angle. and allowing it in theory to penetrate the armour of even the German

Tiger II The Tiger II was a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of the World War II, Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B, often shortened to Tiger B.Jentz and Doyle 1993, p. 16. The ordnance inve ...

heavy tank. Most sources are in agreement that APDS was not available on D-Day itself, but reached Normandy in increasing amounts by the end of June or early July 1944. It was available for the breakout battle from Normandy and the advance to the Netherlands and Germany. The weight of the enclosed shot, excluding the enclosing sabot, was .There were accuracy issues using APDS caused by the muzzle brake aperture being too small to allow a clean separation of the sabot. Teams of engineers visited tank and artillery regiments, with equipment to boring the aperture slightly. New guns were modified in the factory. ;High Explosive (HE) :The HE shells for the 17-pounder had smaller bursting charges (Mk 1: 1.28 lbs, Mk 2: 1.06 lbs) than those for the 75mm gun used by the Sherman (M48: 1.47 lbs, Mk 1: 1.64 lbs). ;Practice, Shot Mk 10 :"The components of this practice round are similar to those of Shot APCBC, except for the projectile. The projectile is made of cast iron and is uncapped. It is fitted with tracer." APCBC ammunition was the standard ammunition for the gun, while APDS shot was used for about 6% of the average load of a 17-pounder-equipped British tank. While offering greater penetration, the smaller (sub-calibre) tungsten core of APDS was considered to provide less accurate fire than APCBC ammunition at ranges beyond 500 yards. This was due to the much lesser visible impact of rounds that fell short, making it hard to spot the fall of shot and correct aim. The APDS was also considered to cause less damage to an enemy tank if it did penetrate the armour. After penetration the core usually disintegrated. The 17-pounder produced a very large muzzle flash due to the large amount of propellant in its cartridges. Muzzle blast was also significant, described by crews of the anti-tank gun variant as resembling a hard slap on the chest. NH = non-hygroscopic; i.e. does not absorb moisture. HC = High capacity. EFC = Equivalent full charge. EFC was the basis of calculating the wear effect of propellent charges. Instructions were to examine the barrel for wear after every 40 EFC.

Performance

* FH marks the performance against face hardened armour (FHA), as opposed to rolled homogeneous armour (RHA).

Use

Anti-tank gun

The 17-pounder was a much bulkier and heavier weapon than its predecessor. As a result, it had to be towed by a gun tractor, such as the Morris Quad, M3 Half-track or the

Crusader Crusader or Crusaders may refer to: Military * Crusader, a participant in one of the Crusades * Convair NB-36H Crusader, an experimental nuclear-powered bomber * Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II * Crusaders (guerrilla), a C ...

, as it could not effectively be moved by its gun crew alone, especially on poor ground. After firing on soft ground, the 17-pounder frequently had to be pulled out of the ground due to the gun recoil burying the trail spades. After the Second World War, it was issued to anti-tank units of the Royal Artillery in the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

(BAOR) towed by the M3 Half Track. When the Royal Artillery anti-tank units were disbanded in 1951, it was transferred to Infantry battalions in the BAOR (six per battalion), towed by the Oxford Tracked Carrier. It was later replaced by the

anti-tank weapon. 17 pounder shellfortnelson

Pheasant carriage

Also known by the 17/25 pounder designation, a stop-gap measure named ''Pheasant'' mated the 17 pounder gun with a modified 25 pounder carriage. This enabled the gun to be pressed into service before its own carriage design was ready.

Split trail carriage

A custom designed carriage for the 17 pounder comprising: *

Split trail A gun carriage is a frame or a mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be maneuvered and fired. These platforms often had wheels so that the artillery pieces could be moved more easily. Gun carriages are also use ...

carriage, with gunshield. * Weight: 3 t. * Elevation: −6° to +16.5° * Traverse: 60°

Middle East

In the immediate post-war era in the Middle East, Arab national armies - Transjordan, Egypt, Syria and Iraq - mainly used British manufactured artillery, including the towed 17-pounder. The Israelis used a number of 17 pounders that they captured from the Arabs in the war of independence''The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict''
p161-162

Vehicle mount

World War II

* Tank, Cruiser, Challenger (A30) - 200 built * Tank, Cruiser, Comet I (A34) (77 mm OQF HV) - 1,200 by end of war. * SP 17-pounder, Valentine, Mk I, Archer self-propelled anti-tank gun built on

Valentine tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during World War II. More than 8,000 Valentines were produced in eleven marks, plus specialised variants, accounting for about a quarter of wartime Britis ...

hull, 655 built *

- Modified

Sherman tank The M4 Sherman, officially medium tank, M4, was the medium tank most widely used by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. I ...

(Medium Tank M4), about 2,000 * 17pdr SP Achilles - Modified 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage M10, about 1,100 by end of war * Tank, Infantry, Black Prince (A43) (experimental development of Churchill tank, never fielded) * Australian Cruiser tank Mk IV (prototype turret only, never fielded)

Post-war

Ratel IFV The Ratel is a South African infantry fighting vehicle. It was the first wheeled infantry fighting vehicle to enter service worldwide and was built on a modified MAN Truck & Bus, MAN truck chassis. The Ratel was designed in response to a South Af ...

Concept 1 - a heavily modified South African test-bed chassis. *

Eland Mk7 The Eland is an air-portable light armoured car based on the Panhard AML. Designed and built for long-range reconnaissance, it mounts either a 60mm (2.4 in) breech-loading mortar or a Denel 90mm (3.5 in) gun on a very compact chassi ...

Concept 2 - a heavily modified South African test-bed chassis. *

Alvis Saracen The FV603 Saracen is a six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier designed and produced by Alvis Car and Engineering Company, Alvis from 1952 to 1976. It has been used by a variety of operators around the world and is still in use in secondary role ...

Concept 3 - a heavily modified South African test-bed chassis. *

Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

- on A41 prototype and on production Centurion Mk 1 and Mk 2. * SP 17-pounder, A30 (Avenger) - variant of Challenger, not available in time for war, 250 built

Notes

References

External links

Great Britain's Gun Penetration Tables

Imperial War Museum Film "A Date with a Tank"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qf 17 Pounder Tank guns of the United Kingdom World War II anti-tank guns World War II tank guns 76 mm artillery World War II artillery of the United Kingdom Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1942