The Hotchkiss 25 mm anti-aircraft gun was an anti-aircraft

autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a automatic firearm, fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary ammunition, incendiary shell (projectile), shells, ...

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 ...

with French, Japanese and other nations' forces. Other than the designer company and the calibre, this weapon is not related to the semi-automatic 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun; in particular, the cartridge used is different.

Development

After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the French military expressed a need for an anti-aircraft autocannon. The Hotchkiss company submitted its 25 mm design, but it was rejected as being too slow-firing, so the weapon was proposed for export instead. In 1938, as the international situation was worsening, and the favoured Schneider 37 mm autocannon was still not ready for production, the French military decided to reconsider its refusal to Hotchkiss, who had just won a contract with Romania. The export guns were held in France and impressed into domestic service. The original tripod was found to be unstable, which led to the development of a revised variant with a triangular base with a two-wheel carriage. This new variant was chosen for mass production, but at the time of the German attack in May 1940, only a few hundred of these guns were in service. With them and only approximately two hundred Oerlikons, the lack of modern light AA guns greatly hampered the French army in the campaign.

Foreign use

Europe

Romania ordered 300 pieces but only 72 had been delivered by the fall of France. The Spanish Republic bought the weapons for its navy in December 1935. Five were received in January 1936 and installed during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

in the destroyers ''Jose Luis Díez'', '' Lepanto'' and ''Ulloa''. After the civil war, these weapons were used during the 1940s."Las armas de la guerra civil española" , pages 394 -398.

Asia

Japan bought a license to manufacture the weapon, which became the Type 96 and was used on most Japanese warships of World War II. It was known officially as the Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun. Japan was far and away the most prolific user of this design, producing 33,000 units and deploying it across their military forces.

Variants

;''mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre-aéroplanes modèle 1938'' :the original tripod-mounted gun intended for Romania. ;''mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre-aéroplanes modèle 1939'' :heavier, more stable carriage. ;''mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre-aéroplanes modèle 1940'' :faster-firing variant on fixed mounting for naval and static defense use, cartwheel sights. ;''mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre-aéroplanes modèle 1940 jumelée'' :ground-based twin variant.

Notes

References

* Ferrard, Stéphane. ''France 1940 l'armement terrestre'', ETAI, 1998, * ''Notice provisoire du matériel de 25 m/m C.A. Modèle 1938'', Manufacture d'armes de Levallois, 1939 * ''Rapid fire'', Anthony G. Williams, *"Las armas de la guerra civil española", José María Manrique, , pages 394 -398

External links

Munitions de 25 mm Hotchkiss Modèle 1938
(in French) {{WWIIFrenchGuns World War II anti-aircraft guns World War II artillery of France Anti-aircraft guns of France 25 mm artillery Autocannon Hotchkiss et Cie Military equipment introduced in the 1930s