The Ordnance QF 3-pounder Vickers (47 mm / L50) was a British artillery piece first tested in Britain in 1903. It was used on

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 ...

warships. It was more powerful than and unrelated to the older

QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss The QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss or in French use Canon Hotchkiss à tir rapide de 47 mm were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1886 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. T ...

, with a propellant charge approximately twice as large, but it initially fired the same Lyddite and steel shells as the Hotchkiss.Treatise on ammunition 10th Edition 1915. War Office, UK. Page 404

Development

Starting in 1904, the

bought over 154 of these for use as anti-

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

weapons on

capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic i ...

s and to arm smaller ships. British production of these guns started in 1905 at

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

and by the time production stopped in 1936 a total of 600 weapons had been made.

Royal Navy use

QF3pdrVickersAAMountingTenedosDardanelles1915

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 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 ...

proved these weapons to be ineffective and they were quickly removed from most of the larger ships, some were mounted in armoured lorries as the main armaments of the

Pierce-Arrow The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive Luxury vehicle, luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manuf ...

and Seabrook armoured lorries. 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 ;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

* Tony DiGiulian

{{DEFAULTSORT:QF 03-pounder Vickers 47 mm artillery World War I artillery of the United Kingdom Vickers Naval anti-aircraft guns Naval guns of the United Kingdom World War I naval weapons of the United Kingdom

Development

Royal Navy use

See also

References

External links