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–?
No. built	600
Variants	Mk I Mk II
Specifications
Mass	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 (47 mm / 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]

Contents

• 
  1 Development
  


• 
  2 Royal Navy use
  


• 
  3 See also
  


• 
  4 References
  


• 
  5 External links
  

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.

See also

• 
  QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss: this gun's predecessor


• 
  OQF 3-pounder gun: tank gun based on the Ordnance QF 3-pounder Vickers


• List of naval guns

References

Notes

1. 
   ^ 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
  
  

v t e 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 15-inch Mk I 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 BL 13.5-inch Mk VI 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-pounder 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 Mk I – III 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-pounder 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

v t e British Commonwealth naval weapons of the Second World War
Monitor guns	BL 15-inch
Capital ship main armament	BL 14-inch BL 15-inch BL 16-inch
Heavy cruiser main armament	BL 7.5-inch Mk VI BL 8-inch Mk VIII
Secondary armament and light cruiser main armament	QF 4-inch Mk V QF 4.5-inch QF 5.25-inch BL 6-inch Mk XII BL 6-inch Mk XXII BL 6-inch Mk XXIII
Minesweeper, Sloop, Corvette, Frigate and Destroyer armament	QF 6-pounder 10 cwt QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mk V QF 4-inch Mk IV BL 4-inch Mk IX QF 4-inch Mk XVI QF 4-inch Mk XIX QF 4.5-inch BL 4.7-inch Mk II QF 4.7-inch Mk IX & XII QF 4.7-inch Mk XI
Submarine guns	QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mk V QF 3-inch 20 cwt QF 4-inch Mk XII & XXII
Anti-aircraft weapons	Unrotated projectile Holman Projector 20 mm Oerlikon QF 2-pounder "pom-pom" Mk VIII 40 mm Bofors QF 3-inch 20 cwt QF 4-inch Mk V QF 4-inch Mk XVI QF 4.5-inch QF 4.7-inch Mk VIII
Light weapons	.303 Lewis machine gun .50 Vickers Mk III machine gun QF 3-pounder Vickers
Torpedoes	21-inch Mk VII 21-inch Mk VIII 21-inch Mk X 21-inch Mk XI 24.5-inch Mk I
Anti-submarine weapons	Thornycroft depth charge thrower Hedgehog Squid
Small craft armament	Molins 6-pounder Vickers K machine gun 18-inch torpedo
Foreign-sourced weapons	20 mm Oerlikon 40 mm Bofors 3-inch 23 caliber gun (US) 3-inch 50 caliber gun (US) 4-inch 50 caliber Mark 9 gun (US) 5-inch 51 caliber Mark 8 gun (US) Y-gun depth charge projector (US) Mark 8 torpedo (US)

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