The Davis gun was the first true
recoilless gun
A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...
developed and taken into service. It was developed by
Commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
Cleland Davis
of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
in 1910, just prior to
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Development
![Davis gun ammunition](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Davis_gun_ammunition.png)
Davis' design connected two guns back to back, with the backwards-facing gun loaded with
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
balls and
grease of the same weight as the
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
in the other gun, acting as a counter. His idea was used experimentally by the British and Americans as an anti-
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
and anti-
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
weapon
mounted on the British
Handley Page O/100 and O/400 bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
s and the American
Curtiss Twin JN
The Curtiss Twin JN (retrospectively called the Model 1B and also known as the JN-5) was an experimental aircraft built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the United States Army Air Service. It was a biplane, designed for observatio ...
[ and ]Curtiss HS-2L
The Curtiss HS was a single-engined patrol flying boat built for the United States Navy during World War I. Large numbers were built from 1917 to 1919, with the type being used to carry out anti-submarine patrols from bases in France from June 1 ...
and H-16 flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
s. The direct development of the gun ended with the end of World War I in November 1918, but the firing principle has been copied by later designs.
Description
The gun was made in three sizes 2-pounder, 6-pounder and 12-pounder; , , and in caliber respectively, firing , , and shells. The 3-inch gun carried a pressure of 15 tons per square inch (2,109 kg per cm2) when fired. Usually a Lewis machine gun was mounted on top of the Davis gun's barrel for use in sighting and as an auxiliary and anti-aircraft weapon
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
.
Aircraft used
The gun was tested on various aircraft and some aircraft were designed to carry the gun:
*Airco DH.4
The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918.
Ai ...
* Armstrong-Whitworth FK.5 and FK.6 - "escort fighter" triplane
*Curtiss F5L
The twin-engine F5L was one of the Felixstowe F series of flying boats developed by John Cyril Porte at the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe, England, during the First World War for production in America.
A civilian version of the air ...
- patrol flying boat used by US Navy
*Felixstowe Porte Baby
The Felixstowe Porte Baby (also known as the Porte F.B.2) was a British reconnaissance flying boat of the First World War, first flying in 1915.
Design and development
The Porte Baby was designed by John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air statio ...
- large flying boat
* Handley-Page O/100 - twin engined bombers with 6pdr Davis gun added for ground attack and anti-submarine
* Handley-Page O/400 - larger version of the O/400
* Naval Aircraft Factory N-1 - patrol floatplane designed by US Navy, four prototypes built, project canceled
*Short Type 184
The Short Admiralty Type 184, often called the Short 225 after the power rating of the engine first fitted, was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying folding-wing seaplane designed by Horace Short of Short Brothers. It ...
*Short 310
The Short Type 320, also known as the Short Admiralty Type 320, was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo-carrying "folder" seaplane of the First World War.
Design and development
The Short Type 320 was designed to meet an off ...
-B seaplane
*Pemberton-Billing PB.29E
* Pemberton-Billing PB.31E - long endurance anti-Zeppelin night fighter with 37mm Davis gun, prototypes only
* Robey-Peters RRF.25 Gun-carrier - two Davis guns. Single prototype for Royal Navy completed
Surviving examples
There are examples at the Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...
, the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
in London, and the Kentucky Historical Society
The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) was originally established in 1836 as a private organization. It is an agency of the Kentucky state government that records and preserves important historical documents, buildings, and artifacts of Kentucky's ...
in Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...
.
See also
*COW 37 mm gun
The COW 37 mm gun was a British automatic cannon that was developed during First World War as a large-calibre aircraft weapon. It was tested in several installations and specified for the Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter for attacking bombers. Th ...
References
External links
Patent 1108714
Patent 1108717
Recoilless rifles of the United States
World War I aircraft guns
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