QF 13-pounder Mk IV AA Gun on:
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The Ordnance QF 13-pounder Mk IV anti-aircraft gun was an Elswick Ordnance commercial 3 inch 13-pounder gun of which 6 were supplied during
Elswick Ordnance had already developed the gun as a commercial venture and supplied the existing 6 guns to the British government in 1915 when the need for anti-aircraft guns became urgent.Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 62 All 6 were eventually sent to the Western Front and then various other theatres. Precise theatres of service are difficult to ascertain due to writers often not differentiating between various Mks of 13-pounder guns. 2 guns are known to have been operated by 99th Anti-Aircraft Section at
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 1914-55. London: Brassey's, 1994
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 ...
. It is unrelated to other British Mks of 13-pounder.
History
Elswick Ordnance had already developed the gun as a commercial venture and supplied the existing 6 guns to the British government in 1915 when the need for anti-aircraft guns became urgent.Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 62 All 6 were eventually sent to the Western Front and then various other theatres. Precise theatres of service are difficult to ascertain due to writers often not differentiating between various Mks of 13-pounder guns. 2 guns are known to have been operated by 99th Anti-Aircraft Section at Salonika
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
from July 1917 until the end of the war.War Diary of 99th AA Section, 7 January 1918 refers explicitly to 13 pdr 6 cwt Mark IV guns. National Archives, Kew, UK
It is visibly identified by having 2 recoil/recuperator cylinders above the barrel. The cylinder immediately above the barrel is slightly shorter than the barrel, and the top cylinder is slightly longer than the barrel. The overall appearance is of a standard 13-pounder with an additional, slightly longer, recuperator cylinder on top. The gun breech also differed from standard British practise, in that it used a Nordenfelt breech similar to that of the French 75, but inverted : the breech was opened and closed by rotating it about an axis near the top of the barrel, which uncovered and covered the slot for entering the cartridge, rather than unscrewing and swinging it out as with the typical British Welin or Asbury breech.
Notes
See also
* List of anti-aircraft gunsReferences
* I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London:Ian Allan, 1972. *Brigadier NW RoutledgeHistory of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 1914-55. London: Brassey's, 1994
Surviving examples
External links
{{GreatWarBritishWeapons World War I artillery of the United Kingdom World War I anti-aircraft guns 76 mm artillery