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SURVIVING GUN FILE (# 1405)
Version française
Great Britain

QF 3.7-in. mountain or pack howitzer
Mountain artillery
Contributor :
Ralph Lovett      http://www.lovettartillery.com
 www.warrelics.eu/      http://www.warrelics.eu/
      
Not posted on the blog
Location :
Irak
Baghdad
Unknown Soldier Monument
Coordinates : Lat : 33.31582 / Long : 44.42628
General comments on this surviving gun :
http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/germany-ww1-ww2-armour-artillery-vehicles/german-war-booty-iraq-16156/


Identical items in the same location : 1
Items covered by this file : 1

This gun has been noticed by a contributor, but no picture proof of its existence was received

Historic and technical information
Denomination :     QF 3.7-in. mountain howitzer Origin :       ( Royal Arsenal)          

Historic context :

Unde the pression of the Indian army that was calling for a mountain howitzer to replace the obsolete BL 10-pdr (1901) and 2.75-in (1911) mountain guns, the British weapon industry had to wait for the war start and the arrival of a budget to design the brand new ‘QF 3.7-in pack howitzer’ that could be dismantled into 8 separate packs for its transportation. It was still a 'screw gun', with its barrel that could be separated in two sections linked with a thread.

This very efficient modern weapon was equipped with a variable hydro-pneumatic recoil recuperation system, a wide shield, and a new split-trail carriage (the very first split trail gun of the British arsenal). These characteristics, associated with an innovative suspension device of the carriage wheels gave it an very good capacity to be installed on very irregular grounds with a very wide fire angle of 40 degrees.

The 3.7-in mountain howitzers only joined the WW1 fights in 1917, on the Mesopotamia front annd the East Africa one. There was only 22 such guns in service in 1918. This weapon hour was yet to come. This happened in the interwars years, when it was used as a mountain gun by both the Royal Artillery and the Indian Artillery units. During WW2, it was intensively engaged by the British and the Commonwealth armies on all the fronts of Europe, Africa and Asia. Some nations kept them in service until 1965 !

Technical data :

  • Complete description : Ordnance Quick Firing 3.7 inches mountain or pack howitzer
  • Design year : 1915
  • Calibre : 94.00 mm (3.7 inches)
  • Weight in firing position : 779 kg
  • Weight for transportation : 8 separate loads
  • Tube length in calibres : 12.60
  • Grooves : 0
  • Projectile weight : 20 lb (9.1 kg) HE, Shrapnel, Smoke, Starshell
  • Initial speed : 294 m/s
  • Fire rate :
  • Range : 5400 m
  • Elevation range : -5 to +40 degrees
  • Direction range : 40 degrees total range

Sources
  • British Artillery 1914-19, Field Army Artillery           Dale Clarke                   Osprey Publishing   2004  
  • Wikipedia http://fr.wikipedia.org/