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SURVIVING GUN FILE (# 870)
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Great Britain

QF 2.95-in. mountain gun (pack howitzer)

Mountain artillery

Contributor :
Bernard Plumier      http://www.passioncompassion1418.com
     
     
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Location :
USA
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
Ordnance Museum
Coordinates : Lat : 39.49100 / Long : -76.14120
General comments on this surviving gun :


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

The museum plate tells this gun has been used by British troops in the Dardannelles in 1915

Rear view on this little compact gun

Breech markings : '234 LB - VICKERS SONS & MAXIM - 3.95 QF MOUNT. - Nr 11 - MkI 1900'. The brass plate gives fire instructions


Historic and technical information
Denomination :     QF 2.95-in. mountain gun Origin :       ( Vickers)          

Historic context :

Designed by Vickers, Sons and Maxim in 1897 at the 75 mm metric calibre for Egypt, this little artillery weapon was the first British gun to be equipped with a recoil buffer. This first experience however was not a pure success, since the recoil had to be controlled additionally by ropes blocking the wheels movement. Its metric calibre sometimes made it called 'millimetre gun'.

The 'QF 2.95-in. mountain gun', or 'pack howitzer' could be decomposed into 4 separate loads for the transportation on a mule, thus the name 'pack howitzer'. This model was not adopted by the British army for its mountain units, despite the obsolete material they were having, even if some 30 were bought at the end of the XIXth century for the defense of strategic installations such as coaling stations.

But several West African British Empire colonies incorporated numerous such guns from 1901. During the WW1, these colonial units were engaged in East Africa with these mountain guns, and probably in the Dardanelles. USA bought 12 QF2.95 guns in 1899 that they used during their war in the Philippines, then another 120 in 1904, partially manufactured under licence in US

Technical data :

  • Complete description : Ordnance Quick Firing 2.95 inches mountain gun (pack howitzer)
  • Design year : 1897
  • Calibre : 75.00 mm (2.95 inches)
  • Weight in firing position : 376 kg
  • Weight for transportation : 4 separate loads
  • Tube length in calibres : 12.00
  • Grooves : 0
  • Projectile weight : 5.67 kg (12.5 lb / shrapnel et common shell) - 8.16 kg (18 lb / double shell)
  • Initial speed : 280 m/s - 230 m/s
  • Fire rate :
  • Range : 4412 m (4825 yards)
  • Elevation range : -10 to +27 degrees
  • Direction range : none


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