Quick-firing gun

Quick-firing gun

A quick-firing gun (in U.S. parlance, 'rapid-firing') is an artillery piece, typically a gun or howitzer, which has several characteristics which taken together mean the weapon can fire at a fast rate.Quick-firing was introduced worldwide in the 1890s and early 1900s and had a marked impact on war both on land and at sea.

The characteristics of a quick-firing artillery piece are:
*Buffers to limit recoil, so the barrel can quickly return to position after being fired.
*A breech mechanism which allows rapid reloading
*Single-piece ammunition, e.g. a cartridge containing both shell and propellant. (This criterion was sometimes taken as the "definition" of quick-firing, but many quick-firing guns dispensed with it).

These innovations, taken together, meant that the quick-firer could fire aimed shells much more rapidly than an older weapon. In 1887, an Elswick 4.7-in gun fired 10 rounds in 47.5 seconds, almost eight times faster than the equivalent 5-inch breech loading gun. Another important factor was the introduction of 'smokeless powder' - nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine or cordite - which created far less smoke than gunpowder, meaning that gun crews could still see their target.

Quick-firing was first introduced in warships. The Royal Navy introduced the 4.7-inch quick firer in HMS Sharpshooter of 1889, and the 6-inch quick firer in HMS "Royal Sovereign", launched 1891. Other navies followed suit; the French navy installed quick-firing weapons on its ships completed in 1894-5. [Gardiner, "Steam, Steel and Shellfire", p.161]

Quick-firing guns were a key characteristic of the pre-dreadnought battleship, the dominant design of the 1890s. The quick-firing guns, while unable to penetrate thick armour, were intended to destroy the superstructure of an opposing battleship, start fires, and kill or distract the enemy's gun crews. The development of heavy guns and their increasing rate of fire meant that the quick-firer lost its status as the decisive weapon of naval combat in the early 1900s, though quick-firing guns were vital to defend battleships from attack by torpedo boats and destroyers, and formed the main armament of smaller vessels.

On land, quick-firing field guns were first adopted by the French Army, starting in 1897 with a quick-firing 75mm gun which proved to be extremely successful. Other nations were quick to copy the quick-firing technology, though the British took few quick-firing weapons to the Boer War. The first war in which quick-firing artillery was widespread was the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5. [Bidwell & Graham, "Fire-Power", p.11-13]

The quick-firing howitzer offered the potential for practical indirect fire. Traditional howitzers had been employed to engage targets outside their line of fire, but were very slow to aim and reload. Quick-firing weapons were capable of a heavy indirect bombardment, and this was the main mode of their employment during the twentieth century.

References

External links

* [http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Mademoiselle_75/75_01.htm Impact of the French 75mm Quick-Firer]
* [http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p4013coll7&CISOPTR=139&CISOBOX=1&REC=2 1905 lecture on the U.S. Army employment of quick-firing artillery]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • quick-firing gun — greitašaudis pabūklas statusas T sritis Gynyba apibrėžtis Automatinis (pusiau automatinis) pabūklas, turintis didelę greitašaudą (dešimtys šimtai šūvių/min). Visi zenitiniai ir kai kurie prieštankiniai pabūklai yra greitašaudžiai. atitikmenys:… …   Artilerijos terminų žodynas

  • Gun laying — is the process of aiming an artillery piece. The term is also applied to describe the process of aiming smaller calibre weapons by radar or computer control. The gun is typically rotated in a horizontal plane in order gain a line of sight to the… …   Wikipedia

  • Gun-type fission weapon — Gun type fission weapons are fission based nuclear weapons whose design assembles their fissile material into a supercritical mass by the use of the gun method: shooting one piece of sub critical material into another. Although this is sometimes… …   Wikipedia

  • 4"/50 caliber gun — The 4 /50 caliber Mark 9 gun (spoken four inch fifty caliber ) was the standard low angle, quick firing gun for United States destroyers through World War I and the 1920s. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile 4 …   Wikipedia

  • rapid-fire gun — greitašaudis pabūklas statusas T sritis Gynyba apibrėžtis Automatinis (pusiau automatinis) pabūklas, turintis didelę greitašaudą (dešimtys šimtai šūvių/min). Visi zenitiniai ir kai kurie prieštankiniai pabūklai yra greitašaudžiai. atitikmenys:… …   Artilerijos terminų žodynas

  • quick-fire — ► ADJECTIVE 1) unhesitating and rapid. 2) (of a gun) firing shots in rapid succession …   English terms dictionary

  • Gun politics in Finland — In Finland there are 32 privately owned firearms per 100 civilians according to the Finnish Ministry of the Interior [ [http://www.intermin.fi/intermin/home.nsf/pages/E78ADB8A5782F57FC225738D0050C916] ] [ [http://www.intermin.fi/intermin/bulletin …   Wikipedia

  • quick-fire — adjective 1》 unhesitating and rapid. 2》 (of a gun) firing shots in rapid succession …   English new terms dictionary

  • M2 Browning machine gun — This article is about the .50 caliber M2 machine gun. For the .30 06 M2 machine gun, see M1919 Browning machine gun. Infobox Weapon|is ranged=yes caption=M2HB machine gun name=Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB type=Heavy machine gun… …   Wikipedia

  • machine gun — a small arm operated by a mechanism, able to deliver a rapid and continuous fire of bullets as long as the trigger is pressed. [1865 70] * * * Automatic weapon capable of rapid, sustained fire, usually 500–1,000 rounds per minute. Developed in… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”