QF 6-pounder Nordenfelt

This article is about the QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt gun. For other 6-pounder weapons, see 6-pounder gun.

The QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt was a light 57 mm naval gun and coast defence gun of the late 19th century used by many countries.

QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt
48-calibre version at Gyltö, western archipelago of Finland, 1999
Type	Naval gun Coast defence gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1885 - 19??
Used by	Many countries
Production history
Designed	1885
Manufacturer	Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company Maxim-Nordenfelt
Specifications
Mass	UK 42-cal version : 638 pounds (289 kg) barrel & breech[1]
Length	various, 42-50 calibres
Shell	Fixed QF 6 lb (2.7 kg)
Calibre	57-millimetre (2.24 in)
Breech	Vertical sliding-block with locking wedge
Muzzle velocity	1,818 ft/s (554 m/s)[2]
Maximum firing range	4,500–6,000 yd (4,100–5,500 m)[2]

Note that this gun should not be confused with the short-barreled 57 mm Cockerill-Nordenfelt "Canon de caponnière" or fortification gun, which was used to arm the German A7V tank in World War I.

Nordenfelt guns can be visually differentiated from equivalent and similar Hotchkiss guns by having slimmer barrels than the Hotchkiss, hence the Nordenfelt was considerably lighter.

United Kingdom

The UK adopted a 42-calibre version as Ordnance QF 6-pounder Nordenfelt ^{[note 1]} Mk I, Mk II, Mk III.

United Kingdom Naval service

Gun drill on HMS Camperdown, circa 1896

They were originally mounted from 1885 onwards for use against the new (steam-driven) torpedo boats which started to enter service in the late 1870s. The Nordenfelt gun was adopted at the same time as the very similar QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss, but the Navy was not satisfied with the special Nordenfelt ammunition and fuzes. Following the explosion in 1900 of an ammunition ship due to defective fuses, Britain replaced Nordenfelt fuzes with the Hotchkiss design. Nordenfelt guns were phased out in favour of the Hotchkiss and were declared obsolete by 1919.^[3]

Finland

When Finland gained its independence from Russia in 1917 dozens of QF 6-pounder Nordenfelt cannons were stationed in Finland. After the Finnish Civil War in 1918 around 35 - 40 Nordenfelt cannons became available to the Finnish army. These guns were later used as a standard light coastal gun of the Finnish coastal artillery and were in service until the 1950s. During World War II some of these guns were also used as fortification artillery and bunker guns in the Mannerheim Line.^[4]

Ammunition

Diagrams showing the proprietary Nordenfelt 1-inch (top left) and 6-pounder (all others, labelled "2.2 inch") ammunition designs :

Surviving examples

• A gun at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Manly, Queensland, Australia Archived 2011-03-09 at the Wayback Machine
• A gun at the Manege Military Museum, Helsinki, Finland

See also

• List of naval guns

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

• QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss: Hotchkiss equivalent

Notes

1. British forces traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case 6 pounds (2.7 kg).