The QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss or in French use Canon Hotchkiss à tir rapide de 47 mm were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1886 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. There were many variants produced, often under license, which ranged in length from 32 to 50 calibers but 40 caliber was the most common version. They were widely used by the navies of a number of nations and often used by both sides in a conflict. They were also used ashore as coastal defense guns and later as an anti-aircraft gun, on either improvised or specialized HA/LA mounts.
Operational history French service
The French Navy used two versions of the Hotchkiss 3-pounder: the short-barreled M1885 and the long-barreled M1902, which had a larger muzzle velocity than its predecessor. The French L/40 M1885 and the British QF 3-pounder were largely the same gun. Like the British who paired their 3-pounders with the larger QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss the French often paired theirs with the Canon de 65 mm Modèle 1891 sometimes called a 9-pounder in English publications. The 3-pounder was primarily used as anti-torpedo boat defense aboard armored cruisers, destroyers, ironclads, pre-dreadnought battleships, protected cruisers and submarines. During World War I, the role of the guns changed from anti-torpedo boat defense to anti-aircraft defense and new high angle mounts were developed but were found to be ineffective.
The Liberté-class and Danton-class battleships mounted the gun, in addition to the cruisers Jules Michelet, Ernest Renan, and those of the Edgar Quinet-class. It was used as the standard French shipboard anti-aircraft gun during World War I, being replaced by the Canon de 75 mm modèle 1908.
After World War I the majority of 3-pounders in the anti-aircraft role were replaced with either the anti-aircraft version of the Canon de 75 modèle 1897 or the Canon de 75 mm modèle 1924. French ships armed with the L/40 M1885 and L/50 M1902 include:
s s s Bouvines-class coast defense ships s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s
Australian service A 3-pounder Hotchkiss was used on an improvised mounting in a battle that resulted in Australia's first prisoners of World War 2 being captured near Berbera in 1940. The guns are now used in a Three Pound Saluting Gun Battery at the Garden Island Naval Base.
Austro-Hungarian service
The Austro-Hungarian Navy used two versions of the Hotchkiss 3-pounder. The first was the short SFK L/33 H of 1890 produced under license by Skoda. The second was the long SFK L/44 S of 1897 produced under license by Skoda. These two guns were the primary rapid fire anti-torpedo boat guns of many ships built or refitted between 1890 and 1918. On 16 August 1914 at the Battle of Antivari, the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser SMS Zenta was sunk by a combined Anglo-French force. Both sides in the battle were armed with Hotchkiss guns.
Austro-Hungarian ships armed with the L/33 and L/44 include:
Erzherzog Karl-class battleships Habsburg-class battleships Huszár-class destroyers Kaiman-class torpedo boats Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class cruisers Monarch-class coastal defense ships Panther-class cruisers Radetzky-class battleships U-10-class submarines SMS Boa SMS Kaiser Karl VI SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia SMS Kronprinz Erzherzog Rudolf SMS Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie SMS Sankt Georg Zenta-class cruisers
Chinese service China adopted the Hotchkiss 3-pounder in the 1880s, to arm its cruisers and smaller auxiliaries; the Hai Yung-class cruisers of the Imperial Chinese Navy built by AG Vulcan Stettin were armed with Nordenfelt 3-pounder guns firing the same ammunition. During the First Sino-Japanese War, ships of both sides were armed with Hotchkiss 3-pounder guns.
Chinese ships armed with 3-pounder guns include:
Chao Ho-class cruisers Yongfeng-class coastal defense ships Zhiyuen-class cruisers Chinese cruiser Hai Chi Chinese cruiser Jingyuan Chinese cruiser Laiyuan
Italian service Italy adopted the Hotchkiss 3-pounder in the 1880s to arm its armored cruisers, battleships, protected cruisers, torpedo boats and torpedo cruisers. Ships on both sides of the Italo-Turkish War were armed with 3-pounder guns. The Italians carried Hotchkiss and Vickers guns, while the Ottoman Navy carried Nordenfelt guns.
Italian ships armed with 3-pounder guns include:
Folgore-class cruisers Giuseppe Garibaldi-class cruisers Pegaso-class torpedo boats Regina Elena-class battleships Regina Margherita-class battleships Italian cruiser Tripoli
Japanese service
Japan adopted the Hotchkiss 3-pounder 5-barrel revolving cannon in the 1880s and later adopted the simpler single-barrel quick-firing weapon. The Japanese versions of the 3-pounder were known as Yamanouchi guns and were largely identical to their British equivalents. The Japanese also had a related 30 caliber 2½-pounder gun from Elswick, the Yamanouchi Mk I. During the Russo-Japanese War, ships of both sides were armed with Hotchkiss 3-pounder guns. The Japanese found them to be ineffective and removed them after the war.
Japanese ships armed with 3-pounder guns include:
Asama-class cruisers Fuji-class battleships Kasagi-class cruisers Kasuga-class cruisers Katori-class battleships Kongō-class ironclads Matsushima-class cruisers Niitaka-class cruisers Shikishima-class battleships Suma-class cruisers Tsukuba-class cruisers Japanese battleship Asahi Japanese battleship Mikasa Japanese cruiser Akitsushima Japanese cruiser Azuma Japanese cruiser Chihaya Japanese cruiser Chiyoda Japanese cruiser Miyako Japanese cruiser Soya Japanese cruiser Takasago Japanese cruiser Tatsuta (1894) Japanese cruiser Yaeyama Japanese cruiser Yakumo Japanese cruiser Yoshino Japanese gunboat Oshima Japanese ironclad Fusō Japanese submarine tender Karasaki
Polish service Polish Hotchkiss guns named the wz.1885 gun, were used on first ships of the Polish Navy, received after World War I, like ex-German torpedo boats and minesweepers. By the time of World War II most had been replaced on naval ships but several stored guns were used in combat on improvised stationary mounts by Land Coastal Defence units in the Battle of Kępa Oksywska in September 1939.
Romanian service The Romanian Navy used the Škoda-produced version of the gun. The gun was used as secondary and later tertiary armament on the Romanian monitors of the . It also served as the main armament of the of armored multi-purpose boats, each of the 8 boats carrying one gun.Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921, Naval Institute Press, 1985, p. 422Е. Е. Шведе, Военные флоты 1939—1940 гг., Рипол Классик, 2013, pp. 120-121 (in Russian)
Icelandic service The Icelandic Coast Guard received the QF 3-pounder model 1909 from Denmark and used it on its smaller patrol ships like María Júlía and on more temporary ships during the cod wars. The Icelandic Coast Guard retired it with the ICGV Þór (1951) in 1985
Icelandic ships known to have 3-pounder guns include:
ICGV Þór (1951) María Júlía ICGV baldur
Russian service
Russia adopted the Hotchkiss 3-pounder 5-barrel revolving cannon in the 1880s, and later adopted the less complicated single-barrel 43 caliber quick-firing weapon. The 5-barrel guns were equipped on the Ekaterina II-class battleships commissioned in 1889 but by 1892 the battleship Dvenadsat Apostolov and her successors had single-barrel weapons. In 1888 licensed production of a Russian variant started at the Obukhov State Plant. During the Russo-Japanese War, ships of both sides were armed with Hotchkiss 3-pounders, which were found to be ineffective against Japanese torpedo boats and were removed from first-line warships after the war. The Evstafi class, commissioned in 1910 ceased carrying the weapon but they were later fitted to patrol vessels and river craft during World War I and at least 62 weapons were converted to anti-aircraft guns by 1917.
Russian ships armed with 3-pounder guns include:
Admiral Ushakov-class coastal defense ships Amur-class minelayers Bayan-class cruisers Bogatyr-class cruisers Borodino-class battleships Derzky-class destroyers Izumrud-class cruisers Peresvet-class battleships Petropavlovsk-class battleships Russian battleship Navarin Russian battleship Potemkin Russian battleship Retvizan Russian battleship Rostislav Russian battleship Sissoi Veliky Russian battleship Tri Sviatitelia Russian battleship Tsesarevich Russian cruiser Admiral Kornilov Russian cruiser Admiral Nakhimov (1885) Russian cruiser Almaz Russian cruiser Askold Russian cruiser Boyarin Russian cruiser Gromoboi Russian cruiser Pamiat Azova Russian cruiser Rossia Russian cruiser Rurik (1892) Russian cruiser Rurik (1906) Russian cruiser Svetlana Russian cruiser Varyag Russian cruiser Vladimir Monomakh Russian yacht Standart
United Kingdom service In 1886 this gun was the first modern Quick-firing (QF) artillery piece to be adopted by the Royal Navy. It was known as the and was built under licence by the Elswick Ordnance Company.British forces traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately .
By the middle of World War I the Hotchkiss gun was obsolescent and was gradually replaced by the more powerful Ordnance QF 3 pounder Vickers gun. Of the 2,950 produced it is estimated that 1,948 were still available in 1939 for RN use. The availability, simplicity and light weight of the gun kept it in use in small vessels and many were later brought back into service on merchant vessels used for auxiliary duties in World War II or as saluting guns and sub-calibre guns for gunnery practice until the 1950s. Early in WWII, it was also pressed into service in ports around the British Empire, to defend against possible incursions by motor torpedo boats, until the modern QF 6 pounder 10 cwt gun became available. Two, brought from Gibraltar in the late 1990s, are still in use on Victory Green in the Falkland Islands for saluting purposes.
Royal Navy ships armed with QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns included:
Admiral-class ironclads Adventure-class cruisers Alert-class sloops Arrogant-class cruisers Astraea-class cruisers Blake-class cruisers Bramble-class gunboats C-class cruisers Cadmus-class sloops Canopus-class battleships Centurion-class battleships Challenger-class cruisers Colossus-class battleships Condor-class sloops Conqueror-class monitors Cressy-class cruisers Cyclops-class monitors Devastation-class ironclads Devonshire-class cruisers Diadem-class cruisers Drake-class cruisers Duncan-class battleships Eclipse-class cruisers Formidable-class battleships Forward-class cruisers Gorgon-class monitors Highflyer-class cruisers King Edward VII-class battleships King George V-class battleships Lord Nelson-class battleships Majestic-class battleships Marathon-class cruisers Monarch-class coastal defense ships Monmouth-class cruisers Orion-class battleships Orlando-class cruisers Pathfinder-class cruisers Pearl-class cruisers Pelorus-class cruisers Phoenix-class sloops Powerful-class cruisers Redbreast-class gunboats Royal Sovereign-class battleships Sentinel-class cruisers Topaze-class cruisers Trafalgar-class ironclads
United States service