centurion Posted 3 March , 2014 Share Posted 3 March , 2014 About 42mm calibre, no fuse but hollow. Very heavy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodB Posted 3 March , 2014 Share Posted 3 March , 2014 Looks like 3-pounder (47-mm) Hotchkiss "steel shell" naval shell, base fuzed. These lads coulds spoil your day : with this : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 3 March , 2014 Author Share Posted 3 March , 2014 It's a possibility - the man who owned it did come from Portsmouth - but: it isn't 47mm, more like 42 as I said the box of 'goodies' I've been asked to look at contains only army stuff otherwise he was over 20 years in the regular army, pre, during and post WW1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clook Posted 4 March , 2014 Share Posted 4 March , 2014 I think there was a 42mm land-lubber version Hotchkiss referred to as a "mountain gun". Fired a lighter 2lb shell. Sorry, don't have any photos to compare. Probably still ruin your day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodB Posted 4 March , 2014 Share Posted 4 March , 2014 The RA used it for coast defence. You'd need to post a photo showing the rule passing across the centre of the base to convince anybody it's 42 mm. I photoshopped it to pass the ruler across the diameter and got 47 mm : And I've never heard of Britain using arty between 40 and and 47 mm in that period. Further : "very heavy" is not an accurate measurement. Weigh it and we can add the weight of a fuze and powder to identify its "filled and fuzed" weight. I predict your object weighs about 2 lb 14 oz and filled and fuzed would have been about 3 lb 4 oz ("3 pounder" was just a name) Filling was 2 oz powder, I believe the fuze weighed about 4 oz. The fuze thread looks about 20 mm which matches the Hotchkiss fuze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodB Posted 4 March , 2014 Share Posted 4 March , 2014 The 3-pdr Hotchkiss was also operated by the RNAS : towed behind armoured cars and mounted on Seabrook armoured lorries. I understand this role was taken over by the Machine Gun Corps of the Army in mid-1915. This is from 1917, so presumably the men are Army : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now