1-inch Nordenfelt gun: Difference between revisions

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{{otheruses4|the anti-torpedo boat gun|the rifle calibre "machine gun"|Nordenfelt gun}}
{{about|the anti-torpedo boat gun|the rifle calibre "machine gun"|Nordenfelt gun}}
{{Infobox Weapon
{{Infobox weapon
|name= 1 inch Nordenfelt gun
|name= 1-inch Nordenfelt gun
|image=[[File:Nord 2.JPG|300px]]
|image=Nordenfelt gun four barreled.JPG
|caption=Four-barrel version
|caption=Four-barrel version
|origin={{flagicon|United Kingdom}}
|origin=United Kingdom
|type= [[Naval gun]]
|type= [[Naval gun]]
<!-- Type selection -->
<!-- Type selection -->
Line 14: Line 14:
|is_UK=YES
|is_UK=YES
<!-- Service history -->
<!-- Service history -->
|service=1880 - 1890s
|service=1880–1890s
|used_by=Many navies
|used_by=Many navies
|wars=
|wars=
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<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
|cartridge={{Convert|7.25|oz|kg}} solid steel bullet with brass jacket<ref name=TBG1887/>
|cartridge={{Convert|7.25|oz|kg}} solid steel bullet with brass jacket<ref name=TBG1887/>
|caliber={{convert|1|in|mm|sing=on|sigfig=4}}
|caliber={{convert|1|in|mm|adj=on|sigfig=4}}
|action=
|action=
|rate=
|rate=
Line 50: Line 50:
}}
}}


The '''1 inch Nordenfelt''' was an early rapid-firing light gun intended to defend larger warships against the new small fast-moving [[torpedo boat]]s in the late 1870s - early 1880s.
The '''1-inch Nordenfelt gun''' was an early [[Quick-firing gun|quick-firing]] light gun intended to defend larger warships against the new small fast-moving [[torpedo boat]]s in the late 1870s to the 1890s.


==Description==
== Description ==
The gun was an enlarged version of the successful rifle-calibre Nordenfelt hand-cranked "machine gun" designed by [[Helge Palmcrantz]] and was intended to combine its rapid rate of fire with a projectile capable of deterring attacking torpedo boats. The gun fired a solid steel bullet with hardened tip and brass jacket : under the terms of the [[St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868]], exploding shells weighing less than 400 grams were not allowed to be used in warfare between the signatory nations.
The gun was an enlarged version of the successful rifle-calibre Nordenfelt hand-cranked "machine gun" designed by [[Helge Palmcrantz]] and was intended to combine its rapid rate of fire with a projectile capable of deterring attacking torpedo boats. The gun fired a solid steel bullet with hardened tip and brass jacket: under the terms of the [[St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868]], exploding shells weighing less than 400 grams were not allowed to be used in warfare between the signatory nations.


[[File:1-InchNordenfelt4BarrelGunNavalActionDrawing.jpg|thumb|left|<center>Woodcut depicting [[Royal Navy]] gunners in action with four-barrel model. The gun captain, left, is operating the training handwheel</center>]]
[[File:1-InchNordenfelt4BarrelGunNavalActionDrawing.jpg|thumb|left|<div style="text-align: center;">[[Woodcut]] depicting [[Royal Navy]] gunners in action with four-barrel model. The gun captain, left, is operating the training handwheel</div>]]
The gun was used in one, two and four-barrel versions. The ammunition was fed by gravity from a hopper above the breech subdivided into separate columns for each barrel. The gunner loaded and fired the multiple barrels by moving a lever on the right side of the gun forward and backwards. Pulling the lever backwards extracted the fired cartridges, pushing it forward then loaded fresh cartridges into all the barrels, and the final part of the forward motion fired all the barrels, one at a time in quick succession. Hence the gun functioned as a type of [[volley gun]], firing bullets in bursts, compared to the contemporary [[Gatling gun]] and the true [[machine guns]] which succeeded it such as the [[Maxim gun]], which fired at a steady continuous rate.
The gun was used in one, two and four-barrel versions. The ammunition was fed by gravity from a hopper above the breech subdivided into separate columns for each barrel. The gunner loaded and fired the multiple barrels by moving a lever on the right side of the gun forward and backwards. Pulling the lever backwards extracted the fired cartridges, pushing it forward then loaded fresh cartridges into all the barrels, and the final part of the forward motion fired all the barrels, one at a time in quick succession. Hence the gun functioned as a type of [[volley gun]], firing bullets in bursts, compared to the contemporary [[Gatling gun]] and the true [[machine guns]] which succeeded it such as the [[Maxim gun]], which fired at a steady continuous rate.


The gunner was occupied with manually operating the loading and firing lever, while the gun captain aimed the gun and operated the elevation and training handwheels.
The gunner was occupied with manually operating the loading and firing lever, while the gun captain aimed the gun and operated the elevation and training handwheels.


{{clear left}}
It was superseded for anti-torpedo boat defence in the mid-1880s by the new generation of [[Hotchkiss et Cie|Hotchkiss]] and Nordenfelt "[[British ordnance terms#Fixed QF|QF]]" guns of 47-mm and 57-mm calibre firing exploding "[[British ordnance terms#Common Pointed|common pointed]]" shells weighing 3 - 6 pounds.
{{clearleft}}


==Ammunition==
== Ammunition ==
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:1-inchNordenfeltCartridgeMkVIDiagram1894.jpg|<center>British Mk VI cartridge</center>
File:1-inchNordenfeltCartridgeMkVIDiagram1894.jpg|{{center|British Mk VI [[British ordnance terms#Round|round]] (left) and blank round (right)}}
</gallery>
</gallery>
⚫
==See also==
{{Commonscat-inline|1-inch Nordenfelt gun}}


== Surviving examples ==
==Notes==
* [[:File:Nord 2.JPG|A 4-barreled gun at United States Army Ordnance Museum, MD, USA]]
* [http://www.ammsbrisbane.com/documentation/nordenfeld_1.html A 4-barreled gun in The Gardens, Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060528/http://www.ammsbrisbane.com/documentation/nordenfeld_1.html |date=2016-03-04 }}
* [http://www.ammsbrisbane.com/documentation/nordenfelt_2.html A 2-barreled gun in The Gardens, Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212403/http://www.ammsbrisbane.com/documentation/nordenfelt_2.html |date=2016-03-03 }}
* [http://www.ammsbrisbane.com/documentation/nordenfelt_3.html A 2-barreled gun at Queens Park, Maryborough, Queensland, Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429031013/http://www.ammsbrisbane.com/documentation/nordenfelt_3.html |date=2017-04-29 }}
* A 2-barrelled gun at the Australian War Memorial museum, Canberra ACT Australia.
* A 4-barrelled gun at the Tower of London
* A 5-barrelled gun at [[Chatham Historic Dockyard]]
* A 2-barreled 1in gun at the QEII Army Memorial Museum Waiouru New Zealand.
* A 4-barrelled 25mm gun at the [[Royal Norwegian Navy Museum]] in Horten.

⚫
== See also ==
* [[List of naval guns]]

== Notes and references ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==References==
== Bibliography ==
*[http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/u?/p4013coll11,222 Text Book of Gunnery, 1887. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE]
* [http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/u?/p4013coll11,222 Text Book of Gunnery, 1887. LONDON: PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121204140418/http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/u?/p4013coll11,222 |date=2012-12-04 }}


==External links==
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
⚫
*[http://www.cerberus.com.au/fclick/fclick.php?id=139 Description, Drill, Ammunition. Manual for Victorian Naval Forces 1887, pages 41 - 52] from HMVS Cerberus website
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/303770 Handbook for Nordenfelt gun, l-in. 2-Barrel, Mark I. 1886] at State Library of Victoria
⚫
*[http://www.victorianshipmodels.com/antitorpedoboatguns/Nordenfelt/nordenfelt1inch4.html 1 inch 4-barrel Nordenfelt Mk III Machine-Gun] History, technical details, animations
*[http://www.victorianshipmodels.com/antitorpedoboatguns/Nordenfelt/nordenfelt1inch2.html 1 inch 2-barrel Nordenfelt Machine-Gun] History, technical details, animations
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/303771 Handbook for the 1" 4-barrel Nordenfelt gun : 1886] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/103671 Handbook of the 1" 4 barrel Nordenfelt gun, 1889] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/109921 Handbook of the 1" 4-barrel Nordenfelt gun, 1894] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/109928 Handbook for Nordenfelt gun, 1-inch, 2 barrel, Mark I, 1895] at State Library of Victoria
⚫
* [http://www.cerberus.com.au/fclick/fclick.php?id=139 Description, Drill, Ammunition. Manual for Victorian Naval Forces 1887, pages 41 - 52] from HMVS Cerberus website
⚫
* [http://www.victorianshipmodels.com/antitorpedoboatguns/Nordenfelt/nordenfelt1inch4.html 1 inch 4-barrel Nordenfelt Mk III Machine-Gun] History, technical details, animations
* [http://www.victorianshipmodels.com/antitorpedoboatguns/Nordenfelt/nordenfelt1inch2.html 1 inch 2-barrel Nordenfelt Machine-Gun] History, technical details, animations
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu8GgzDiS90 Animation of the inner workings of the 1 inch 4-barrel Nordenfelt, first model mechanism]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X916k-tNKuU Animation of the inner workings of the 1 inch 2-barrel Nordenfelt, second model mechanism]



{{Multiple Barrel Firearms}}
{{VictorianEraBritishNavalWeapons}}
{{VictorianEraBritishNavalWeapons}}


[[Category:Naval guns of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Naval guns of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Victorian Age weapons of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:25 mm artillery]]
[[Category:25 mm artillery]]

[[nl: 1 Inch Nordenfelt]]

Latest revision as of 02:49, 11 May 2024

This article is about the anti-torpedo boat gun. For the rifle calibre "machine gun", see Nordenfelt gun.
1-inch Nordenfelt gun
Four-barrel version
TypeNaval gun
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
In service1880–1890s
Used byMany navies
Production history
DesignerHelge Palmcrantz
ManufacturerNordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company
Specifications
Mass447 pounds (203 kg)[1]
Barrel length35.48 inches (901 mm)[1]
Shell7.25 ounces (0.206 kg) solid steel bullet with brass jacket[1]
Calibre1-inch (25.40 mm)
Muzzle velocity1,464 feet per second (446 m/s)[1]

The 1-inch Nordenfelt gun was an early quick-firing light gun intended to defend larger warships against the new small fast-moving torpedo boats in the late 1870s to the 1890s.

Description[edit]

The gun was an enlarged version of the successful rifle-calibre Nordenfelt hand-cranked "machine gun" designed by Helge Palmcrantz and was intended to combine its rapid rate of fire with a projectile capable of deterring attacking torpedo boats. The gun fired a solid steel bullet with hardened tip and brass jacket: under the terms of the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868, exploding shells weighing less than 400 grams were not allowed to be used in warfare between the signatory nations.

Woodcut depicting Royal Navy gunners in action with four-barrel model. The gun captain, left, is operating the training handwheel

The gun was used in one, two and four-barrel versions. The ammunition was fed by gravity from a hopper above the breech subdivided into separate columns for each barrel. The gunner loaded and fired the multiple barrels by moving a lever on the right side of the gun forward and backwards. Pulling the lever backwards extracted the fired cartridges, pushing it forward then loaded fresh cartridges into all the barrels, and the final part of the forward motion fired all the barrels, one at a time in quick succession. Hence the gun functioned as a type of volley gun, firing bullets in bursts, compared to the contemporary Gatling gun and the true machine guns which succeeded it such as the Maxim gun, which fired at a steady continuous rate.

The gunner was occupied with manually operating the loading and firing lever, while the gun captain aimed the gun and operated the elevation and training handwheels.

Ammunition[edit]

  • British Mk VI round (left) and blank round (right)
    British Mk VI round (left) and blank round (right)

Surviving examples[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d British service Mk III 4-barrel version. Text Book of Gunnery, 1887. Table XVI

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1-inch Nordenfelt gun.


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