Davis gun

Davis Gun
Davis gun mounted on Curtiss F5L anti-submarine seaplane
TypeRecoilless cannon
Place of originUnited States
Service history
Used byRoyal Naval Air Service
WarsWorld War I
Production history
DesignerCleland Davis
Designed1912–1914

The Davis gun was the first true recoilless gun developed and taken into service. It was developed by Commander Cleland Davis[1] of the United States Navy in 1910, just prior to World War I.

Development

Different types of Davis-type ammunition[2]

Davis' design connected two guns back to back, with the backwards-facing gun loaded with lead balls and grease of the same weight as the shell in the other gun, acting as a counter. His idea was used experimentally by the British and Americans as an anti-Zeppelin and anti-submarine weapon[3] mounted on the British Handley Page O/100 and O/400 bombers and the American Curtiss Twin JN[1] and Curtiss HS-2L and H-16 flying boats. The direct development of the gun ended with the end of World War I in November 1918, but the firing principle has been copied by later designs.

Description

The gun was made in three sizes: 2-pounder, 6-pounder and 12-pounder; 1.57 in (40 mm), 2.45 in (62 mm),[4] and 3 in (76 mm) in caliber respectively, firing 2-pound (0.91 kg), 6-pound (2.7 kg), and 12-pound (5.4 kg) shells. The 3-inch gun carried a pressure of 15 tons per square inch (2,109 kg per cm2) when fired.[5] Usually a Lewis machine gun was mounted on top of the Davis gun's barrel for use in sighting and as an auxiliary and anti-aircraft weapon.

Aircraft used

The gun was tested on various aircraft and some aircraft were designed to carry the gun:

Surviving examples

There are examples at the Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida, the Imperial War Museum in London, and the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort, Kentucky.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Williams, Anthony G (August 2014). "The Cannon Pioneers: The early development and use of aircraft cannon". Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  2. ^ United States. Navy Dept. Bureau of Ordnance (1923). Ammunition : instructions for the naval service, 1923. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. p. 162.
  3. ^ "DAVIS AMMUNITION". www.big-ordnance.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  4. ^ Williams give 57mm calibre
  5. ^ "United States of America Experimental and Miscellaneous 3" (7.62 cm) Guns". www.navweaps.com. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  6. ^ Trimble, William F. (1990). Wings for the Navy: A History of the Naval Aircraft Factory, 1917-1956 (1st ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 35–36. ISBN 0-87021-663-5.

Bibliography

  • Russell, Mark (2019). "Bring Out the Big Guns: British Military Aviation & the Development of the Heavy Cannon, 1914–39". The Aviation Historian (28): 60–69. ISSN 2051-1930.