Quick-firing gun

The gunner loaded and fired the multiple barrels by moving a lever on the right side of the gun forward and backwards.

The French firm Hotchkiss produced the QF 3 pounder as a light 47 mm naval gun from 1886.

The gun was ideal for defending against small fast vessels such as torpedo boats and was immediately adopted by the RN as the "Ordnance QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss".

The development of heavy guns and their increasing rate of fire meant that the quick-firer lost its status as the decisive weapon of naval combat in the early 1900s, though quick-firing guns were vital to defend battleships from attack by torpedo boats and destroyers, and formed the main armament of smaller vessels.

[5] On land, quick-firing field guns were first adopted by the French Army, starting in 1897 with the Canon de 75 modèle 1897, which proved to be extremely successful.

Traditional howitzers had been employed to engage targets outside their line of fire, but were very slow to aim and reload.

Quick-firing weapons were capable of a heavy indirect bombardment, and this was the main mode of their employment during the 20th century.