3-INCH HOTCHKISS MOUNTAIN GUN
GENERAL:
The 3 Inch Hotchkiss Mountain Rifle was a small breechloading, easily transported weapon which saw some use in Cuba during the Spanish American War, particularly with the Cuban Insurgents. . The total weight of the gun was 570 pounds, and would fire a projectile 4000 yards. The 3-Inch Hotchkiss was capable of firing explosive shell, shrapnel or canister ammunition. The gun could be pulled by one horse, or packed on four. The first carried the gun tube, the second the trail, the third the wheels, and the fourth the ammunition.
BACKGROUND:
The 3 inch Hotchkiss was a gun design that was developed, and generally manufactured, in Great Britain. This gun was a modern breechloading rifle capable, though not interchangeably, of firing either black powder
or smokeless powder. The weapon could be transported to generally impassable areas by being taken apart into major components and packed on three mules. The ammunition would be carried on a fourth mule.
Prior to the outbreak of war between the United States and Spain, patriotic Cuban organizations in the United States raised funds and smuggled arms into Cuba. Some of the weapons apparently included several
3 Inch Hotchkiss guns. By mid 1896, the Cuban Insurgents also had a number of American volunteers, many serving in the Insurgents' small artillery corps.
The artillery corps utilized the 3 Inch Hotchkiss Rifle against the Spanish forces at Cascorra and later Guaimaro, both the in province of Puerto Principe. The weapon was also used against the Spanish at Jiguani
and Victoria de las Tunas, both in Santiago Province. Victoria de las Tunas was the last concentrated Insurgent artillery operation before the U.S. intervention.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
The 3 Inch Hotchkiss performed well and was an excellent modern breechloading weapon. It showed good performance even when used in artillery duels against the famed German Krupp 8 centimeter gun used by
the Spanish.
The gun had the capability to use smokeless powder, an advantage in battle in that the location of the firing gun could not as easily be determined by the enemy without the tell-tale smoke which would issue from a black powder weapon. It is presently known if the Cubans used the smokeless powder or black powder version of the weapon.
One major problem faced by the Insurgents specifically was the lack of shrapnel rounds. Their suppliers and supporters in the United States did not think to send them these rounds, which would have been very useful
when trying to dislodge the Spaniards from their trenches. Only canister and common shell were available to the Insurgents.
TECHNOTES:
| Total Weight: |
|
570 pounds |
|---|
| Range: |
|
4000 yards ( 2 1/4 miles) |
|---|
GUN TUBE
| Material: |
|
Steel |
|---|
| Total length of tube: |
|
3.76 feet |
|---|
| Length of bore: |
|
3.25 feet |
|---|
| Travel of projectile: |
|
3.02 feet |
|---|
| Calibre: |
|
3 inches |
|---|
| Weight: |
|
216 pounds |
|---|
| Grooves: |
|
24 |
|---|
| Twist of Rifling, uniform: |
|
1 in 25.59 cals. |
|---|
| Muzzle velocity: |
|
870 feet per second |
|---|
CARRIAGE:
| Material: |
|
Steel |
|---|
| Weight, complete: |
|
332 pounds |
|---|
| Length of carriage body: |
|
52.75 inches |
|---|
| Weight of carriage body: |
|
205 pounds |
|---|
| Weight of sponge and rod: |
|
4.5 pounds |
|---|
| Weight of two wheels: |
|
123 pounds |
|---|
| Height of trunnion axis above ground: |
|
23.7 inches |
|---|
| Diameter of wheels: |
|
37.4 inches |
|---|
| Track of carriage: |
|
28.35 inches |
|---|
| Vertical field of fire: |
|
+ 20 degrees, - 10 degrees |
|---|
AMMUNITION:
The 3 Inch Hotchkiss Mountain Rifle could fire three types of projectiles: shell, shrapnel, and canister. Shell is an explosive projection which explodes on impact, set off by a percussion fuse. Shell is used against personnel, or fortifications. Shrapnel is an anti-personnel round used at long ranges. The shell bursts after a given amount of time, triggered by a timed fuze. Ideally, shrapnel would burst over the enemy troops, scattering deadly metal fragments. Canister is strictly an anti-personnel round. It consists of a brass "tin can" filled with ball bearings. The explosion the charge in the gun tube rips open the "can" and sends out the ball bearings, turning the gun into a large shotgun. Canister is used at shorter ranges. All three types of projectiles are loaded into the gun as a cartridge, where the projectile and powder charge are already placed together, and set off by a firing pin in the gun.
| Weight of cartridge-case, empty: |
|
1.25 pounds |
|---|
| Weight of charge: |
|
14 ounces |
|---|
| Weight of projectile: |
|
12 pounds |
|---|
| Total weight of cartridge: |
|
14 pounds |
|---|
| Total length of complete cartridge: |
|
14.1 inches |
|---|
| Bursting-charge, common shell: |
|
6.3 ounces |
|---|
| Bursting charge, shrapnel: |
|
1 3/4 ounces |
|---|
| Effective number of balls in shrapnel: |
|
160 |
|---|
| Effective fragments, shrapnel:: |
|
180 |
|---|
| Number of balls in canister:: |
|
125 |
|---|
Sources used for this information (see Bibliography for full source list)
Dyer, Capt. A. B., "Handbook for Light Artillery", New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1898
Howser, Douglas J., "Cuban Republic Insurgents Armed Themselves With Hotchkiss Guns, " The Artilleryman, Arlington: Cutter and Locke Inc. Vol. 15, No. 2, Spring 1994, pp. 14-17.
