QF 6-pounder Nordenfelt

The UK adopted a 42-calibre version as Ordnance QF 6-pounder Nordenfelt Mk I, Mk II, Mk III. United Kingdom Naval service They were originally mounted from 1885 onwards for use against the new (steam-driven) torpedo boats which started to enter service in the late 1870s. The Nordenfelt gun was adopted at the same time as the very similar QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss, but the Navy was not satisfied with the special Nordenfelt ammunition and fuzes. Following the explosion in 1900 of an ammunition ship due to defective fuses, Britain replaced Nordenfelt fuzes with the Hotchkiss design. Nordenfelt guns were phased out in favour of the Hotchkiss and were declared obsolete by 1919. ==Finland==

When Finland gained its independence from Russia in 1917 dozens of QF 6-pounder Nordenfelt cannons were stationed in Finland. After the Finnish Civil War in 1918 around 35 - 40 Nordenfelt cannons became available to the Finnish army. These guns were later used as a standard light coastal gun of the Finnish coastal artillery and were in service until the 1950s. During World War II some of these guns were also used as fortification artillery and bunker guns in the Mannerheim Line. ==Ammunition==

Diagrams showing the proprietary Nordenfelt 1-inch (top left) and 6-pounder (all others, labelled "2.2 inch") ammunition designs : ==Surviving examples==

• A gun at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Manly, Queensland, Australia • A gun at the Manege Military Museum, Helsinki, Finland • One used in the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898 is displayed at Denton, Maryland ==See also==