HOTCHKISS ORDNANCE COMPANY -

The Hotchkiss System of Rapid-Firing Guns. Descriptions and Illustrations of the Guns, Ammunition, Mounts and Carriages, as Designed for the Naval and Military Services together with firing Tables and penetration Diagrams, as determined by Official Tests on the Firing Grounds of Gavre, Shoeburyness, Whale Island, Muggiano, Ochta, Pola, Carabanchel, and Annapolis.

London, Printed for private Circulation, 1887. Large 4to. Original blindtooled full cloth. Spine with gilt lettering. Gilt title on upper cover. Very light wear along edges. (4),85 pp., 33 plates, partly in phototypie. Clean and fine.

Hotchkiss's naval guns originated in the 1880s and were mostly 3 pounders and 6 pounders, and originally were widely used (by Britain, Russia, and the United States amongst others) for close-up defence of major warships against small craft armed with the newly invented locomotive torpedo. When improvements in torpedo range made them obsolete in this role, they continued to be used as small-craft armament up to and including World War II.

Order-nr.: 55331