The Davis gun mounted on a Curtiss flying boat
The contraption
was not a recoilless gun as much as two guns connected back-to-back, with one
firing a round in the direction of the enemy and the other one firing a mass of
lead balls and grease to counteract the recoil. Although the counterweight was
designed to disperse upon firing, it obviously had to be pointed in a safe
direction, The counterweight was typically lobbed rearward and over the top
wing of the aircraft. The first Davis guns were smoothbores, but subsequent
models were rifled to improve accuracy.
1914 patent for Davis gun Shell.
Experiments were
conducted by the British Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), the Royal Air Force (RAF)
and the American Air Service. The Davis gun was supposed to be used against, for
example, Zeppelins and U-boats. It was mounted on Handley Page O/100 and F.E.2b
bombers, as well as on Curtiss HS-2L and H-16 flying boats after unsuccessful
attempts to use N-1 and N-2 flying boats. Other experimental aircraft were also
used.
In 1915, a Haris
Booth at the Admiralty Air Department designed the A.D. Scout, a “lofty, but
quite unsuitable” aircraft with a nacelle some ten feet over the ground
carrying the upper wings. It was to have mounted the Davis gun for use against
Zeppelins, but the development was not completed. The Davis gun was also
thought of for the Blackburn Triplane, the P.V.2 seaplane and the Robey-Peters
three-seat gun carrier, although these projects remained on the drawing board.
The A.D. Scout or "Swallow"
The RNAS and
subsequently the RAF did conduct a series of trials with F.E.2B aircraft between
December 1917 and June of 1918 to determine the best type of projectile to be
used against a shallow submerged U-boat. It was found that the gun had to be
fired from very low altitude and almost vertically to have a 12-pund shell
penetrate a U-boat at a depth of 25 feet. The gun was thus deemed to be more
suitable for use against surfaced submarines. In the end it was decided that
the Davis gun was too heavy for practical use, and that bombs or 37mm
conventional guns were preferred for use against u-boats. The Davis gun was also
briefly mounted on US Navy subchasers.
The Davis gun was
declared obsolete at the end of the First World War.
Sources:
Norman Friedman.
Naval Weapons of World War One
David P. Williams.
Night Fighters: Hunters of the Reich
theaerodrome.com
https://www.subchaser.org/sc254-freeman-06
