Green Mace

Green Mace
An anti-aircraft gun on a wheeled chassis. On the back of the long gun barrel are two large drums for holding ammunition. There is a small control booth on the right hand side of the vehicle.
Green Mace prototype at the Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, in 2015.
TypeHeavy anti-aircraft gun
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Production history
DesignerRARDE, Fort Halstead
Designedc. 1956
ManufacturerVickers
Produced1956
No. built1
Specifications (Prototype)
Mass28,000 kg (62,000 lb)[1]
Crew1 gunner
10-15 support personnel
ShellFolding Fin Discarding Sabot
Calibre102 mm (4.0 in) (test version)
Barrels1 partially-rifled smooth bore
Actionelectric-driven drum feed
Rate of fire96 rounds/minute
Muzzle velocity1,200 metres per second (3,900 ft/s)
Effective firing range7,600 metres (8,300 yd)
Feed systemtwin rotating drums with 14 rounds in each

Green Mace, also known as the QF 127/58 SBT X1, is a prototype British heavy anti-aircraft gun that was developed in the early 1950s. It used a variety of techniques to improve the firing rate and velocity of its projectiles. It was rendered obsolete by the development of the guided surface-to-air missile and thus never entered production, with only a single prototype surviving.

History

Green Mace was the Rainbow Code assigned to the QF 127/58 SBT X1 during its development. The original specifications were for a 127 mm (5.0 in) gun with water-cooled barrel, firing folding-fin discarding sabot dart projectiles.[2] Two rotary magazines, each holding 14 rounds, would allow for a high rate of fire on the order of 75 rounds per minute (RPM).

The gun was developed by Vickers under the direction of the Royal Armaments Research and Development Establishment at Fort Halstead.[3] It demonstrated a firing rate as high as 96 rounds per minute, about six times that of the 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41.[4]

Development

A proof of concept prototype was built with a 102 mm (4.0 in) barrel, but otherwise was as intended. It was mostly automatic and could be operated by a single person sitting in a covered control cabin on the right-hand side of the vehicle. However, the enormous power and ammunition requirements for the piece resulted in it having to have two trailers in support—one for power, and one for ammunition—and a crew with a small crane in order to reload its two ammunition drums. Each drum contained 14 rounds, and the piece fired 80 to 90 rounds per minute (RPM); due to this, reloading was a frequent task. It took a crew between ten and fifteen minutes to fully reload.[3]

With the advent of guided missiles, and the transfer of responsibility for ground-based, static anti-aircraft defence of UK airspace from the British Army to the Royal Air Force, the project was cancelled in 1957.

Other versions

Two large ammunition drums are positioned about two metres above the camera, side by side, and mounted to the back of the vehicle.
The ammunition drums on the back of Green Mace, holding 14 rounds each.

Some sources suggest that a naval version of Green Mace was planned as a new dual purpose gun for the Royal Navy's destroyers, and a twin version of the same gun intended for cruisers reached the design stage, but neither went any further, and they were cancelled in 1957.[5]

Original work was done on two other projects: Longhand and Ratefixer. Both were of smaller calibre than Green Mace, and were designed to try to increase the rate of fire and calibre used.[3] Similar concepts were also said to have been used in the Red Queen gun, which was essentially a medium-weight version of Green Mace.

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

  • 130 mm air defense gun KS-30, early 1950s Soviet weapon
  • AK-130, 1970s Soviet naval automatic twin gun with rate of fire about the same as Green Mace
  • [1] Archived 2015-04-17 at the Wayback Machine 105mm SFAC, a French anti-aircraft gun developed in late 1940s and abandoned in 1950s
  • Lvakan 4501, a Swedish 12cm anti-aircraft gun developed by Bofors in the 1950s, later changed into a naval gun, TAK120

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Green Mace.
  1. ^ Crabtree, James (1994). On Air Defense. Westport: Praeger. p. 69. ISBN 9780275949396.
  2. ^ Robert, Gardiner (1983). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947 - 1982 - Part I: The Western Powers. Conway Maritime Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0851772257.
  3. ^ a b c Heavy AA 102mm (ARDE) QF 127/58 SBT X1 'Green Mace' Information Card. Woolwich: The Royal Artillery Museum. 22 June 2006.
  4. ^ Westermann, Edward B. (2005–2009) [2001]. Flak: German Anti-aircraft Defenses 1914-1945. Modern War Studies. University Press of Kansas. pp. 19, 36–38, 44, 53, 58, 83, 90, 108, 128–129. ISBN 9780700614202.
  5. ^ Robert, Gardiner (1983). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947 - 1982 - Part I: The Western Powers. Conway Maritime Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-0851772257.