25 mm Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun

Development

After World War I the French military expressed a need for an anti-aircraft autocannon. The Hotchkiss company submitted its 25 mm design, but it was rejected as being too slow-firing, so the weapon was proposed for export instead. In 1938, as the international situation was worsening, and the favoured Schneider 37 mm autocannon was still not ready for production, the French military decided to reconsider its refusal to Hotchkiss, who had just won a contract with Romania. The export guns were held in France and impressed into domestic service. The original tripod was found to be unstable, which led to the development of a revised variant with a triangular base with a two-wheel carriage. This new variant was chosen for mass production, but at the time of the German attack in May 1940, only a few hundred of these guns were in service. With them and only approximately two hundred Oerlikons, the lack of modern light AA guns greatly hampered the French army in the campaign.

Foreign use

Europe

Romania ordered 300 pieces but only 72 had been delivered by the fall of France.

The Spanish Republic bought the weapons for its navy in December 1935. Five were received in January 1936 and installed during the Spanish Civil War in the destroyers Jose Luis Díez, Lepanto and Ulloa. After the civil war, these weapons were used during the 1940s.

Asia

Japan bought a license to manufacture the weapon, which became the Type 96 and was used on most Japanese warships of World War II. It was known officially as the Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun. Japan was far and away the most prolific user of this design, producing 33,000 units and deploying it across their military forces.

Variants

;mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre-aéroplanes modèle 1938 :the original tripod-mounted gun intended for Romania.

;mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre-aéroplanes modèle 1939 :heavier, more stable carriage.

;mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre-aéroplanes modèle 1940 :faster-firing variant on fixed mounting for naval and static defense use, cartwheel sights.

;mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre-aéroplanes modèle 1940 jumelée :ground-based twin variant.

Notes

References

• Ferrard, Stéphane. France 1940 l'armement terrestre, ETAI, 1998,
• Notice provisoire du matériel de 25 m/m C.A. Modèle 1938, Manufacture d'armes de Levallois, 1939
• Rapid fire, Anthony G. Williams,
• "Las armas de la guerra civil española", José María Manrique, , pages 394 -398

References

1. Chamberlain, Peter. (1975). "Anti-aircraft guns". Arco Pub. Co.
2. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, ''Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945'', p. 29
3. "Las armas de la guerra civil española" {{ISBN. 84-9734-475-8, pages 394 -398.