Ordnance QF 95 mm

Ordnance QF 95 mm howitzer
Centaur tank with 95mm gun
Type	Howitzer
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1944 -
Used by	British Army
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designed	1942
Specifications
Weight	867 lb (393 kg)
Length	7 ft (2.1 m)
Barrel length	80.4 in
Shell	Fixed
Calibre	95 mm (3.7 in) L/18.65
Elevation	-5° to +30°
Rate of fire	7 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	330 m/s (1,100 ft/s)
Effective firing range	7,315 m (8,000 yd)

The Ordnance QF 95-mm howitzer was a British howitzer built in two versions during the Second World War. The tank howitzer version was accepted for service use, but an infantry howitzer version was not.

The Ordnance QF 95-mm tank howitzer was designed to be fitted to some later British tanks so they could lay smoke screens or fire HE or HEAT/Hollow Charge shell against concrete targets like pillboxes in the "close support" of infantry. A HESH round may have been issued after World War II. The 95mm howitzer used fixed ammunition with a 25 lb (11 kg) projectile, rather than separate charge and round common for artillery howitzers. The tank howitzer was used to arm the Churchill Mark V and VIII, the Cromwell VI & VIII and the Centaur IV tanks. The Ordnance QF 95 mm howitzer was built up from a section of a 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun barrel, the breech mechanism of the Ordnance QF 25 pounder field gun/howitzer and the recoil mechanism of the Ordnance QF 6 pounder anti-tank gun. The tank howitzer version was also fitted with a large counterweight at the end of the barrel to help balance the gun. In most regiments the 95-mm-armed tanks were issued to regimental or squadron HQ troops at the rate of two vehicles per HQ.

The only variant of the Centaur tank (a Cromwell tank with a less powerful engine) to see action was the 95 mm armed Mark IV. For the Normandy landings, the Royal Marine Armoured Support Group was formed with an establishment of eighty Mark IVs.

The Ordnance QF 95-mm infantry howitzer was a version built as a conventional towed artillery piece. Perhaps in response to the success of the German sIG 33, a proposal was circulated in the summer of 1942 by the British Army for an infantry howitzer for direct fire against concrete structures, like pillboxes. The 95 mm tank howitzer already under development was considered to be a logical starting point for the design of the new howitzer. The infantry howitzer version was similar to the tank howitzer, except the infantry howitzer lacked the barrel counterweight and was placed on a box-trail carriage and given a gun shield.