S.F.
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"Rate of fire reduced to S.F. 30 seconds". What does S.F. mean? F = Fire or firing? S????
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
Erik, I think it stands for Section Fire at a rate of one shell every 30 seconds. A section was a two-gun element of a battery. So essentially, the individual sections would fire as a unit.
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I thought maybe Slow Fire or Standard but probably Section as Ral said. There is a reference to a slow rate barrage “please continue barrage at slow rate to cover collecting parties”. in the diary of the 3rd Cavalry Division 4th Brigade Artillery.
An Article here on shooting:-
Pre - war standards of shooting were, supposedly '15 aimed rounds per minute', but this was dropped for new recruits.
Known as the 'mad minute', some boasted of up to 30 'aimed' rounds per minute, but it was somewhat doubtful if they were actually 'aimed' since, by the time you allow for windage, sighting, movement of the rifle due to recoil & cocking & reloading; it's unlikely that anyone could actually fire that amount of 'aimed' rounds per minute. Link: http://www.tommy1418.com/wwi-facts--figures--myths.html - under 4th paragraph under Training. Or Tip:A tip for finding a reference in a long article: On the page of article, Press Control key then F key, (Find). At the top right hand side of the article it will show a long white blank square. type in the word, for example (standard) or what word reference you need, then press Enter and the word standard will now be highlighted in colour in the text, enabling you to find it quickly.
This (Find) will show 2 entries for standards for shooting in this article.
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
I think in this case the rate is given by the timing - 30 seconds.
Btw, the article you've linked to is about aimed rifle fire, Marie. Artillery could never get anywhere near that number of rounds per minute. Even today, intense artillery fire is somewhere in the region of six shells per minute - one every 10 seconds. Some lower calibres can go as high as ten per minute, but only for very limited periods of time. The rate of fire is limited by the physical capabilities of the gun barrel - too many rounds and they will overheat - and also by the physical limitations of the gun crew. But another important factor in limiting rates of fire for British artillery during parts of the first world war was the shortage of shells available.
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Thanks for putting me right Ral regarding rate of fire. I read your comments with interest and see what you mean.
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