Large-calibre artillery

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Adolf Gun, a Nazi German cross-channel firing gun Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-364-2314-16A, Atlantikwall, Batterie "Lindemann".jpg
Adolf Gun, a Nazi German cross-channel firing gun

The formal definition of large-calibre artillery used by the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA) is "guns, howitzers, artillery pieces, combining the characteristics of a gun, howitzer, mortar, or multiple-launch rocket system, capable of engaging surface targets by delivering primarily indirect fire, with a calibre of 75 mm (3.0 in) and above". [1] This definition, shared by the Arms Trade Treaty and the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, is updated from an earlier definition in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/36L, which set a threshold of 100 mm (3.9 in). [2] Several grammatical changes were made to that latter in 1992 and the threshold was lowered in 2003 to yield the current definition, as endorsed by UN General Assembly Resolution 58/54. [1]

Contents

Historically, large-calibre weapons have included bombards and siege guns.

Late Middle Ages

Flemish Dulle Griet Ghent cannon.jpg
Flemish Dulle Griet

In the context of late medieval siege warfare the term superguns applies to stone-firing bombards with a ball diameter of more than 50 cm (20 in). [3] These superguns were either manufactured by forging together longitudinal iron bars, held in place by iron rings, or cast in bronze with techniques generally similar to bell-founding. [4] Known examples include the Pumhart von Steyr, Dulle Griet and Mons Meg (all iron) as well as the cast-bronze Faule Mette, Faule Grete and Dardanelles Gun.

Austrian Pumhart von Steyr HGM Pumhart von Steyr.jpg
Austrian Pumhart von Steyr

At the beginning of the development of superguns was the desire to increase the effect of the projectiles. To this end, master gunners first simply used larger powder loads. These, however, exerted larger pressure on the existing cannon and could make it burst, causing the death of the irreplaceable gunner with his crew (and even kings). In addition, it was observed that, due to their higher velocity, stone balls were shattered by the impact on the walls rather than smashing them. Thus, the mass of the cannon balls and, consequently, of the ordnance too continually increased, finally culminating in giant cannon like the Pumhart von Steyr which fired a 690 kg (1,520 lb) ball. Apart from the anticipated improvement in penetrating power, other factors such as prestige and a potential deterrent effect also played an important role. [5]

Russian Tsar Cannon Moskau-Grosse-Kanone Mai 08.jpg
Russian Tsar Cannon

For all their manufacturing quality the superguns were only moderately successful. Their military effectiveness turned out to be out of all proportion to their overwhelming logistical demands and financial costs. For the cost of a single supergun, two or three large bombards with a reasonably smaller caliber (in German Hauptbüchse) could be produced whose firepower was enough to shatter any medieval wall, in particular when it was concentrated in a battery. Due to their less bulky dimensions and higher rate of fire, these artillery pieces could be more flexibly deployed and caused more destruction in any given length of time. Furthermore, the transition from stone to smaller, but much more devastating iron balls meant that super-sized bores became unnecessary. [6] The caliber of a 50 lb (23 kg) ball, for example, could be reduced from 28 to 18 cm (11.0 to 7.1 in) when using an iron projectile instead. [7]

Ottoman Dardanelles Gun Great Turkish Bombard at Fort Nelson.JPG
Ottoman Dardanelles Gun

Thus, as early as the second half of the 15th century, further development in siege technology concentrated on the Hauptbüchse, [8] and bombards largely disappeared from the leading artillery arsenal of the dukes of Burgundy. [9]

At about the same time super-sized bombards were phased out in Western Europe, the technology was transmitted to the Ottoman army by one Orban, a Hungarian gunfounder, on the occasion of the Siege of Constantinople in 1453. [10] The extant Dardanelles Gun, cast by the Ottoman gunfounder Ali several years later, is assumed to have followed closely the outline of Orban's guns. [10] A similar super-sized bombard was employed by the Ottoman navy aboard a carrack of possibly Venetian design at the Battle of Zonchio in 1499. [11]

In India, a large forge-welded iron cannon was built during the reign of Raghunatha Nayak (16001645), and was then one of the largest cannons in the world. Artillery was used by Indian armies predominantly for defending against besieging armies. [12]

Modern weapons

German Big Bertha howitzer Dicke Bertha.Big Bertha.jpg
German Big Bertha howitzer
The Paris Gun being assembled Parisgesch1.JPG
The Paris Gun being assembled
Model of the Paris Gun on fixed mounting. Pariser Ferngeschutz.jpg
Model of the Paris Gun on fixed mounting.
A section of the Iraqi supergun from Imperial War Museum Duxford IraqiSupergunIWMDuxford2005.JPG
A section of the Iraqi supergun from Imperial War Museum Duxford

With the new metallurgical methods and precision engineering of the Industrial Revolution, a revolution in armaments, including artillery took place. In the 1860s, the industrialist Sir William Armstrong, who had already built one of the first breech-loading rifled artillery pieces, constructed a 600-pounder 'monster gun' of then extraordinary size at the Elswick Ordnance Company in Newcastle. The gun was a rifled muzzle-loader of 22,000 kg (49,000 lb) that fired shells of up to 600 pounds (270 kg) and could pierce 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) of iron armour. Armstrong identified them as "shunt" guns, but they were soon popularly known as "monster" guns. [13] [ page needed ]

By the 1880s he had built guns of over 40 feet (12 m) in length that could fire 1,800 pound (810 kg) shells and punch through an incredible 30 inches (76 cm) of iron at a range of 8 mi (13 km). The gun was exhibited at the Royal Mining Engineering Jubilee Exhibition held at Newcastle in 1887 for Queen Victoria's golden jubilee. [14]

Prior to World War I, the German military was especially interested in the development of superweapons due to the need for the Schlieffen plan to march past a line of Belgian fortifications constructed specifically to stop such an invasion route. During the opening phases of the war, the Germans employed a 420 mm (17 in) Krupp howitzer (the Big Bertha) and two 305 mm (12.0 in) Skoda Mörser M. 11 mortars to reduce the famous fortresses of Liège and Namur. Their low overland mobility made them arrive later than the infantry at Liège, so several infantry assaults were made with heavy loss of life and generally little success. The guns arrived a few days later and reduced the forts at Liège one-by-one over a short period of a few days.

Larger artillery after this opening period was generally limited to railway guns, which had much greater mobility, or naval monitors (two of the British Lord Clive class monitors were fitted with an 18-inch (457 mm) gun, and HMS General Wolfe fired 33 km (21 mi) at a railway bridge in Belgium). All of the major powers involved employed such weapons in limited numbers, typically between 280 and 305 mm (11 to 12 inches) although some larger weapons were also used.

The longest-ranged and longest-barreled of the heavy guns deployed in World War I was the Paris Gun, which was used to bombard Paris from a distance of over 130 kilometres (81 mi). The gun had a bore diameter of 211 mm (8.3 in) and a barrel length of 34 metres (112 ft). It was fired from concealed fixed positions in the forest of Coucy. [15] [ page needed ]

The British attempted to develop weapons to counter the Paris Gun, but none was ready for testing until after the Armistice. A 16 in (410 mm) gun under development by Vickers for a class of never-built Russian battleships was converted and lined down to 205 mm (8.1 in), with the designation "8-inch sub-calibre Mark I". The barrel was 120 calibres long. Testing commenced in February 1919, but after only six rounds were fired a crack was discovered, and the gun was scrapped in 1928. [16] A weapon of similar concept, the "8-inch sub-calibre Mark II", was converted from a 12-inch gun (either Mark XI, XI*, or XII), producing a 205 mm (8.1 in)/75 calibre weapon. However, with the war ending before the gun was ready, this weapon was soon scrapped. [17]

Development continued during the inter-war era, although at a more limited pace as aircraft were expected to take over in the long-range bombardment role. Nevertheless, the Germans built a handful of powerful Krupp K5s and the largest artillery pieces (by caliber) ever used in combat: the 800 mm (31.5 in.) Schwerer Gustav and Dora. The latter had been designed specifically to defeat the Maginot Line, firing a 7,000 kg (15,000 lb) shell to a range of 37 km (23 mi). Although their original role proved unnecessary, Gustav was used successfully to destroy Soviet heavy fortifications, most notably those at Sevastopol. Dora was readied for combat at Stalingrad, but was withdrawn before it could be used. Development might have continued but for the ever-increasing Allied air power, which limited Hitler's options in terms of re-opening bombing attacks on London. This led to the development of the V-3 "London Gun" or "Hochdruckpumpe", fired from Mimoyecques in the Pas de Calais, about 95 miles (153 km) away. Two attempts to build underground bunkers for the huge weapons were thwarted by massive Royal Air Force bombing raids, which made further attempts futile. Two smaller prototype versions of the gun were used during the Battle of the Bulge.

During World War II, the British developed an experimental 13.5/8 inch hypervelocity gun named Bruce, which was deployed near St Margaret's in Kent among their cross-Channel guns. [18] It was intended only for stratospheric experiments, primarily with smoke shells. These experiments were important in the development of the Grand Slam bomb. [19] It was used from March 1943 through February 1945. [18]

The "Supergun Affair"

Canadian engineer Gerald Bull became interested in the possibility of using 'superguns' in place of rockets to insert payloads into orbit. He lobbied for the start of Project HARP to investigate this concept in the 1960s, using paired ex-US Navy 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 gun barrels welded end-to-end. Three of these 16"/50 (406 mm) guns were emplaced, one in Quebec, Canada, another in Barbados, and the third near Yuma, Arizona. [20] HARP was later cancelled, and Bull turned to military designs, eventually developing the GC-45 howitzer. Some years later, Bull interested Saddam Hussein in funding Project Babylon. The objective of this project is not certain, but one possibility is that it was intended to develop a gun capable of firing an object into orbit, whence it could then drop onto any place on the Earth.[ citation needed ] Gerald Bull was assassinated in March 1990, terminating development, and the parts were confiscated by British customs after the Gulf War.

It has been suggested that the US Navy had developed a supergun (actually a prototype railgun, known as the Electro-Magnetic Laboratory Rail Gun), capable of shooting shells at 5,600 mph (9,012 km/h) or Mach 7 (seven times the speed of sound). [21]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Gun</span> Super heavy field gun

The Paris Gun was the name given to a type of German long-range siege gun, several of which were used to bombard Paris during World War I. They were in service from March to August 1918. When the guns were first employed, Parisians believed they had been bombed by a high-altitude Zeppelin, as the sound of neither an airplane nor a gun could be heard. They were the largest pieces of artillery used during the war by barrel length, and qualify under the (later) formal definition of large-calibre artillery. Also called the "Kaiser Wilhelm Geschütz", they were often confused with Big Bertha, the German howitzer used against Belgian forts in the Battle of Liège in 1914; indeed, the French called them by this name as well. They were also confused with the smaller "Langer Max" cannon, from which they were derived. Although the famous Krupp-family artillery makers produced all these guns, the resemblance ended there.

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The bombard is a type of cannon or mortar which was used throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Bombards were mainly large calibre, muzzle-loading artillery pieces used during sieges to shoot round stone projectiles at the walls of enemy fortifications, enabling troops to break in. Most bombards were made of iron and used gunpowder to launch the projectiles. There are many examples of bombards, including Mons Meg, the Dardanelles Gun, and the handheld bombard.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faule Grete</span> Cannon

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pumhart von Steyr</span> Cannon Artillery

The Pumhart von Steyr is a medieval large-calibre cannon from Styria, Austria, and the largest known wrought-iron bombard by caliber. It weighs around 8 t and has a length of more than 2.59 m. It was produced in the early 15th century and could fire, according to modern calculations, an 800 mm (31 in) stone ball weighing 690 kg (1,520 lb) to a distance of roughly 600 m (2,000 ft) after being loaded with 15 kg (33 lb) of gunpowder and set at an elevation of 10°.

The Grose Bochse was a medieval large-calibre cannon of the Teutonic Order. It was cast from June to September 1408 in several pieces and was presumably assembled by a screw or plug connection. The cannon was even bigger than the slightly later finished Faule Grete and may have reached the dimensions of the largest known bombard by caliber, the Pumhart von Steyr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M1841 12-pounder howitzer</span> Howitzer

The M1841 12-pounder field howitzer was a bronze smoothbore muzzle-loading artillery piece that was adopted by the United States Army in 1841 and employed during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. It fired a 8.9 lb (4.0 kg) shell up to a distance of 1,072 yd (980 m) at 5° elevation. It could also fire canister shot and spherical case shot. The howitzer proved effective when employed by light artillery units during the Mexican–American War. The howitzer was used throughout the American Civil War, but it was outclassed by the 12-pounder Napoleon which combined the functions of both field gun and howitzer. In the U.S. Army, the 12-pounder howitzers were replaced as soon as more modern weapons became available. Though none were manufactured after 1862, the weapon was not officially discarded by the U.S. Army until 1868. The Confederate States of America also manufactured and employed the howitzer during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M1857 12-pounder Napoleon</span> Gun-Howitzer

The M1857 12-pounder Napoleon or Light 12-pounder gun or 12-pounder gun-howitzer was a bronze smoothbore muzzleloading artillery piece that was adopted by the United States Army in 1857 and extensively employed in the American Civil War. The gun was the American-manufactured version of the French canon obusier de 12 which combined the functions of both field gun and howitzer. The weapon proved to be simple to produce, reliable, and robust. It fired a 12.03 lb (5.5 kg) round shot a distance of 1,619 to 1,680 yd at 5° elevation. It could also fire canister shot, common shell, and spherical case shot. The 12-pounder Napoleon outclassed and soon replaced the M1841 6-pounder field gun and the M1841 12-pounder howitzer in the U.S. Army, while replacement of these older weapons was slower in the Confederate States Army. A total of 1,157 were produced for the U.S. Army, all but a few in the period 1861–1863. The Confederate States of America utilized captured U.S. 12-pounder Napoleons and also manufactured about 500 during the war. The weapon was named after Napoleon III of France who helped develop the weapon.

References

  1. 1 2 Casey-Maslen et al. 2016, p. 81.
  2. Casey-Maslen et al. 2016, pp. 81, 83.
  3. Schmidtchen 1977a , p. 153
  4. Schmidtchen 1977a , p. 157
  5. Schmidtchen 1977b , pp. 228–230
  6. Schmidtchen 1977b , pp. 229–230
  7. Eschelbach 1972 , p. 276
  8. Schmidtchen 1977b , p. 230
  9. Smith & DeVries 2005 , p. 205
  10. 1 2 Schmidtchen (1977b), p. 226
  11. John F. Guilmartin Jr. (2007), "The Earliest Shipboard Gunpowder Ordnance: An Analysis of Its Technical Parameters and Tactical Capabilities", Journal of Military History , 71 (3): 649–669 [659], doi:10.1353/jmh.2007.0204, S2CID   162353666
  12. Balasubramaniam et al. 2004, p. 17.
  13. Bastable 1992.
  14. "Armstrong's 'monster' gun revealed".
  15. Bull & Murphy 1988.
  16. DiGiulian, Tony, Britain: 8"/120 (20.5 cm) sub-caliber Mark I
  17. DiGiulian, Tony, Britain: 8"/75 (20.5 cm) sub-caliber Mark II
  18. 1 2 Sussex History Forum post with material from RMSR War Diary
  19. Flower, p. 95
  20. Graf, Richard K. "A Brief History of the HARP Project". Encyclopedia Astronautica. astronautix.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2002. Retrieved 2013-08-14.
  21. "Electromagnetic Railgun - Office of Naval Research". www.onr.navy.mil. Retrieved 2015-10-08.

Reference bibliography

  • Balasubramaniam, R.; Saxena, A.; Anantharaman, Tanjore R.; Reguer, S.; Dillmann, P. (January 2004). "A Marvel of Medieval Indian Metallurgy: Thanjavur's Forge-Welded Iron Cannon" (PDF). JOM. 56 (1): 18–23. Bibcode:2004JOM....56a..17B. doi:10.1007/s11837-004-0265-5. S2CID   108291163.
  • Bastable, Marshall J. (April 1992). "From Breechloaders to Monster Guns: Sir William Armstrong and the Invention of Modern Artillery, 18541880". Technology and Culture. 33 (2): 213–247. doi:10.2307/3105857. JSTOR   3105857.
  • Bull, Gerald V.; Murphy, Charles H. (1988). Paris Kanonen: The Paris Guns (Wilhelmgeschutze) and Project HARP. Herford: E. S. Mittler. ISBN   3-8132-0304-2.
  • Eschelbach, Rudolf (1972), "Das Feuergeschütz des Mittelalters (1350–1550)", Technikgeschichte, 39 (4): 257–279
  • Flower, Stephen (2004). Barnes Wallis' Bombs. Strood: Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN   0-7524-2987-6.
  • Guilmartin Jr., John F. (2007). "The Earliest Shipboard Gunpowder Ordnance: An Analysis of Its Technical Parameters and Tactical Capabilities". Journal of Military History . 71 (3): 649–669 [659]. doi:10.1353/jmh.2007.0204. S2CID   162353666.
  • Schmidtchen, Volker (1977a), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte, 44 (2): 153–173
  • Schmidtchen, Volker (1977b), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte, 44 (3): 213–237
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