# The Super guns of WW1.



## CharlesBronson (Apr 21, 2012)

French 400 mm Puteaux monster, this railway howitzer was used to punch holes in the Verdun Fortresses allowing the recapture from accuping german forces. Muzzle Velocity was 510 ms and range 14,5 km.

( edited, video no longer available, see below posts)


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## CharlesBronson (Apr 22, 2012)

British Vickers 381mm (15 inches) emplacement howitzer anothe big one wich could hurl one ton shells, seen here in the Somme, 1916.


LiveLeak.com - 15 inch Howitzer in the Somme


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## R Pope (Aug 4, 2012)

How about the Paris Gun, Kaiser Wilhelm Geshutz? Not a big shell, but amazing range. The projectile reached above the Earth's atmosphere in its trajectory, supposedly the first man-made object to do so.


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## mikewint (Aug 4, 2012)

Schneider Obusiers de 520. This French 520mm howitzer was the biggest gun of the Great War. It could deliver a 3,100 lb shell (600 lbs of explosive) over 10 miles. The gun car was just under 100 feet long and weighed 290 tons.


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## TheMustangRider (Oct 23, 2012)

amazing photographs, thanks for sharing.


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## CharlesBronson (May 22, 2014)

mikewint said:


> Schneider Obusiers de 520. This French 520mm howitzer was the biggest gun of the Great War. It could deliver a 3,100 lb shell (600 lbs of explosive) over 10 miles. The gun car was just under 100 feet long and weighed 290 tons.




Apparently both examples of that gun exploded after few shots causing some casualties between the crew, one in french hands in 1918 and the other captured by the nazis in 1941.
By the way I repost the massive* 400mm M1916* video because my old yut account is no more.


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVbrFrYIJ8I_

That beast is rare in the sence that it was designed to fight against the germans in Verdun...and manage to be ready for that battle, an expeditive and succesful design.


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## vikingBerserker (May 22, 2014)

Now that is a manly looking gun!


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## CharlesBronson (May 22, 2014)

vikingBerserker said:


> Now that is a manly looking gun!




Indeed. To handle its shell load it wasnt precisely a ladies job:











Muzzle velocity of the Saint Chamond M1916 was *495 meters per second* ( 15000 fps) *range 17 km* (11 miles)


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## davebender (May 23, 2014)

Landships II
German 21cm Mörser probably contributed more to fort reduction then all the "superguns" put together. Concrete piercing shell designed specifically for that purpose penetrated 3/4 meter of reinforced concrete before exploding. With multiple hits it could chew through most masonry structures. 

Unlike the monster cannon, 21cm Mörser was equally effective against field fortifications and it could be pulled by two standard artillery horse teams.


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## CharlesBronson (May 23, 2014)

davebender said:


> Landships II
> German 21cm Mörser probably contributed more to fort reduction then all the "superguns" put together. Concrete piercing shell designed specifically for that purpose penetrated 3/4 meter of reinforced concrete before exploding. With multiple hits it could chew through most masonry structures.
> 
> Unlike the monster cannon, 21cm Mörser was equally effective against field fortifications and it could be pulled by two standard artillery horse teams.
> View attachment 263436



Nice gun but somewhat short range.


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## nuuumannn (May 23, 2014)

> By the way I repost the massive 400mm M1916 video because my old yut account is no more.



Watch this immediately afterwards!


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMkSHh0Nj_4_

Very amusing!


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## vikingBerserker (May 24, 2014)

I have to admit, that looks fun!


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## davebender (May 24, 2014)

Weapons are a compromise of characteristics. Pre-WWI Germany opted for as much range as could be achieved while still keeping the 21cm Morser horse mobile. Historical combat results suggest they got the balance right.


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## GrauGeist (May 24, 2014)

This is far more fun that a little paper cannon 


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zym70mm_gzk_


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## CharlesBronson (May 24, 2014)

davebender said:


> Weapons are a compromise of characteristics. Pre-WWI Germany opted for as much range as could be achieved while still keeping the 21cm Morser horse mobile. Historical combat results suggest they got the balance right.



The 21 cm Mortar was quite useful indeed, in the period of 1914-15, then it became sensitive to counter-battery fire of allied medium calibers, mostly were displaced to the Eastern Front , place in wich faced the less quality russians guns.

Paper cannon ? That remember me that I am working with my lathe in an small smoothbore cannon, steel made of course, sadly I have no much free time due the nature of my work.


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## nuuumannn (May 24, 2014)

> That remember me that I am working with my lathe in an small smoothbore cannon, steel made of course, sadly I have no much free time due the nature of my work.



That sounds neat, CB, post a video of it when you do finish it! A work colleague of mine has his own little cannon, which he brings into work on occasion; he also makes his own solid fuel rockets.

Reactions: Bacon Bacon:
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## CharlesBronson (May 28, 2014)

nuuumannn said:


> That sounds neat, CB, post a video of it when you do finish it! A work colleague of mine has his own little cannon, which he brings into work on occasion; he also makes his own solid fuel rockets.



Ill do, Ill do, I hope have some holidays in July.

*9.2 Siege Howitzer:*

A tipical british design. The gun was developed in 1908-10 well before the aircraft became an useful recce machine so the mobility was pretty much inexistant once the gun was emplaced, wich by the way was a heavy half day work for 20 men.

The 9.2in Mark I howitzer was a sturdy and well-thought-through design, with a hydro-pneumatic recoil system, which proved very reliable and soon became a standard British system. When moved, this big gun was of course broken down into loads, in this case three, and each was carried on a separate wagon. (Each wagon could be pulled by its own team of horses, or the three wagons could be interconnected, and pulled by a motorized tractor, like the Holt.) The only real problem with this potent gun, was that it was pretty short – because of the need to keep it compact enough to be pulled by horses – and as a consequence thereof it had a distinct tendency to go up a bit in the air when it was fired. In order to counter this a special "earth box" was used, attached to the front of the gun and, on deployment, filled with nine tons of earth.

The Mark I could throw a 290lb (132kg) HE shell to a maximum range of 10,060 yards (9200 metres). The rate of fire was two rounds per minute. The range was a bit short, and work started on a new design, the Mark II.

The Mark II had a much greater maximum range of 13,935 yards (12,742 metres), but was some 3 tons heavier than the Mark I. Both Marks continued in use throughout the war (the Mark I was not replaced), and at war’s end 512 guns (both types combined) had been produced. The gun was still in use when World War 2 broke out.


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