MILITARY ORDNANCE 37 i 



not worth converting, and competitive trials were therefore held in 1911-12 to select a 

 new gun. The three guns selected for the competition were a Krupp, a Schneider, and 

 the Deport gun. The latter was preferred, and 600 of these guns have been ordered, 

 to be manufactured in Italy, leaving some 500 guns still to be provided. Of these 500, 

 some will be replaced by light field howitzers and some by heavy field guns. 



The Deport gun is the invention of Colonel Deport, of the Forges de Chatillon, the 

 designer of the present French service gun. The carriage is on a novel principle, known as 

 the "scissors trail." The trail is in two halves, hinged to the axletree, and capable of being 

 opened out at an angle of about 60 when the gun is brought into action. In place of the 

 ordinary spade, the point of each half of the trail is nailed to the ground by a stout steel 

 spike, driven down by a hammer. This wide anchorage renders the carriage unusually 

 stable, and allows the gun, upon its vertical pivot, to be pointed nearly 30 on either side 

 of the central line. Moreover since this construction leaves an open space between the two 

 halves of the trail, it allows the breech to be depressed, so that the muzzle can be elevated 

 to 45 above the horizontal plane. Three advantages are claimed for this "enlarged field of 

 fire; " in the first place, targets in widely divergent directions can be engaged without shifting 

 the carriage; in the second place, air-craft can be engaged without the necessity for a special 

 gun; and in the third place, the gun can be used as a howitzer, for vertical fire, by with- 

 drawing a portion of the charge. The recoil gear is of novel design, known as compound 

 recoil gear; the gun recoils 14 inches in its cradle, and the cradle is mounted on a pedestal 

 which recoils 40 inches on the lower cradle. The breech action is the Nordenfeldt eccentric 

 screw, as used in the French service gun; it is, however, fitted with semi-automatic gear which 

 throws open the breech and ejects the cartridge case during the recoil. The breech then 

 remains open till the fresh cartridge is introduced, when it is closed automatically by a spring. 

 The gun itself, in the Italian Deport equipment, is exactly similar to the Krupp gun already 

 in the service, firing the same ammunition and giving the same ballistics. 



The Greek Artillery. A competition between French and German makers was held 

 in Greece in 1907, as the result of which the Greek authorities ordered 30 four-gun 

 batteries from Messrs. Schneider of Creusot. This gun is a 14.3 pr. with compressed 

 air gear, generally similar to the Spanish Schneider gun. 



South America. The Argentine Government held competitive trials between Krupp, 

 Schneider and Vickers-Maxim guns in 1908. The committee expressed a slight prefer- 

 ence for the Schneider gun, but for financial and political reasons the order was given to 

 Krupp. The gun selected is a light Krupp 13 pr. In the following year the Chilean 

 Government ordered field guns from Krupp, without competition; the Chilean gun is 

 very similar to the Rumanian Krupp. 



Field Howitzers. Field artillery with modern shielded guns suffer very little from 

 the shrapnel fire of field guns, while the increasing employment of the concealed position 

 renders it difficult to make direct hits upon the guns or wagons with high-explosive shell. 

 The result has been the development of the field howitzer, whose shrapnel bullets, de- 

 scending at angles of from 45 to 30 to the horizontal plane, are effective against men 

 behind gun-shields. All the great nations are introducing these weapons; but the 

 only two Powers whose armament is completed are England and Germany. 



The English Field Howitzer. The details are secret, but it is a 35 pr. quick-firer, 

 designed by the Coventry ordnance works. It has variable recoil, the length being automat- 

 ically reduced at high elevations by valves which increase the resistance in the buffer, to 

 prevent the breech from striking the ground. It has a full shield giving good overhead cover, 

 and has the panorama all-round sight. The weight behind the team is somewhat less than 

 that of the 18 pr. field gun. This howitzer is said to be far more accurate than any pro- 

 duced on the Continent, possibly owing to the excellence of the ammunition. 



The German Light Field Howitzer. The German army have for some years past had a 

 6-inch heavy howitzer and a 4.2-inch light field howitzer. The latter weapon has now been 

 replaced by a 4.2-inch quick-firer, firing a 3i-lb. "Universal" shell. It is of the Krupp 

 pattern, with the trunnions at the rear end of the cradle, allowing of long recoil at all angles 

 of elevation. The weight in action, with 4-millimetre hooded shield, is 22\ cwt. 



Heavy Field Guns. The principal Continental armies are now equipped with heavy 

 6-inch howitzers, firing 90 Ib. shell, and ranging 3 to 4 miles. In some cases, as with the 

 French Rimailho howitzer, the gun itself travels on a separate wagon, in order to lighten 

 the carriage and to enable the battery to move at a trot. The modern tendency is to 

 supplement these heavy howitzers by heavy field guns, throwing a 6o-lb. shell over 

 6 miles; but financial considerations have prevented their introduction on any large 



