ARTILLERY 



.HID 



ARTILLERY 



torn. Big guns are now brought into action and 

 moved from place to place in sucn a manner 

 as to prove that no artillery is immobile. 

 What is regarded as strictly mobile artillery 

 ists of field and horse art Hit ry in batteries 

 of four or six guns which can keep pace with 

 marching troops and go into action with them. 

 Field artillery, adjusting its march to the 

 pace of infantry, is of heavier caliber than 

 horse artillery, which must move with mounted 

 men. 



Field Artillery. All modern armies employ 

 quick-firing breech-loading guns firing shells 

 Jting from thirteen to eighteen and one- 

 half pounds. These guns are capable of firing 

 from ten to twenty aimed shots per minute 

 and have a range varying from tHree and one- 

 half to four and one-half miles. Effective 

 range, at which perfect accuracy may be ob- 

 tained, is usually considered to be between 

 two and three miles, while at lower ranges 

 such guns create terrific havoc. These guns 

 fire common shells and shrapnel (see AMMUNI- 

 TION ) . Ordinarily each gun in the field artillery 

 is drawn by six horses, but in Europe, motor 

 vehicles are used wherever possible and draw 

 whole batteries of guns. The weight of the 

 field gun varies in different armies. The Ger- 

 man 3.03 caliber field gun with carriage weighs 

 nearly a ton; the corresponding gun and car- 

 nage of the French army weigh 2,500 pounds, 

 while the English 3.3 gun and carriage weigh 

 2,700 pounds. 



Horse Artillery. The rapid motion of guns 

 with mounted troops is naturally of the great- 

 est importance when advancing or retreating. 

 The artillery must manci-uver rapidly to cover 

 the troops and also, in case of need, to extricate 

 themselves from difficulty. In the United 

 States the guns are the same as those of the 



! artillery, and fire shells varying in w< 

 from twelve to fifteen pounds. The cannoneers, 

 however, are mounted, riding behind the gun 

 carriages instead of on the carriages them- 

 selves; hence the name horse artillery. 



Heavy Artillery. For siege purposes or for 

 reducing forts and earthworks very large guns 

 are used. The comparative ease with which 

 large guns can be moved was one of the out- 

 standing features the War of the Nations <1- 

 oped. Against the huge shells, weighing somc- 

 t nuts mop than a ton, fired from guns with a 

 caliber of seventeen inches, and a rang' 

 nearly twenty miles, the most scientifically 

 constructed forts cannot stand. Masses of con- 

 < and steel are quickly leveled to tin- 



ground, and gaping chasms are dug in earth- 

 works and trenches by these terrible weapons. 

 The howitzer, which proved so effective early 

 in the War of the Nations, had been previously 

 allowed to fall almost into disuse (see How- 

 :). It is now regarded as one of the most 

 deadly of modern weapons. Howitzers of 

 5-inch and 6-inch caliber accompany troops on 

 the march, while those of greater caliber are 

 brought up more slowly and follow in the rear 

 of armies. The 6-inch howitzer fires a shell 

 weighing from 122 to 200 pounds and has a 

 range of four miles. With its carriage it weighs 

 9,500 pounds. Until the introduction of the 

 German 17-inch howitzer, the 9.4-inch howitzer 

 was considered the largest size gun which com- 

 bined ease of movement and general efficiency. 

 However, each of the powers engaged in the 

 war endeavored to outclass the others in size 

 and range of its guns and projectiles. In 1918 

 the Germans shelled Paris with a mammoth 

 pun of unknown dimensions from a distance of 

 76 miles. Its projectiles reached 15% miles 

 above the earth. 



The "75." One of the most effective of all 

 modern guns is that used by French artillery 

 and known as the "75 millimeter" or "75." 

 In inches, its caliber is 2.9, and it fires shell or 

 shrapnel weighing twelve and fifteen pounds. 

 In range, accuracy and speed of fire, and in 

 destructiveness it has proved itself superior to 

 any other weapon of a similar size. 



The Mortar. This is the type of gun that 

 so quickly reduced the forts of Liege, Antwerp 

 and Przemysl. Although it was generally un- 

 derstood that 16-inch Krupp mortars worked 

 tlu great destruction, the credit, or blame, lies 

 with an Austrian 12-inch mortar, called a Skoda 

 in honor of its inventor, which fires a shell 

 weighing 858 pounds. This mortar fires at a 

 greater angle of elevation than any other gun, 

 and has a range of eight miles. At a distance 

 of seven and one-half miles firing at an invis- 

 ible object, German gunners pierced the roof 

 of an Antwerp fort at the first attempt. The 

 Skoda mortar is mobile and can be removed 

 in forty minutes, while the dismounting and 

 removal of the 16-inch mortar from its neces- 

 s:ry bed of concrete is a work of liour<. The 

 - h mortar is lowered to a horizontal posi- 

 i to be loaded and then swung to the angle 

 of elevation desired. It can fire one shot per 

 minute, though the usual -speed is only one 

 shot every two minutes. A crew of 200 men 

 is needed, and it requires three 100 horse power 

 motor trucks to transport it. 



