The Richmond Palladium And Sun Telegram

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM, MONDAY, JAN. 18, 1915.

Explanation of the Big German Siege Guns

Fig. 1:

Here is a detailed plan of the big German 42-centimetre guns, which have been the surprise and wonder of the European war.
The howitzer is twenty-six feet long, and the shell it fires is 16.5 inches in diameter, and over a yard and a half in length. It weighs over eight hundred kilograms, approximately 1,575 pounds. The big guns are transported by rail, and the diagram shows one in transit. It is carried on a steel framework supported between two trucks. The rear truck (to the left) has mounted upon it a traveling crane which swings the projectile from the ammunition wagon (not shown in the diagram) to the breech of the gun. The gun itself and its carriage rest on the chassis in the center of the diagram. At the firing point a solidly built platform of concrete has been prepared beforehand in order to provide a steady base for the gun and the hydraulic jacks (shown in the diagram at either end of the gun chassis) hold it in position. To the right, in front of the gun, is a railway car in which the gunners travel, which immediately follows the locomotive. The gun is fired from a distance by electricity.