Thread: Guns of Verdun

In addition to foot soldiers, America brought a handful of 14 inch rail guns to the Allied war effort of WW I.



Here is pic of Mk I gun. Before the gun can be fired the car must be lifted off the 4- three axle bogies with jack screws. Then, a 9 foot deep pit was dug beneath the mid-section and recoil "sleepers" anchored into
earth. These engaged car frame to absorb recoil. The pit had a second function---it allowed gun elevation to
around 60 degrees. The breech filled the pit.




Mk II gun

Heavier gun with higher gun mount allowed use of french system of hydraulic recoil and rail car movement
rearwards of about 50 feet. 20 axle carrier. No gun pit required.


10 min video of Mk I gun in France

Navy 14 Inch Railway Guns in France, 1918 - YouTube


these guns were almost certainly products of Watervliet Arsenal.
[this statement is incorrect. the 14 inch naval guns were constructed at the Washington Navy Yard---as PM member old_dave points out]



jh

Originally Posted by JHOLLAND1

In addition to foot soldiers, America brought a handful of 14 inch rail guns to the Allied war effort of WW I.



Here is pic of Mk I gun. Before the gun can be fired the car must be lifted off the 4- three axle bogies with jack screws. Then, a 9 foot deep pit was dug beneath the mid-section and recoil "sleepers" anchored into
earth. These engaged car frame to absorb recoil. The pit had a second function---it allowed gun elevation to
around 60 degrees. The breech filled the pit.




Mk II gun

Heavier gun with higher gun mount allowed use of french system of hydraulic recoil and rail car movement
rearwards of about 50 feet. 20 axle carrier. No gun pit required.


10 min video of Mk I gun in France

Navy 14 Inch Railway Guns in France, 1918 - YouTube


these guns were almost certainly products of Watervliet Arsenal.


jh

Thank you very much for posting this. I think it's much more likely these guns were made by the U.S. Naval Gun Factory, Washington Navy Yard. In fact I'd be very surprised if that were not the case. There is a Mk. I model on display outside the Navy Museum at Washington Navy Yard. The rail car on which it is mounted was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works.

The Mk II was not completed in time to go to war. Not surprisingly the U.S. Army was not happy about what they saw as the Navy's infringement on one of their principle missions, land artillery. In early 1920 the Secretary of the Navy ordered that the five rail road guns that had been returned from France as well as the two Mk. II carriages be turned over to the Army. (See California's Railway Guns, Charles S. Small, ISBN 0912113-10-3)

David

David

You are correct--the 14 inch guns were made in the Washington Navy Yard which was renamed the Naval Gun Factory.
here is the quote from the Navy website:

"Ordnance production continued as the yard manufactured armament for the Great White Fleet and the World War I Navy. The 14-inch naval railway guns used in France during World War I were manufactured at the yard."

I will place an addendum in my first entry as a reminder to tighten up slip-shod research--

thanks
jh


History of the Washington Navy Yard