Chookie

Between March and July 1918, Paris came under bombardment. Now, the capital of a belligerent nation was not all that unusual a target, but this bombardment was unprecedented. Paris was something like 60 miles (roughly 95 kilometres) from the scene of the fighting. Originally, it was thought that these were attacks by a new, even bigger Zeppelin.


They weren't. Fragments found where the bombardment landed were not like the “bombs” of the time (which were basically over-sized hand-grenades), but showed more affinities to an artillery shell. It wasn't until these fragments were analysed that it was realised they were cannon shells. This, however, meant damn all to the Parisians (and the Parisiennes). They just wanted it stopped.


This cannon – the Wilhelmgeschütze - was a rail-mounted naval gun of 8.3” (21cms). It was firing from the forest of Coucy, approximately 80 miles (130 km) from Paris. It (the Wilhelmgeschütze) shouldn't be confused with either “Big Bertha” (the large howitzers which were used against the Liège forts in 1914, nor should the fact that the French themselves called it “Big Bertha” - it wasn't, not any more than the “Langer Max” were. The Langer Max were long-range rail-mounted artillery, as were the Wilhelmgeschütze (yes – were – the “Paris Gun” was actually three guns). What they all had in common was that they were made by Krupps (well, not all – they also had to fire shells in a strict numeric order as each firing ripped out much of the bore).


Being a naval weapon, it needed a naval crew. So, a naval crew it got. 80 sailors of the Imperial Navy, commanded by an admiral (like the saying about Texas Rangers – One gun, one admiral).


Apart from all that though, this weapon fired the first known projectiles to reach the stratosphere, projectiles which needed to utilise the coriolis effect in order to hit (or nearly hit) the target. It also out-ranged any conventional artillery piece before or since. By conventional I mean tubed artillery firing shells powered only by the charge loaded into the chamber.


This is where it gets even more interesting........


None of the Wilhelmgeschütze was ever captured or found in bits, the plans disappeared, all that was left was railway sidings and some shells.


What happened to the guns?


What happened to the plans?


How did the Germans manage to create this marvel when engaged in a war for survival?


For what reason did no other country attempt to emulate this feat? (I don't want to discuss the Iraqi “supergun” here).




Sources:-


http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/parisgun.htm




http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Paris+Gun

okamido

The information I found stated that to keep it from capture by the allies, it was removed to Berlin where it and the plans were destroyed. The only piece that was recovered was a spare side mounting taken by American troops at Chateau-Thierry.

Apparently, to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles ban on another such weapon, German interests moved towards rockets for the future.

Son of Cathal

1) The guns were destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of the Entente.
2) The plans were destroyed, probably eaten by Hindenburg or the Kaiser to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Entente
3) Probably because they believed that the use of such a weapon would frighten the French so much that they would seek terms sooner to prevent further civilian casualties.
4) Why would they? The Allies never had a need for such a gun, Berlin was well out of range. Come WW2, planes could do a far more efficient job of flattening a city then a few oversized peashooters. Yes Hitler had plans drawn up for a gun that could bombard London but that was because the RAF prevented him from bombing it with the Luftwaffe. It never eventuated anyway, the V1 and V2 rockets took precendence.

The Paris guns just weren't efficient enough. They could only be fired a few times before they had stop using them. The enormous heat would otherwise warp the barrel.

Chookie

They had to change barrels after every 20 shots..........

Bucephalus

The guns themselves (only three of them) would not have been difficult to dismantle and scrap. Apparently one spare gun mount was found by the Allies after the armistice, but the guns themselves had been destroyed. The plans would have been even easier to destroy, particularly if technical knowledge of this secret program was (likely) kept to a limited number of people.

The Germans (and Krupp in particular) were the world leaders in gunnery and ballistics technology, even at the beginning of the war. German naval gunnery developments had outpaced British, French, Russian, and American technology for years before the Paris guns were deployed. The knowledge required to create these guns had been in development long before 1918.


It simply wasn't practical, particularly with the development of long-range aircraft and precision aerial bombardment. For example, WWII heavy bombers could place more ordnance on target with greater accuracy than a gun of this type - at much greater range. The truth was that the Paris guns were an extraordinary technological development for their time - but their time was already waning.

pinguin

The famous Bertha

Chookie

No, Pinguin that's the Wilhelmgeschütze, not Big Bertha. The Berthas weren't rail-mounted. While the third photo doesn't show the rails.

It was nonetheless a fantastic achievement to send an artillery shell a distance of 130 kilometres.

pinguin

Interesting. Thanks