Krupp gun

“ Before they advanced to the 12-inch gun we had large numbers of ships armed with the 13·5. It was said by the opposite school of naval force that a smaller gun fires faster and has a higher velocity, and therefore the greater destructive power—and Krupp is the master gunmaker of the world—and it was very right and proper to take such a possibility into consideration. Everything that we have learnt, however, so far shows that we need not at all doubt the wisdom of our policy or the excellence of our material. The 13·5 inch gun is unequalled by any weapon yet brought on the scene. ”

“ Her private manufacturers have received such encouragement at home or abroad that they are now able to supply the whole world. Their only great rival on the continent is Krupp, who finds his market principally in Germany, Russia, and Turkey.
The early adoption of the rifle principle by all European powers placed them at once on a plane of advancement. The vexed questions of breech- and muzzle-loading and of gun construction have been decided by each nation in the manner most satisfactory to itself. Opinions differ widely, and it is probable that many changes may be made in these matters. ”

“ This is nearly equal in size to the monster Krupp gun at Chicago. Such immense guns can be employed only for seacoast defense. In handling them complex machinery is necessary, not only for moving and adjusting the gun but for loading it. No group of soldiers could without machinery lift and put into place a projectile weighing a ton. It seems doubtful whether any real advantage can be gained by going beyond the limits of size already
Twelve-inch Rifle, with Breech-loading Mechanism Open. ”

“ The Maxim gun, he persuaded me, must have undreamt of possibilities if even Edward recognises its importance as a war machine.
"So the empty echte-box taught me that every copper invested in Maxim guns means one dead—an enemy—hence, that I can't have enough Maxims. I want fifty, no, a hundred thousand."
Wilhelm smiled sardonically as he added: "I told Krupp he would lose his job unless he improves on Maxim and gets up a machine-gun as light as our army rifle and as easily fired. But that reminds me. I will go to Essen to-night to impress Bertha with her patriotic duties. ”

“ It went out at Liege, and the Mars of old, with his blood-dripping sword, had to stand aside as Modern Science stepped out of the Krupp factory with the great 42 centimeter gun. It took thirty horses to drag the first of these monsters out of that nest of the Prussian war eagle, and soldiers had to give way for that great weapon as it was drawn into place, accompanied by its retinue of mechanics and engineers, who set it up, armed, and fired it. ”

“ The number of hoops depends on the size of the gun and the severity of the strain it has to withstand ; they are usually much more numerous than the English coils, and the section of a heavy Krupp gun presents somewhat the appearance of a stone wall It is believed that the steel is not toughened in oil, but the details of manufacture have not as yet been made public. Steel of the excellent quality employed by Krupp is un doubtedly a stronger material than wrought iron ”

“ Yet the stagecraft of this clever G.O.C. had lessened the casualty roll and drawn the enemy's fire away from the hives of our warriors. Britons are not so stupid as they seem. As for our guns, they were a match for Krupp's newest and latest. The Mixed Division was armed with weapons of a powerful range and a deadly type. There was no useless aiming or extravagant shooting. Almost every shell burst near a breech block and mangled its defenders. For six hours they pumped death and destruction into the gun-pits, trenches, and masses of grey-coated Germans waiting for the assault. ”

“ In construction, the Austrian gun is so similar to that of Herr Krupp, of Essen, that the latter claimed compensation for an infringement of his patent when the manufacture of the Uchatius gun was first commenced. The Essen works, our readers may know, supply not only Germany with steel breech-loaders, but have provided the present belligerents with all their modern artillery. Russia has still many brass cannon on hand, and Turkey a goodly number of Armstrongs, but both powers mainly depend upon their steel Krupps. ”

“ In France and Italy a combination of cast iron and steel has been introduced with a view to economy. The interior of the gun is a moderately thick steel tube as in the coil guns ; over this is a thick cast-iron body, corresponding to the steel body of the Krupp guns. On the exterior are shrunk steel hoops. Sir J. Whitworth uses his fluid-compressed steel for the manufacture of ordnance. He forces massive hoops over a central tube, and over one another by hydraulic pressure or by shrinkage. ”

“ The explosive force that sends the tiny rifle-ball at the rate of twenty miles a minute could not overcome the inertia of the missile discharged from the Krupp gun; a proportional force to each would send each just the same distance. ”

“ His heaviest hammer weighs 40 tons, falls 12 feet, and strikes a blow which does not draw the surface like a light hammer, but compresses the whole mass to the core. Krupp is now introducing the Bessemer process for producing ingots of any size at about the cost of wrought-iron. These and other makes of low-steel have endured extraordinary tests in the form of small guns and other structures subject to concussion and strain; and both the theory and all the evidence that we have promise its superiority for gun-metal. But another element of resistance is required in guns with thick walls. ”

“ This gun is provided with various kinds of projectiles, the ones usually carried being shell, shrapnel and cannister, and are known as Krupp prepared ammunition, which can be used in the same manner as an ordinary rifle cartridge. The shrapnel for this, as well as all field guns, is the projectile mainly depended upon, and like all field guns, the main work for them is to fire at the personnel of the enemy.
It is a common error amongst military men and others not well versed in the use of Artillery, to suppose that a field gun is intended for the purpose of making breaches in walls. ”

“ The result is a metal equal in elasticity and tensile strength to the best English steel, the excellent quality of which is largely due to “oil tempering,” a process entirely omitted in the Krupp gun. The ingots forming the different parts of the gun are cast in cylindrical iron molds, an operation requiring the greatest care to prevent the imprisonment of air or other gases in the casting,—a defect which the tenacious character of the metal renders fatal. Subsequent hammering only increases the trouble by involving a larger area. ”

“ The bore of the greatest guns in the German navy has hitherto been a little over thirty centimeters, but is fast reaching the forty centimeter mark; the guns themselves are from forty-five to fifty-eight feet long and weigh [Pg 78] correspondingly. The best are from the foundries of Krupp, who, when he died, left his daughter the richest woman in Germany. The Krupps have a special steel of the utmost toughness and resistance. The gun-barrel is made of a single block, which is regularly excavated or bored ”

“ The breech-loading guns of this manufacture used in both land and sea service are a 7-inch (screw) weighing 82 cwt., two 40-pounders (4.75-inch) screw weighing 35 and 32 cwt., respectively, a 12-pounder (3-inch) , 9-pounder (3-inch) , and 6-pounder (2.5-inch) screw weighing 8, 6, and 3 cwt. respectively. They are all made of wrought iron. See Armstrong Gun.
Germany.—In Germany the Krupp gun is almost entirely employed; they are all breech-loading and constructed of steel. (For particular construction, see Ordnance, Construction of.) ”

“ The Germans opened fire with a dozen or fourteen guns at a distance of seven versts. The projectiles they used weighed about 60 pounds, and annoyed us a good deal. They blew in about 30 yards of trench, killing a score of men: and did much other damage. Our field pieces failed to reduce their fire, and we sent to the rear for some 6-in guns, which were supposed to have been bought from a European Power: they were certainly not of Russian make. We had also a very old Krupp gun of about 7-inch calibre, which probably spoiled the beauty of its old masters. ”

“ Krupp, supply the world with guns? Why should not we, instead of Mr. Yarrow, of England, supply the world with torpedo-boats, etc., etc.?
We have supplied other nations with muskets; an American invented the gun which fires a hailstorm of 1,200 bullets per minute, and which bears his name, the Gatling gun; and our fellow countryman is supplying the world with revolving cannon, but not from the United States. Every one of our manufacturing industries has been assisted by the government by high tariff on similar articles of foreign manufacture. ”

“ In the British service they are the Armstrong, Palliser, Woolwich, or Fraser, and the Lancaster, Mackay, and Whitworth; the three latter being now very little used. (See appropriate headings.) The only breech-loader in general use in Europe is the Krupp, which is largely employed for all purposes by Germany and Russia. See Krupp Gun.
Gun, Curricle. Is a small piece of ordnance, mounted upon a carriage of two wheels, and drawn by two horses. The artilleryman is seated on a box, and the whole can be moved forward into action with astonishing rapidity. ”

“ British guns are made on the wire-wound system—that is, steel ribbon is wound under great pressure round the gun, and over this is placed an outer hoop; Krupp's, on the other hand, still remain faithful to the solid steel tube to resist the gas pressures exerted, arguing that their method of steel manufacture enables them to submit it to strains which other steel might not stand. ”

“ We are indebted to Krupp for the first suggestion of, as well as the first attempt to introduce, a cast steel gun of greater durability and power than the best cast-iron gun which has yet been manufactured. Steel, possessing, as it does, hardness to any desired extent, ductility in an equal degree, tenacity unrivalled, and all the other requisites, is destined to take the place of all other metals in the construction of artillery. ”

“ On the 15th of January an attack was made by the sharpshooters against the enemy’s big gun battery, with the pleasing result that on the following day the 94-pounder and high-velocity Krupp evacuated their positions, and retired to a more distant one on the east side of the town, whence their command of the place was comparatively limited. In this quarter, now that the foe was pushed out of rifle range, it was possible to open grazing for cattle, a very desirable movement, for the poor lean beasts were waning rapidly. ”

“ The 100-ton M.L. gun was undergoing proof at Woolwich. In August a committee of naval officers visited Germany to witness and report upon the trials of Krupp’s new breech-loaders, and these trials, and those of Armstrong in this country, confirmed the formidable character of the new ordnance. Armour was also improving its power; compound armour (of combined steel and iron) was found to possess unexpected powers of resistance to penetration. ”

“ But their anticipations were not realised; the projectile, instead of being stopped by the mass of concrete, passed through it, making a breach and burst about 800 meters further.
It was a Krupp marine gun of 380 mm. (15 inch) , type 1914, no 154, of a total length of 17 m. 13 placed on a gun carriage, formed by two formidable tanks, tap rooted in the centre of a concrete pit. This pit has a special shape because, of the conditions the constructors imposed themselves to give it a field of fire of 157°, the axis of which passes by Dunkirk. ”

“ The greater part of the Spanish fleet is armed with Armstrong muzzle-loaders, but medium-calibred steel guns of the French type are now manufactured in their own government workshops, some of which have been introduced into the navy, and it is supposed that at least for medium calibres this type will be the standard. There are some Krupp armaments, but these are exceptional. The Gatling machine-gun is used. ”

“ He wouldn't play tricks on customers. The steel and work he put into guns for, say, Russia or Chili were as flawless and expert as in the guns bought by his Prussian Majesty. And that was the "besetting sin of Frederick," the damning spot on the escutcheon of their friendship, as the War Lord viewed it. It followed, of course, that when one hundred of the Tsar's Krupp guns faced one hundred Krupp guns of the Government of Berlin, they would be an even match so far as material went—a thing and condition in strict contradiction to the Potsdam maxim: "Always attack with superior force." ”

“ The ammunition stowed here consisted of shells for the smaller quick-firers, as the absence of tram-lines for conveying the projectiles that were too heavy to man-handle proved.
"Krupp ammunition," reported Sefton, flashing his torch upon the base of one of the brass cylinders. "My word, when our fellows bust that lot up, won't the Turks feel a bit sick!"
"We'll get the men to bring the firing-charges as soon as possible," said Dick. "If we had known of this before, it would have saved no end of work. There would have been no need to have destroyed every gun singly." ”

“ They were handled by mechanics from the Krupp factory, the artillery officers merely working out the ranges.
Prior to this time, such guns had never been dreamed of save in artillerists' nightmares. The weight of the great German siege gun is 71 tons. It is transported in four pieces, each part [Pg 80] being dragged by three traction engines on caterpillar wheels, a thirteenth and larger engine going ahead to test the road and to assist each section in going up hills. The caliber of the gun is 16.4-inch (42-centimeter) . The shell stands as high as a man's chin and weighs 1684 pounds. ”