Mortar (tool)

“ When the object cannot be seen from the mortar, owing to the interposition of some obstacle, as a parapet or a hill, two persons in sight of each other, one of whom can see the mortar, and the other the object, must by successive changes of position, place themselves in the vertical plane of fire, and at the points thus determined, stakes must be driven, one of which will serve as the object.
15. How may precision of fire be secured at night with mortars? ”

“ The rubble is poor, imperfectly coursed, and held together by the excellence of the mortar, or rather of the lime, for the mortar is carelessly mixed and is full of sea shells, which have been brought with the sand and left uncrushed. It is clear from appearances, both inside and outside the building, that the south-east angle has, at some period soon after its construction, fallen down, and been rebuilt soon afterwards clumsily and in haste. No mere battering by a ram, no strokes from the missiles of a catapult, however ponderous, would have brought down both turret and wall. ”

“ The mortar is handed to him by an assistant by handsful; every workman is smeared and spattered with mud from head to foot, as though glorying in covering themselves with the trade-mark of their calling. ”

“ Only the chimney remains as its monument. Slowly, little by little, the patient solvents that find nothing too hard for their chemistry pick out the mortar from between the bricks; at last a mighty wind roars around it and rushes against it, and the monumental relic crashes down among the wrecks it has long survived. ”

“ The most popular mortar was the 60-mm., which was very mobile and especially suitable for use in close terrain. This mortar fired an illuminating shell which was used constantly for night defense, but its base plate also tended to sink into the ground.
Flame throwers were employed with very good effect in reducing strongly fortified positions. The M2–2 flame thrower was an excellent incendiary weapon against bamboo thickets and shacks. ”

“ The mortar being placed upon the middle of the platform, the gunner mounts upon it, and suspends the plummet in front of the muzzle, covering the object. Where the plummet thus suspended cuts the crest of [Pg 44] the epaulment, the first stake is driven. A second stake is then driven in the same line between the mortar and the epaulment. The pointing-cord being attached to the first stake and stretched to the rear, over the point where the plummet touches the top of the mortar, determines the point on the ground at which the rear stake is driven. ”

“ A cloud came into being from the explosion of a mortar shell, and two men dropped to the ground. In answer to the mortar, the flaring barrel of a tank gun spoke hoarsely, and half the crew of the mortar fell in turn. But there seemed no end to this deadly dialogue. The next moment there came the burst of a bomb from a low-flying plane, and the tank half turned over on its side, a heap of smoking steel. ”

“ If the trunnion of a gun breaks in the discharge, or a quoin flies out, the shot is materially affected; never ranging, under such circumstances, the accustomed distance, nor with its usual accuracy. Practice with mortars proves beyond dispute the necessity of a firm base for the gun, for with a much less charge they project a greater mass farther. [72] A mortar discharged on land, exceeds in range the same description of gun on board of ship, or on the best-constructed platform. ”

“ The bed for the heavy ten-inch mortar is the only one which has yet [Pg 100] been adopted. The cheeks are of cast-iron, and somewhat similar in form to those in the beds of siege-mortars; but in the front, the cheeks turn up to receive between them the front transom, which has, countersunk in and bolted to it, an elevating screw-bed, through which works an inclined elevating screw, which rises or falls by turning the nut, fitted on it by means of a lever inserted into mortises cut in the direction of the radii of the circular nut. ”

“ Whenever a severe mortar fire was opened upon his line of pits, he would station himself in a peculiarly exposed position on top of the [227] earth mound that protected his magazine. From that point he could direct the work of every gun under his command and at the same time do much for the protection of his men. A mortar shell can be seen in the air—particularly at night, when its flaming fuse is a torch—and its point of contact and explosion can be calculated with a good deal of precision. ”

“ The cord and plummet determine the required plane of sight into which the line of metal of the mortar must be brought. With the 13-inch mortar mounted upon centre-pintle chassis, the plane of sight must be so determined as to pass through the pintle to obtain perfect accuracy. One of the best methods of pointing mortars so mounted, is to place on the crest of the parapet in line with the axis of the platform a goniometer, the alidade of which can be directed upon the object,—the angle is read from the vertical plane containing the axis of the platform. ”

“ The center circle represents the bore, while the three outer arcs show the relative thickness of the bore wall at (1) the smallest diameter of the chase, (2) at the trunnions, and (3) at the vent. The small arc inside the bore indicates the powder chamber found in the pedrero and mortar.
Mortars (fig. 23d) (p. 038) were excellent for "putting great fear and terror in the souls of the besieged." Every night the mortars would play upon the town: "it keeps them in constant turmoil, due to the thought that some ball will fall upon their house." ”

“ A mortar is a short, stout cannon designed to throw shells into fortifications. This is accomplished by elevating the muzzle a great deal. But the higher the elevation the greater the strain upon the gun. For this reason it is that they are made so short and thick. They can be elevated so as to drop a shell just inside a fort, whereas a cannon-ball would either strike it on the outside, or pass over it far to the rear.
A 13-INCH MORTAR.
Mortars were used very little as compared with cannon. ”

“ For long such a dainty little mortar had been her special desire, and the attentive mechanician was therefore extremely welcome when he appeared one afternoon on her birthday and likewise brought along something to put the mortar to its legitimate use: a boxful of cinnamon, lump sugar, cloves and pepper. The mortar itself he hung, before entering at the door, by one of its handles to his little finger, and with the pestle he started a gay tinkling, just like a bell, so that out of the adventure grew a jolly day of festivity. ”

“ For mortars of six, eight, or ten inches diameter, the serpents should be made in one and two ounce cases, six or seven inches long, and fired by a leader, brought out of the mouth of the mortar, and turned down the outside, and the end of it covered with paper, to prevent the sparks of the other works from setting it on fire. For a six inch mortar, let the quantity of powder for firing be two ounces ”

“ It was intended that one 13-inch mortar, of enormous weight, should be put upon each, that these mortars should be fired with twenty-three pounds of powder, and that the shell thrown should, at a distance of three miles, fall with absolute precision into any devoted town which the rebels might hold on the river banks. The grandeur of the idea is almost sublime. ”

“ Many years ago short guns which threw their balls very high were in use, and because of their resemblance to the mortar which is used for pounding up things with the aid of a pestle these were termed mortars. ”

“ The practice of our masons of putting the blood of oxen into mortar was no doubt in the first instance associated with the idea of a sacrifice; however this may be, the blood had no doubt a real effect in hardening the mortar, just the same as treacle, which has been known to be used in our days. The use of cement when any extra strength is needed has put aside the use of either blood or treacle in the mixing of mortar. ”

“ Direction of fire may be secured at night with mortars by nailing or screwing two boards to the platform outside of the cheeks, and the elevation by drawing a line across one of the trunnions, or by inserting a wedge-shaped block of the proper inclination below the mortar and the front transom or step. Night-firing with guns should be limited to a small number of rounds, as it consumes ammunition to little advantage. ”

“ The mortar I may explain to my unmilitary readers is a short carronade of large bore and with a comparatively short range. The mortar with a heavy charge throws its missile at a sharp angle upwards, so that, instead of attempting to go through an earthwork, it is thrown into the enclosure. ”

“ Nos. 3, and 4 assist with their handspikes. All the Nos., at right angles to each other, turn the mortar bed round, and run it close up to the mortar.
To mount the Mortar.
Nos. 3, and 4 place their handspikes under the trunnions, and on the top steps of the mortar bed; Nos. 5, and 6 place their dragropes round the trunnions, and throw the mortar into the trunnion boxes: the mortar is raised perpendicular, as before. All the Nos. will do what they have undone; even Nos. go to the front, odd Nos. to the rear, and ease the mortar down. ”

“ Are receptacles for ordnance of large calibre,—mortar-beds serve the same purpose as gun-carriages. They are made of solid timber, consisting generally of two pieces fastened together with strong iron bolts and bars. Their sizes depend on the kind of mortar they carry. The beds for the smaller mortars are made of one solid block only. ”

“ The mortar is placed in a hole, dug in the ground, a few inches left standing out; the earth is shovelled in, and driven down firm; a penthouse lid, to keep out rain, dirt, and insects, renders it complete. Amateurs require nothing of this kind. A small mortar may be a tube, open at both ends, and fitted with a wooden bottom, to which it is to be firmly screwed. Fig. 94 represents such mortar: it may be 4 diameters high; and the foot should have a conical hole turned in it to receive the cone fastened to the shell. ”

“ A mortar is always fixed at a certain angle, and of course you fix a howitzer the same way when you use it for that purpose. With a mortar the amount of powder of a given strength required to send a shell to a given distance is known to every artillery-man, but with a howitzer one must get it by experiment. ”

“ We entered by the new breach, and had soon reason to be satisfied that the pinnace had wholly escaped from injury, and that the fire was entirely extinguished. The mortar, however, and pieces of the chain, had been driven forcibly into the opposite side of the inclosure. Having now every reason to be satisfied and tranquil, I explained to the boys the nature of a cracker, the manner of its operation, and the important service for which I was indebted to the old mortar. ”

“ The terre-plein may be placed at any convenient depth below the surface of the ground, and the revetment of the interior slope, if any be used, will not ordinarily be carried higher than the muzzle of the mortar. As the traverses are not subject to gun-fire, the splinter-proofs afforded by the central passage may be added to by building others along both sides of the traverse; and by deepening the mortar emplacement sufficiently, they may be given enough cover to make them true bomb-proofs. ”

“ It is used to raise or depress the muzzle of the mortar. The figure 8 represents what is called a quoin, and keeps the bolster in its place. The figure 9 represents one of the many bolts by which the whole is kept in place on the boat.
A Mortar.
The boat is built like a raft, of thick timbers, laid crosswise and bolted firmly together. It is about thirty feet long and twelve wide, and has iron plates around its sides to screen the men from Rebel sharpshooters. The mortar is more than four feet in diameter. It is thicker than it is long. ”

“ Because of the difficulty of supply only two mortars were taken forward with each heavy-weapons company, the balance of the personnel being used as ammunition carriers. Troops frequently remarked that if given the choice of rations or 81mm mortar ammunition, they would gladly take the latter.
“While the 37mm AT gun is admittedly a weapon of opportunity in jungle warfare, there were two occasions on which it served us handsomely. The Nips had a field piece located where it could interdict our beachhead at Laiana. Scouts located the gun, but our mortar fire couldn’t silence it. ”

“ As soon as they arrive they stick this mortar round the open place, and direct the whole operation with such swiftness and facility that in spite of their great number they never hinder each other, nor are obliged to stop. During this spectacle of apparent restlessness and confusion the observer is agreeably surprised to see arising a regular wall, filling up the gap. During the time that the workers are thus busied the soldiers remain within the nest, with the exception of a few, which walk about apparently idly, never touching the mortar, among the hundreds and thousands of workers. ”

“ The pieces are the Japanese latest type of coast-defense mortars, such as are used along the Straits of Shimoneseki and about the Bay of Yezo. They were brought by sea to Dalny, carried by railroad for a distance of fifteen miles to the end of the track, and from thence were hauled by hand over special tracks laid direct to the emplacements. In some cases, indeed, the guns were dragged on rollers through the sand, as many [27] as 800 men being required to haul a single mortar; for the mortar barrels, without the carriage, weigh eight tons apiece. ”