Heavy guns of World War 1. Field artillery before the First World War. Giants from Austria-Hungary

First of all, let’s ask ourselves the question, what is a “non-standard caliber”? After all, since there is a gun, it means its caliber is recognized as standard! Yes, this is true, but it so happened historically that calibers that were multiples of one inch were considered standard in the armies of the world at the beginning of the twentieth century. That is, 3 inches (76.2 mm), 10 inches (254 mm), 15 inches (381 mm), and so on, although, of course, there were differences here too. The same howitzer artillery of the First World War included “six-inch” guns with calibers of 149 mm, 150 mm, 152.4 mm, 155 mm. There were also guns of calibers 75 mm, 76 mm, 76.2 mm, 77 mm, 80 mm - and all of them were called “three-inch”. Or, for example, for many countries the standard caliber has become 105 mm, although this is not quite a 4-inch caliber. But it just so happens that this caliber turned out to be very popular! But there were also guns and howitzers whose caliber differed from generally accepted standards. It is not always clear why this was necessary. Was it really not possible to reduce all the guns in your army to just a few of the most commonly used calibers? This makes it easier to produce ammunition and supply troops with it. And it’s also more convenient to sell abroad. But no, as in the 18th century, when for different types Infantry and cavalry produced different, sometimes even different-caliber guns and pistols - officers, soldiers, cuirassiers, hussars, rangers, and infantry, and with guns in the First World War, it was almost all the same!

Well, our story, as always, will begin with Austria-Hungary and its guns of the early twentieth century, which actively participated in the First World War. Here this is what 7 cm has become mountain cannon M-99 - typical example obsolete types of guns, which, nevertheless, were used during the war in many countries until more advanced systems appeared. It was a gun with a bronze barrel, without any recoil devices, but quite light. A total of 300 were produced, and when war broke out, about 20 batteries of mountain guns of this type were deployed to the Alpine front. The weight of the gun was 315 kg, the elevation angles were from -10° to +26°. The projectile weighed 4.68 kg and had initial speed 310 meters, and maximum range firing range was 4.8 km. They replaced it with a 7.5 cm Skoda M.15 mountain howitzer and it was already quite modern weapon for that time. In particular, its firing range reached 8 km (that is, even greater than that of the 8-cm M.5 field gun!), and the rate of fire reached 20 rounds per minute!

Well, then the Shkoda team got so big that they launched a 10-cm M.16 mountain howitzer (based on the M.14 field howitzer). The main difference was, of course, that it could be disassembled into parts and transported by pack method. The weight of the howitzer was 1.235 kg, guidance angles were from -8° to +70° (!), and horizontally 5° in both directions. The weight of the projectile was very decent - 13.6 kg (a hybrid shrapnel-grenade projectile from the M.14), the initial speed was 397 m/sec, and the maximum reach was 8.1 km. A 10 kg high explosive shell and 13.5 kg shrapnel from the M.14 were also used. The rate of fire reached 5 rounds per minute, the crew was 6 people. A total of 550 of them were produced, and they actively participated in the battles with the Italians. After the First World War, it was in service with the armies of Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia (under the name 10 cm howitzer vz. 14), exported to Poland, Greece and Yugoslavia, and was used as a captured weapon by the Wehrmacht.

It would seem that one could be satisfied with this 3.9-inch caliber, but no, exactly a 4-inch caliber was also needed, as if adding 4 mm could seriously change something in the merits of the gun. As a result, Skoda developed the 10.4 cm M.15 gun, similar in design to the German 10 cm K14 gun. A total of 577 M.15s were produced and were used in both Europe and Palestine. The design is typical for Skoda - a hydraulic recoil brake and a spring knurl. The barrel length was L/36.4; the weight of the gun is 3020 kg, vertical guidance angles are from -10° to +30°, horizontal 6°, and the firing range is 13 km. The weight of the projectile for the gun was 17.4 kg, and the crew numbered 10 people. It is interesting that 260 M.15 guns went to Italy in 1938 - 1939. were bored out to the traditional 105 mm and served in the Italian army under the designation Cannone da 105/32. In addition to the caliber, the Italians replaced their wooden wheels with pneumatic ones, which increased the towing speed of these guns significantly.

As for the proud British, they had a whole bunch of non-standard caliber guns, and they all fought in the First World War. Let's start again with the mountain gun - 10 Pounder Mountain Gun. The fact that it was called 10-pounder means little; the caliber is important, and it was equal to 2.75 inches or 69.8 mm, that is, the same 70 as the Austrian mountain gun. When fired, the cannon rolled back and also fired black powder, but it was very quickly disassembled into parts, the heaviest of which weighed 93.9 kg. The weight of the shrapnel projectile was 4.54 kg, and the range was 5486 m. Its barrel could be unscrewed into two parts, which was of fundamental importance for such a weapon. But it was just a cannon, so it couldn’t fire at high-lying targets!

The gun was used in the Boer War of 1899-1902, where its crews suffered losses from Boer rifle fire, and in the First World War the British used it on the Gallipoli Peninsula, as well as in East Africa and in Palestine. However, it was obvious that this gun was already outdated and in 1911 it was replaced with a new model: a 2.75-inch mountain gun of the same caliber, but with a shield and recoil devices. The weight of the projectile increased to 5.67 kg, as did the weight of the gun itself - 586 kg. To transport it in packs, 6 mules were required, but it was assembled in position in just 2 minutes, and disassembled in 3! But the gun retained the disadvantage of its predecessor - separate loading. Because of this, its rate of fire was less than possible. But the range remained at the same level, and the power of the projectile even increased somewhat. It was used on the Mesopotamian front and near Thessaloniki. But not many were made, only 183 guns.

And then things got even more interesting. A 3.7-inch mountain howitzer, that is, a 94-mm caliber gun, entered service. It was tested in action for the first time in March 1917, and already in 1918, 70 such guns were sent to Mesopotamia and Africa. It was the first British gun to have horizontal guidance equal to 20° to the left and right of the barrel axis. The declination and elevation angles of the trunk were -5° and +40°, respectively. Loading was also separate, but for the howitzer this was an advantage, not a disadvantage, since it gave a whole bunch of trajectories when firing. The new gun could fire a 9.08 kg projectile at a distance of 5.4 km. The barrel was separated into two parts of 96 kg and 98 kg each, and total weight system was equal to 779 kg. On the road, the gun could be towed by a pair of horses, and it remained in service with the British Army until the early 1960s!

But, further, as they say - more! Already in 1906, the British military wanted to have a more advanced howitzer than the previous one, 5-inch caliber, but not a 105-mm gun, like the Germans, but adopted it completely new caliber, proposed by Vickers - 114 mm or 4.5 inches. It is believed that in 1914 it was the most advanced weapon in its class. Weighing 1,368 kg, she shot high explosive shells weighing 15.9 kg over a distance of 7.5 km. The elevation angle was 45°, the horizontal aiming angle was “pathetic” 3°, but other howitzers had only a little more. Smoke, lighting, gas, and shrapnel shells were also used. Rate of fire - 5 -6 rounds per minute. The recoil brake is hydraulic, the knurl is spring-loaded. Until the end of the war, more than 3,000 of these howitzers were manufactured, and they were supplied to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and in 1916 400 copies were sent to us in Russia. They fought in Gallipoli, the Balkans, Palestine and Mesopotamia. After the war, their wheels were changed and in this form they fought in France and were abandoned at Dunkirk, and then they served as training ones in Britain itself until the end of the war. They were part of Finnish army V " Winter War" Moreover, they were the ones that were used to equip the VT-42 self-propelled guns based on our captured tanks BT-7. They also fought as part of the Red Army back in 1941. In addition, British artillery boats were equipped with a gun of the same caliber, but, in general, it was never used anywhere else! Several years ago, one such howitzer stood on the second floor of the historical museum in Kazan, but I personally don’t know whether it is there now.

There is a saying: whoever you get along with, you will gain from it. So Russia fell for an alliance with Britain and from it they received both a 114-mm howitzer and... a 127-mm cannon! As you know, 127 mm is a “naval caliber”, the classic 5 inches, but on land it was used only in England! Well, here in Russia, Britain’s allies during the First World War. In England, this gun was called the BL 60-Pounder Mark I and was put into service in 1909 to replace the old gun of this caliber, which did not have recoil devices. The 127 mm cannon could fire 27.3 kg of shells (shrapnel or high-explosive grenade) at a distance of 9.4 km. A total of 1,773 guns of this type were produced during the war.

They improved it gradually. First, they gave the projectiles a new, aerodynamic shape and the firing range increased to 11.2 km. Then in 1916, the barrel of the Mk II modification was lengthened, and it began to fire up to 14.1 km. But the gun turned out to be heavy: the combat weight was 4.47 tons. This gun was used in the British Army until 1944. There were only 18 of them left in the Red Army in 1936, but, nevertheless, they were in service until 1942.

2.75-inch English mountain gun at Hartlepool Museum

3.7-inch English mountain howitzer at the Duxford Museum

100-mm mountain howitzer of the Skoda company from the museum in Lesanne

104 mm M.15 cannon from a museum in Vienna

127 mm gun in National Museum World War I in Kansas City

114 mm British howitzer in the museum in Duxford

Self-propelled gun VT-42 in the BTT museum in Parola, Finland

Diagram of a 114 mm howitzer

High-explosive shell of a 127-mm cannon in section

Shrapnel shell of a 2.75 mm cannon in section

First World War gave birth to super-heavy guns, one shell of which weighed a ton, and the firing range reached 15 kilometers. The weight of these giants reached 100 tons.

Shortage

Everyone knows the famous army joke about “crocodiles that fly, but low.” However, military men in the past were not always erudite and perspicacious. For example, General Dragomirov generally believed that the First World War would last four months. But the French military completely accepted the concept of “one gun and one shell,” intending to use it to defeat Germany in the coming European war.

Russia, walking in line military policy France also paid tribute to this doctrine. But when the war soon turned into a positional war, the troops dug into trenches, protected by many rows of barbed wire, it became clear that the Entente allies were sorely lacking heavy guns capable of operating in these conditions.

No, the troops had a certain number of relative large-caliber guns: Austria-Hungary and Germany had 100-mm and 105-mm howitzers, England and Russia had 114-mm and 122-mm howitzers. Finally, all the warring countries used 150/152 or 155 mm howitzers and mortars, but even their power was clearly insufficient. “Our dugout in three rolls,” covered on top with sandbags, protected against any light howitzer shells, and concrete was used against heavier ones.

However, Russia did not even have enough of them, and she had to purchase 114-mm, 152-mm and 203-mm and 234-mm howitzers from England. In addition to them, the heavier guns of the Russian army were the 280-mm mortar (developed by the French company Schneider, as well as the entire line of 122-152-mm howitzers and cannons) and the 305-mm howitzer 1915 from the Obukhov plant, produced during the war in Only 50 units available!

"Big Bertha"

But the Germans, preparing for offensive battles in Europe, very carefully approached the experience of the Anglo-Boer and Russo-Japanese War and created in advance not just heavy, but super heavy weapon- A 420-mm mortar called “Big Bertha” (named after the then owner of the Krupp concern), a real “witches’ hammer.”

The projectile of this super-gun weighed 810 kg, and it fired at a distance of as much as 14 km. The explosion of a high-explosive shell produced a crater 4.25 meters deep and 10.5 meters in diameter. The fragmentation scattered into 15 thousand pieces of deadly metal, which retained lethal force at a distance of up to two kilometers. However, the defenders of the same, for example, Belgian fortresses considered the most terrible armor-piercing shells, from which even two-meter ceilings made of steel and concrete could not save.

During the First World War, the Germans successfully used Berthas to bombard well-fortified French and Belgian forts and the Verdun fortress. It was noted that in order to break the will to resist and force the fort’s garrison of a thousand people to surrender, all that was required was two such mortars, a day of time and 360 shells. No wonder our allies on the Western Front called the 420-mm mortar “fort killer.”

In the modern Russian television series “Death of the Empire”, during the siege of the Kovno fortress, the Germans fire at it from the “Big Bertha”. At least that's what the screen says about it. In fact, “Big Bertha” was “played” by the Soviet 305-mm artillery installation TM-3-12 on a railway, radically different from the Bertha in all respects.

A total of nine of these guns were built, they took part in the capture of Liege in August 1914, and in the Battle of Verdun in the winter of 1916. Four guns were delivered to the Osovets fortress on February 3, 1915, so scenes of its use on the Russian-German front should have been filmed in winter, not summer!

Giants from Austria-Hungary

But on the Eastern Front, Russian troops more often had to deal with another 420-mm monster gun - not a German one, but an Austro-Hungarian howitzer of the same caliber M14, created in 1916. Moreover, yielding German gun in the firing range (12,700 m), it surpassed him in the weight of the projectile, which weighed one ton!

Fortunately, this monster was much less transportable than the wheeled German howitzer. That one, albeit slowly, could be towed. Every time a position was changed, the Austro-Hungarian one had to be disassembled and transported using 32 trucks and trailers, and its assembly required from 12 to 40 hours.

It should be noted that in addition to the terrible destructive effect, these guns also had a relatively high rate of fire. So, “Bertha” fired one shell every eight minutes, and the Austro-Hungarian one fired 6-8 shells per hour!

Less powerful was another Austro-Hungarian howitzer, the Barbara, with a 380-mm caliber, firing 12 rounds per hour and sending its 740-kilogram shells over a distance of 15 km! However, both this gun and the 305-mm and 240-mm mortars were stationary installations that were transported in parts and installed in special positions, which required time and a lot of labor to equip. In addition, the 240-mm mortar fired only at 6500 m, that is, it was in the destruction zone of even our Russian 76.2-mm field gun! Nevertheless, all these weapons fought and fired, but we clearly did not have enough weapons to respond to them.

Entente response

How did the Entente allies respond to all this? Well, Russia had little choice: basically these were the already mentioned 305-mm howitzers, with a projectile weighing 376 kg and a range of 13448 m, firing one shot every three minutes.

But the British released a whole series of such stationary guns of ever-increasing caliber, starting with 234 mm and up to 15-inch - 381 mm siege howitzers. The latter were actively pursued by Winston Churchill himself, who achieved their release in 1916. Although the British turned out to be not very impressive with this gun, they produced only twelve of them.

It threw a projectile weighing 635 kg over a distance of only 9.87 km, while the installation itself weighed 94 tons. Moreover, it was pure weight, without ballast. The fact is that in order to give this gun greater stability (and all other guns of this type), they had a steel box under the barrel, which had to be filled with 20.3 tons of ballast, that is, simply put, filled with earth and stones.

Therefore, the 234-mm Mk I and Mk II mounts became the most popular in the British army (a total of 512 guns of both types were produced). At the same time, they fired a 290-kilogram projectile at 12,740 m. But... they also needed this same 20-ton box of earth, and just imagine the amount of earthwork that was required to install just a few of these guns in positions! By the way, you can see it “live” today in London at the Imperial War Museum, just like the 203-mm English howitzer displayed in the courtyard Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg!

The French responded to the German challenge by creating a 400-mm howitzer M 1915/16 on a railway transporter. The gun was developed by the Saint-Chamon company and already at the first combat use October 21–23, 1916 showed her high efficiency. The howitzer could fire both “light” high-explosive shells weighing 641–652 kg, containing about 180 kg explosives respectively, and heavy ones from 890 to 900 kg. At the same time, the firing range reached 16 km. Before the end of the First World War, eight 400 mm such installations were made, two more installations were assembled after the war.

By 1914, most armies assumed that the coming war would be fleeting. Accordingly, the nature of the future war was qualified as maneuverable, and the artillery of the warring armies, first of all, had to have such a quality as tactical mobility. In maneuverable combat, the main target of artillery is the enemy’s manpower, while there are no serious fortified positions. That is why the field artillery core was introduced light field 75-77 mm caliber guns. And the main ammunition is shrapnel. It was believed that the field cannon, with its significant, both among the French and, especially among the Russians, initial projectile speed, would fulfill all the tasks assigned to artillery in field battles.

French 75 mm gun. Photo: Pataj S. Artyleria ladowa 1881-1970. W-wa, 1975.

In the conditions of a fleeting maneuver war, the French 75-mm cannon of the 1897 model in its own tactical and technical characteristics took first place. Although the initial speed of its projectile was inferior to the Russian three-inch, this was compensated by a more advantageous projectile, which spent its speed more economically in flight. In addition, the gun had greater stability (that is, unkillable aiming) after firing, and, consequently, a higher rate of fire. The design of the French gun carriage allowed it to automatically fire from the side horizontally, which from a distance of 2.5-3 thousand meters made it possible to fire at a 400-500-meter front within a minute.

For a Russian three-inch gun, the same thing was possible only by five or six turns of the entire battery, spending at least five minutes of time. But during a flank shelling, in just a minute and a half, a Russian light battery, firing with shrapnel, covered with its fire an area up to 800 m deep and more than 100 m wide.

Russian 76 mm field gun in position

In the struggle to destroy manpower, the French and Russian field guns had no equal.
As a result, the 32-battalion Russian army corps was equipped with 108 guns - including 96 76-mm (three-inch) field guns and 12 light 122-mm (48-line) howitzers. There was no heavy artillery in the corps. True, before the war there was a tendency towards the creation of heavy field artillery, but heavy field three-battery divisions (2 batteries of 152-mm (six-inch) howitzers and one 107-mm (42-linear) guns) existed as if as an exception and organic connection with did not have buildings.
The situation was little better in France, which had 120 75-mm field guns for a 24-battalion army corps. There was no heavy artillery attached to divisions and corps and was located only with armies - total number only 308 guns (120 mm long and short guns, 155 mm howitzers and the newest 105 mm long Schneider gun of the 1913 model).

Russian 122-mm field howitzer model 1910 in position

The organization of artillery in Russia and France was, first of all, a consequence of underestimating the power of rifle and machine-gun fire, as well as the enemy’s fortification reinforcement. The regulations of these powers at the beginning of the war did not require artillery to prepare, but only to support an infantry attack.

Britain entered the First World War also possessing very few heavy guns. In service with the British army were: since 1907. - 15-lb (76.2 mm) field guns BLC; 4.5 in (114 mm) QF howitzer, adopted in 1910; 60-lb (127 mm) Mk1 gun 1905 model; 6-dm (152-mm) howitzer BL model 1896. New heavy guns began to arrive to British troops as the war progressed.

In contrast to its opponents, the organization German artillery was built on a correct prediction of the nature of the upcoming military conflict. For the 24-battalion army corps, the Germans had 108 light 77-mm cannons, 36 light 105-mm field howitzers (divisional artillery) and 16 heavy 150-mm field howitzers (corps artillery). Accordingly, already in 1914 heavy artillery was present at the corps level. With the beginning of the positional war, the Germans also created divisional heavy artillery, equipping each division with two howitzer and one heavy cannon batteries.

German field 77 mm gun in position

From this ratio it is clear that the Germans saw the main means for achieving tactical success even in field maneuver battles in the power of their artillery (almost a third of all available guns were howitzers). In addition, the Germans reasonably took into account the increased initial velocity of the projectile, which was not always necessary for flat shooting (in this regard, their 77-mm cannon was inferior to the French and Russian cannons) and adopted a caliber for a light field howitzer that was not 122-120 mm, like theirs opponents, and 105 mm is the optimal (in combination of relative power and mobility) caliber. If the 77-mm German, 75-mm French, 76-mm Russian light field guns roughly corresponded to each other (as well as the 105-107-mm heavy field guns of the enemy), then the Russian and French armies had no analogues to the German 105-mm divisional howitzer had.

Thus, by the beginning of the World War, the basis for the organization of artillery weapons of the leading military powers was the task of supporting the advance of their infantry on the battlefield. The main qualities required for field guns are mobility in conditions of maneuver warfare. This trend also determined the organization of the artillery of the major powers, its quantitative ratio with infantry, as well as the proportionality of light and heavy artillery in relation to each other.

German 150 mm howitzer

By the beginning of the war, Russia had about 6.9 thousand light guns and howitzers and 240 heavy guns (that is, the ratio of heavy to light artillery was 1 to 29); France possessed almost 8 thousand light and 308 heavy guns (ratio 1 to 24); Germany had 6.5 thousand light guns and howitzers and almost 2 thousand heavy guns (ratio 1 to 3.75).

These figures clearly illustrate both the views on the use of artillery in 1914 and the resources with which each great power entered the world war. World War I was the first large-scale war in which most combat casualties were caused by artillery. According to experts, three out of five died from exploding shells. It is obvious that the German armed forces were closest to the requirements of the First World War even before it began.

Sources:
Oleynikov A. "Artillery 1914."

In the workshop for the production of heavy shells. Illustration from the book “ Great War in images and paintings." Issue 9. - M., 1916

Unforeseen intensity of battles and, as a consequence, huge costs artillery shells coupled with the rate of fire of field artillery, already two or three months after the start of the war led to the first crisis in the supply of artillery ammunition. Already in November 1914, the troops of the Russian army in the field began to receive official insistent demands to limit the consumption of shells, and five months after this, this circumstance was of utmost importance for the fighting in the Carpathians. Orders for the troops of the Southwestern Front ordered to open fire only when the enemy approached at a minimum distance.

THE SITUATION IS IMPROVING

By the spring of 1916 (the period of the Brusilov offensive), the situation changed for the better. Thus, during the breakthrough of the enemy’s fortified zone at Sopanov, one of the batteries of the Russian strike group fired over 3,000 shells in two battles (May 22-23). Russian batteries have long been unaccustomed to this, albeit essentially insignificant, scale of ammunition consumption. But already on May 25, during the development of hostilities to capture the neighboring area, the artillery was again limited in ammunition consumption. Consequently artillery group, consisting of two light and one mountain batteries, was obliged to conduct ineffective methodical artillery preparation. The result was heavy casualties among the advancing elements of the 35th Infantry Division.

Nevertheless, the situation gradually improved and became satisfactory in the second half of 1916 and 1917. When breaking through the enemy front during the June offensive of the Southwestern Front in 1917, the Russian army was able to carry out continuous three-day artillery preparation, with guns of almost all calibers (up to 11-inch inclusive). In relation to howitzer artillery, the shell hunger was cured at an even slower pace, which affected the actions of the small Russian heavy artillery and light howitzer batteries. While the Germans fired heavy artillery constantly, Russian heavy artillery opened fire only immediately before the operation. Even light howitzers opened fire only in accordance with the permission of the command (which also indicated a certain number of shells for this purpose).

A qualitative shortcoming in supplying Russian artillery with ammunition should include the insufficient range of 3-inch shrapnel, equipped primarily with a 22-second remote tube, while German shrapnel had a range of up to 7 km, having a double-action remote tube. At the end of 1915, this drawback was neutralized by the receipt by Russian artillerymen of batches of remote tubes of other types - 28-, 34- and 36-second with ranges of up to 8 km. But shooting at moving targets was still carried out with shrapnel only up to 5.2 km. Note that the firing range of 75-mm French shrapnel was almost identical to Russian.

GRENADES WERE IN DEMAND

The other main type of projectile, the so-called high-explosive grenades, equipped with TNT, first appeared in Russian artillery in 1914. Field batteries entered the war with sets of 1520 shrapnel and 176 grenades, that is, a ratio of 9 to 1. After the battery switched from 8 to 6 guns in October 1914, the ratio changed in favor of grenades and became 1096 and 176, that is, 6 to 1. With the transition from maneuver warfare to positional warfare, the demand for grenades increased significantly, and already from the end of 1915, it was envisaged that artillery sets would have an equal number of grenades and shrapnel.

The main, most proven types of grenades were TNT, schneiderite and melinite. The most reliable fuses include the 3 GT, 4 GT and 6 GT fuses, French fuses with delay (black) and without delay (white), as well as the Schneider fuse.

The destruction of various defensive structures that did not require significant penetration of the projectile into the depth of the target object, as well as the destruction of wire fences, was most successfully carried out by Moscow-made melinite grenades with a French fuse without a moderator. This grenade was the best. Next came a Schneiderite grenade with a Schneider fuse, and in third place was a TNT grenade and a bomb with fuses of types 3 GT, 4 GT and 6 GT.

At the same time, the effect of melinite grenades when firing at wire barriers did not live up to the hopes of the infantry - exploding from a ricochet (at short distances) in the air, they cut through the wire barriers with fragments and not so much cleared them as entangled them, making it difficult for people to pass through. Practice has shown that the most rational type ammunition for destroying barriers was a high-explosive impact projectile, which destroyed stakes and, accordingly, wire. A Moscow-made melinite grenade with a moderator was an excellent means for destroying living targets at short distances (no more than 2.5–3 km). Its fragmentation effect, combined with the morale effect, gave excellent results when shooting at living targets and was an effective means of raising enemy fighters who lay down under shrapnel fire.

For firing at any (not only short) distances, artillery, due to the lack of double-action remote tubes, could not full force use grenades to destroy living targets. At the end of 1916 and in 1917, the front began to receive small batches of grenades with a 28-second remote tube - they began to be used for shooting at air targets. In France, this problem was solved only by 1918 - with the adoption of a new long-range high explosive grenade with a firing range of up to 7500 m. “Ultra-sensitive fuses” were also adopted for grenades. In Germany, attention was paid to increasing the range of remote fire from the very beginning of the war, as a result of which the fire range of the 77 mm cannon increased to 7100 m already in 1915 (compared to 5500 m in 1914). The powerful high explosive bomb of the 150-mm Krupp heavy howitzer had a similar range of fire (up to 8 km).

FACTORIES WORKED TO WEAR

The quantitative shortage of shells, which immediately appeared in France, was quickly made up for thanks to the high productivity of its industry - this made it possible to carry out combat operations, associated with huge consumption of ammunition. Thus, in the first months of the war, French factories produced 20 thousand shells per day, and at the end of the war, daily production exceeded 250 thousand. Since the spring of 1917, the French could afford to conduct artillery preparations to great depths, as well as open powerful barrage fire.

The general picture of the combat supply of the Russian army with artillery shells looked as follows.

By the beginning of the war, the active army had 6.5 million 3-inch shells and about 600 thousand shells for medium-caliber guns.

In 1915, the artillery received 11 million 3-inch and about 1 million 250 thousand other shells.

In 1916, 3-inch guns received about 27.5 million, and 4- and 6-inch guns about 5.5 million shells. This year the army received 56 thousand shells for heavy artillery (only 25% of them were created through the efforts of domestic industry).

And in 1917, Russia coped with the difficulties of meeting the needs of its army in terms of light and medium caliber shells, gradually freeing itself from foreign dependence. Over 14 million shells of the first type are supplied this year (of which about 23% are from abroad), and over 4 million for medium-caliber guns (with the same percentage of foreign procurement). In relation to shells for guns of the TAON corps (heavy artillery special purpose) the amount of ammunition ordered from outside was 3.5 times higher than the productivity of the domestic industry. In 1917, the army received about 110 thousand shells for 8-12-inch caliber guns.

The production of spacer tubes was carried out in Russia, while fuses, especially the safe type, were mainly ordered abroad.

Thus, the combat needs of the Russian army in artillery ammunition small and medium caliber were gradually satisfied, and the shell famine of the end of 1914 and 1915 was eliminated, but the shortage of shells large calibers, although not as acute, was felt until the end of Russia's participation in the First World War.

As you know, the First World War was one of the largest and bloodiest of all. The First World War was very diverse. Almost all were used in combat existing species weapons, including new ones.

Aviation

Aviation was widely used - first it was used for reconnaissance, and then used to bomb the army at the front and in the rear, as well as to attack peaceful villages and cities. For raids on the cities of England and France, in particular Paris, Germany used airships (often used weapons of the First World War, they were also called “zeppelins” - in honor of the designer F. Zeppelin).

Heavy artillery

The British in 1916 first began to use a small amount armored vehicles(i.e. tanks) at the front. By the end of the war they had already inflicted great damage The French army had a tank called the Renault FT-17, which was used to support infantry. Armored cars (armored vehicles equipped with machine guns or cannons) were also used in those years. During the First World War, as is known, almost all powers were armed with artillery for combat operations (close combat). heavy machine guns. The Russian army had at its disposal 2 models of such machine guns (modifications of the system of H.S. Maxim, an American designer) and during the war years the number of used ones increased significantly light machine guns(another common weapon of the First World War).

Chemical weapon

Back in January 1915, chemical weapons were used for the first time on the Russian front. In pursuit of success, combatants did not hesitate to violate customs and laws - the First World War was so unprincipled. Chemical weapon was used on the Western Front in April 1915 by the German command (poison gases) - a new means mass extermination. Chlorine gas was released from the cylinders. Heavy greenish-yellow clouds, spreading along the very ground, rushed towards the Anglo-French troops. Those who were within the infection radius began to suffocate. As a countermeasure, about 200 chemical plants were quickly created in Russia. World War required modernization. To ensure the success of operations, artillery was used - simultaneously with the release of gases, artillery fire was opened. Photos of weapons from the First World War can be seen in our article.

Soon after both sides began using poison gases at the front, the famous Russian academician and chemist N.D. Zelinsky invented a coal gas mask, which saved the lives of many thousands of people.

Navy weapons

In addition to land, the war was also fought on the seas. In March 1915, the whole world learned the terrible news: a submarine from Germany sank a huge passenger ship"Lusitania". More than a thousand civilian passengers died. And in 1917, the so-called unlimited submarine warfare of German submarines began. The Germans openly declared their intention to sink not only the ships of their opponents, but also those of neutral countries in order to deprive England of access to its allies and colonies, thereby leaving it without bread and industrial raw materials. German submarines sank many hundreds of passenger and merchant ships from England and neutral countries.

Automobile transport

It should be noted that the Russian army at that time was poorly equipped. At the beginning of hostilities, there were only 679 vehicles. By 1916, the army already had 5.3 thousand cars, and during that year another 6.8 thousand were produced, because the First World War demanded it. Weapons and troops needed transportation. These are quite impressive figures, however, for example, french army, half the size, had 90 thousand vehicles by the end of the war.

World War I handguns

• Officer's pistol "Parabellum", 1908 The standard capacity of the Parabellum magazine was 8 rounds. For the needs of the navy, it was lengthened to 200 mm, and the naval version of the weapon also had a fixed sight. "Parabellum" was the main staff officer's model. All the Kaiser's officers were armed with these weapons.
• "Mauser" - pistol of mounted rangers. The magazine capacity was 10 rounds and the weight was 1.2 kg. The maximum firing range was 2000 m.
• Officer's pistol "Mauser" (use - World War I). This weapon was a small pocket type. Advantages: good shooting accuracy.
• Soldier's pistol "Dreyse" (1912). Barrel length - 126 mm, weight - 1050 g without cartridges, drum capacity - 8, caliber - 9 mm. These weapons were quite heavy and complex, but powerful enough to provide soldiers with the necessary self-defense in hand-to-hand trench combat.
• Self-loading (1908) The caliber of this weapon was 7 mm, weight was 4.1 kg, the magazine capacity was 10 rounds, and sighting range- 2000 m. This was the first self-loading rifle in history used in battle. Oddly enough, the weapon was developed in Mexico, and the level of technical capabilities in that country was extremely low. Main disadvantage- extreme sensitivity to pollution.
• 9-mm submachine gun MP-18 (1918). The magazine capacity was 32 rounds, caliber - 9 mm, weight without cartridges - 4.18 kg, with cartridges - 5.3 kg, automatic fire only. This weapon was developed to enhance the firepower of the infantry, to wage war in new conditions. It caused delays when firing and was sensitive to contamination, but showed greater combat effectiveness and fire density.