Machine Gun Great War Essay - 852 words

World War I was called the Great War because so many countries were involved, and advanced weaponry was developed. The British and the Germans were the ranking pioneers in weapons development. The weapons that determined the outcome of World War I were tanks, airplanes, and very large guns called heavy artillery; the Germans ruled this area. The World War I fighters and bombers were not the greatest of planes, but they got the job done.


The German C. I. airplane was used for reconnaissance and unarmed scouting. Later in the war, according to Jack Douglas They mounted a forward-firing Spandau machine-gun on the left side of the forward fuselage that was used by the pilot. (Pamphlet) The British Gotha planes were a major threat to the Central Powers. The Gotha IV and V were both equipped with two Maxim Machine-guns, a pre determined weight of bombs, and a prayer. The Gotha V carried more bombs than the IV and was a slower target.


The Gotha IV carried less bombs, but it was faster and hard to shoot down. The British Royal Navy pilots loved the Sopwith Triplane. Although it had minimal offensive capabilities (one Maxim machine-gun on the side) they had five squadrons by the time one year had passed. Although the Germans trained the best pilots in the Great War, the British wound up having made some of the best planes throughout that time period.


German artillery ranged from a twenty-millimeter assault rifle to a four hundred and twenty-millimeter long-range heavy howitzer. The two most popular were the 105 mm and the 420 mm (Big Bertha). Big Bertha was a giant mobile siege gun produced at the Krupp armaments factory in Essen, Germany. Its official name was the Krupp 420 mm heavy howitzer, but became universally known as Big Bertha. (World Book Encyclopedia 798) This gun needed a crew of over one thousand men to fire it.


It was capable of firing ten nine hundred and thirty-kilogram shells fifteen and one half miles in the air over a distance of seventy-six miles every hour. The one hundred and five millimeter heavy howitzer was a World War I relic and a mainstay of the German army. It was quite effective in its role. (World Book Encyclopedia 799) To minimize the weight of the 105 mm they made it recoilless and used it as a surface to air gun also. The gun had an open back so that the gasses that would cause a normal gun to recoil would escape. Th ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: heavy, one man, great war, world book, machine gun

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