The British 12-inch Siege Howitzer was built by Vickers, as a scaled up version of their 9.2-inch Howitzer. It entered service at the Western Front in August 1916. This massive gun was broken down into 6 loads with a combined weight of 44 tons and hauled to the front lines for assembly. At the selected site, which would usually be in amongst trees, a template was pegged out on the ground and the foundation excavated by two 19-man detachments. Constructing the gun needed to be unobserved by the enemy aircraft as far as possible, so much work was done at night, and the works covered by tarpaulins. Caterpillar tracks had to be erased. The individual loads were winched across the excavation, and lowered using ratchet spanners operating on the nuts of lowering-screw threads. The first 4 loads (pivot, rear roller path, side girders and the gun carriage) were relatively straightforward to assemble in this way. The 6 ton Cradle and 9 ton Barrel were delivered on special waggons containing a winch that raised the waggon up to the level of the gun carriage, and a chain drive that slid the cradle, and subsequently the barrel, into place.
Howitzers specialised in indirect fire – where the target was not visible from the gun position. The animation shows a (simplified) process for setting the range and bearing on the gun to engage the target. In practice, there are many more factors that need to be taken into account. For more information please look at Nigel Evans’ web site (www.britishartillery.co.uk)
If you appreciate this video, how about buying me a coffee (or tea)
https://buymeacoffee.com/vbbsmyt
I am planning to create a further animation that will concentrate on the mechanisms of the gun – the buffer and recuperator, hydraulics, and sights.
This video is best viewed with your video quality setting to 1080
Animation made using Cinema 4D, Quicktime and iMovie.
Music: Heaven and Hell – Jeremy Blake
Dance Of the U Boat – Aakash Gandhi
References:
Handbook of the B.L. 12-Inch Hpwitzers Mark II on Siege Carriages, 1918
Imperial War Museum Film 218 – ‘With Britain’s Monster Guns in Action’
www.Britishartillery.co.uk – Nigel Evans
Hi, I’m Rob, otherwise known as VBBSMYT.
I create the animations on my iMac using Cinema 4D, which I find very intuitive, and allows me to add smoke and flames, and then send the model to my trusty Render farm.
I make my models as accurate as possible through reference books and particularly good drawings. You may have seen my animations of early torpedoes and machine guns on YouTube. I enjoy finding out how things work and it has been fascinating to track the development from the late Victorian period up to World War 1.
