...Railway artillery - Personal Page of GENE SLOVER

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855. ELEVATING MECHANIsM.-The variations in the design of the
elevating mechanism found on German coast carriages as well as
railway carriages is very striking. On the 38-centimeter railway
mount found at Brussels, and the 305-millimeter carriages of the
Battery Kaiser Wilhelm II, there are double straight racks, but
the dimensions and designs differ quite radically. With the 38centimeter
guns of the Batteries Pommern' and Deutschland, there
are double-telescopfug screws. On the Battery Tirpitz there is a
double-curved rack attached to the bottom of the cradle. On the
Battery Groden, 28-centimeter mortars and the guns of several other
batteries, there are single-curved racks attached to the bottom of
the cradle. On the Battery ('-oeben, 17-centimeter guns, circular
racks are attached to the sides of the cradles.
856. AMMUNITION SUPPLY SysTE'M.-In all cases, the ammunition
is conveyed from the storehouses into the gun by hand. The shot
trucks are all of extremely simple design, and the projectiles "in all
cases are rammed by hand.
857. AMMUNITION STORAGE.-With all of the heavier batteries, the
layout of the ammunition storehouses is as shown on plates 557 and
558. In each case, the storehouses are designed to house projectiles
and powder for the main guns as well as ammunition for the antiaircraft
guns provided for the-protection of each of the big batteries.
858. PROO'ECTION.-Jt is very significant that there is no evidence
of a policy of providing heavy prptection for these large caliber and
valuable "guns. Apparently, all of the guns which are provided with
the 6-centimeter fiat plate armor have been removed from other
coast fortifications where they had been previously provided with
the same armor. Nearly all of the guns were elaborately camoufiaged,
but air photographs taken in 1916, 1917, and 1918 show quite
clearly the positions of all of the guns, ammunition storehouses,
approach tracks, etc.
859. In spite of the lack of protection and the clear evidence of the
position of the batteries froin air photographs, there is no evidence
that any of the guns was ever damaged, or even bit, by shell
fire or by bombs from airplanes. J t is understood that the coast
fortifications were shelled constantly by the heavy guns of the
Allies' monitors. The positions of the guns were known, but either
the smoke screens that were at once put up by the Germans were
unusually effective, or the systems of fire control that were employed
were defective. The reasons for the failure of the aviators to obtain
any satisfactory results are not certain. They dropped many
bombs in the vicinity of the various batteries. r t is probable that
the accuracy of the antiaircraft guns provided with all of the large
batteries was such as to compel the aviators to operate at a very
great height.
Digitized by Coogle