Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
90mm De Bange howitzer 1877 - In Finn service
So but for the muzzle brake this is the type of gun the Mont Blanc had on her bow and stern. It looks so 'steampunk.'
This websitehas a dirty word in the address so I cannot put a hotlink
to it for reasons unknown to me. Its a dark secret.
[rl]https://finland-at-war.########.com/2018/10/weapons-of-war-de-bange-90-mm-cannon.html?m=1[/ul]
They have a detailed writeup on the origin of the gun & its history in Finn service. Pretty interesting.
^I am guessing this is one of the Elswick Arsenal Naval/Coastal defence cradles.
So but for the muzzle brake this is the type of gun the Mont Blanc had on her bow and stern. It looks so 'steampunk.'
This websitehas a dirty word in the address so I cannot put a hotlink
to it for reasons unknown to me. Its a dark secret.
[rl]https://finland-at-war.########.com/2018/10/weapons-of-war-de-bange-90-mm-cannon.html?m=1[/ul]
They have a detailed writeup on the origin of the gun & its history in Finn service. Pretty interesting.
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That picture was taken out a side window with the plane in a hard bank, circling around for a run.
When they came through the clouds they were too high and too close to make a bomb run (in a Hudson). They circled around and made a good pass.
Post war records show that the sub was damaged and went home. It was sunk the next year.
The Caribou ( a ferry) was torpedoed in the area a month later.
That's reference to Charles Ragon de Bange,designer of that and many other guns.Before French 75mm of Great War fame De Bange guns were all the rage and served well past "best before" date.
Makes perfect sense. With a family name like de Bang of course Charles Ragon went into the artillery business. Just like Atom da Fission who invented the atomic bomb....
OK. I'll stop now.
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I'd be nice around him - he could probably stab you to death with that beardo. 
He was the first to come up with a properly sealing breech mechanism. It used a hinged screw breech like we're used to seeing. The breech was in two parts. The inner breech was mushroom shaped & intruded into the breech. In between the screw and mushroom part of the breech was a washer like piece of woven asbestos impregnated with grease. Iirc the early guns had a separate priming vent using a sealed primer. I have not seen a detail of that so I could he wrong. To my mind the primer might have been like a Carl Gustav recoilless rifle using bagged charges but I could be wrong about that.
He was the first to come up with a properly sealing breech mechanism. It used a hinged screw breech like we're used to seeing. The breech was in two parts. The inner breech was mushroom shaped & intruded into the breech. In between the screw and mushroom part of the breech was a washer like piece of woven asbestos impregnated with grease. Iirc the early guns had a separate priming vent using a sealed primer. I have not seen a detail of that so I could he wrong. To my mind the primer might have been like a Carl Gustav recoilless rifle using bagged charges but I could be wrong about that.
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fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The ruins of the Italian artillery positions atop Mont Chaberton. The Italians thought they were going to pull a big tactical surprise on the opposing force across the border. Little did they know the op for were well aware of their plans; to place a nearby town under bombardment just for fun. There were multiple observers watching their movements & in comms with their mortar batteries positioned within range of the Italian psns on the reverse slopes.
The Italians took heavy casualties & lost the duel. The place has been abandoned ever since.
Destroyed Italian 149mm gun psn.
^280mm siege mortar. Four of these did the job. Not much of a fight.
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One bucket at a time.
Just following the conflict on the Italian front during WWl on an Amazon series. It was a nasty struggle fought at close quarters and mostly vertically. Towards the end, Italians surrendered en masse, because they regarded it as futile and their stupid generals wouldn't recognize it. Grizz
Italian Front has seen some incredible aerial battles never seen before at bone freezing altitudes in open cockpit biplanes.
Lots of aces were made on both sides ,some are still remembered,most are forgotten except for model makers.
One of better known was Frank Linke-Crawford who was 4th ranking ace of Austro-Hungarian air service at the time of his death in July of 1918.He died flying Aviatk-Berg shown on picture here.
With advances of CGI in films I'm hoping someone will make a film about air war on that front.Lots of great topics or people to choose from.
Lots of aces were made on both sides ,some are still remembered,most are forgotten except for model makers.
One of better known was Frank Linke-Crawford who was 4th ranking ace of Austro-Hungarian air service at the time of his death in July of 1918.He died flying Aviatk-Berg shown on picture here.
With advances of CGI in films I'm hoping someone will make a film about air war on that front.Lots of great topics or people to choose from.
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Sorry the battle in my post was a WWII battle. The WWI struggle in the Dolomites certainly was a bloodbath.
The fort was built in WWI for sure though. Incredible feat in and of itself!
The fort was built in WWI for sure though. Incredible feat in and of itself!
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fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I guess they had serious quality ctrl. problems with the 75 mm shells when the demand for them spiked. The requirement allowed for one defective shell in 50,000. When things turned to rats one in about 4,000 shells were defective. This is one of the reasons the old guns with no recoil systems were pulled out of storage. They had boatloads of ammunition made in peacetime for these old pieces.
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One bucket at a time.
Grizz
Which series is this? I’d like to check it out. I’d love to visit the WWI lines in the Dolomites one day.
From Ian Phillips, in Facebook page WORLD WAR PICTURES.
During WW2 the British Ministry of Information commissioned a series of "Birth of..." photo essays which were designed to keep the public informed of the progress of the ongoing homefront war effort.
I have previously featured the "Birth of a tank" and "Birth of a field gun" on this page.
Today it's the "Birth of a bomber".
The bomber in question is the Handley-Page Halifax, one of the RAF's principal four-engined "heavies" which, along with the Avro Lancaster and Short Stirling, carried the war to Germany.
These images were taken at the Handley-Page factory in the London suburb of Cricklewood, circa 1942.
They illustrate the various stages in the construction of these aircraft, in this case Mk IIs with the improved nose turret arrangement.
Sheet metal work...wind-tunnel tests...general assembly processes...painting...inspection and testing of the completed aircraft....and even the technical drawing offices are shown.
Also significant is the male / female work-force, typical of Britain's homefront effort during WW2.
During WW2 the British Ministry of Information commissioned a series of "Birth of..." photo essays which were designed to keep the public informed of the progress of the ongoing homefront war effort.
I have previously featured the "Birth of a tank" and "Birth of a field gun" on this page.
Today it's the "Birth of a bomber".
The bomber in question is the Handley-Page Halifax, one of the RAF's principal four-engined "heavies" which, along with the Avro Lancaster and Short Stirling, carried the war to Germany.
These images were taken at the Handley-Page factory in the London suburb of Cricklewood, circa 1942.
They illustrate the various stages in the construction of these aircraft, in this case Mk IIs with the improved nose turret arrangement.
Sheet metal work...wind-tunnel tests...general assembly processes...painting...inspection and testing of the completed aircraft....and even the technical drawing offices are shown.
Also significant is the male / female work-force, typical of Britain's homefront effort during WW2.
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Just called the First World War on Amazon Prime. Covers a lot of new ground with some previously unseen videos. Third episode, I believe goes into the Italian declaration of war and the consequences. And I thought I knew it all.
Grizz
