Picture of the day

ArmedGinger said:
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This doesnt add up. Is my math Wrong ?

He said he fired the gun for 9 hours straight "with short breaks"
they said he fired 12,000 rounds in that time. " seems drastically low"

the gun is capable of 1200 RPM.
60 minutes in an hour , so 1200 x 60 =72,000 an hour

so 72,000 x 9 hours is 648,000 . now even if it was 1/2 that it would still be 324,000 in a nine hour period
ether the story is wrong or he hardly shot his machine gun ???

12,000 rounds in 9 hours seems ridiculously low. Thats 1333 an hour out of a gun that shoots 1200 rounds per minute.

please chime in....what do you think ?
 
lone ranger said:
This doesnt add up. Is my math Wrong ?

He said he fired the gun for 9 hours straight "with short breaks"
they said he fired 12,000 rounds in that time. " seems drastically low"

the gun is capable of 1200 RPM.
60 minutes in an hour , so 1200 x 60 =72,000 an hour

so 72,000 x 9 hours is 648,000 . now even if it was 1/2 that it would still be 324,000 in a nine hour period
ether the story is wrong or he hardly shot his machine gun ???

12,000 rounds in 9 hours seems ridiculously low. Thats 1333 an hour out of a gun that shoots 1200 rounds per minute.

please chime in....what do you think ?
Click to expand...

I think it comes down to that old saying, "If you have to tell a story about bears......have LOTS of bears in it" .
 
lone ranger said:
This doesnt add up. Is my math Wrong ?

He said he fired the gun for 9 hours straight "with short breaks"
they said he fired 12,000 rounds in that time. " seems drastically low"

the gun is capable of 1200 RPM.
60 minutes in an hour , so 1200 x 60 =72,000 an hour

so 72,000 x 9 hours is 648,000 . now even if it was 1/2 that it would still be 324,000 in a nine hour period
ether the story is wrong or he hardly shot his machine gun ???

12,000 rounds in 9 hours seems ridiculously low. Thats 1333 an hour out of a gun that shoots 1200 rounds per minute.

please chime in....what do you think ?
Click to expand...

The true story might have been that he was stationed at his gun for 9 hours straight without a break? Maybe someone will have to get his book and read it to see what he says himself. :D
 
More likely 9 hours on alert giving a burst to any target that presented itself.

Barrel overheating gets to be a problem, so you either have to limit the fraction of time you're firing or pause to change barrels. An extra barrel and a set of oven mitts were a machine gunner's friend.

And consider the logistics to get 648,000 rounds to a single machine gun position and how often you'd have to change position to not drown in spent brass or create too shiny a target to the opposition. Also consider the pile of barrels you'd need to supply to replace ones you'd used up.
 
lone ranger said:
This doesnt add up. Is my math Wrong ?

He said he fired the gun for 9 hours straight "with short breaks"
they said he fired 12,000 rounds in that time. " seems drastically low"

the gun is capable of 1200 RPM.
60 minutes in an hour , so 1200 x 60 =72,000 an hour

so 72,000 x 9 hours is 648,000 . now even if it was 1/2 that it would still be 324,000 in a nine hour period
ether the story is wrong or he hardly shot his machine gun ???

12,000 rounds in 9 hours seems ridiculously low. Thats 1333 an hour out of a gun that shoots 1200 rounds per minute.

please chime in....what do you think ?
Click to expand...

"Simple History" youtube channel has been called on its BS numerous times by various veterans etc., but trundles along, because clicks mean $$$, and continues to fulfill the Barnum prophecy. If the numbers claimed in that video were true, then he would have accounted for half the casualties on Omaha Beach.
 
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old303 said:
More likely 9 hours on alert giving a burst to any target that presented itself.

Barrel overheating gets to be a problem, so you either have to limit the fraction of time you're firing or pause to change barrels. An extra barrel and a set of oven mitts were a machine gunner's friend.

And consider the logistics to get 648,000 rounds to a single machine gun position and how often you'd have to change position to not drown in spent brass or create too shiny a target to the opposition. Also consider the pile of barrels you'd need to supply to replace ones you'd used up.
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Yes. Short aimed bursts at targets he could hit to keep the barrel from overheating. Also he had to keep the firing to a minimum so as not to give his position away.

I've read that he wasn't firing the MG42 all that while. He took breaks and used his K98 until the MG barrel cooled down.
 
Some things never change (aside from calibre):

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I couldn't open the video but it would appear it is about Hein Severloh, his book is WN62 and I have it in front of me as I write this. WN62 was the ID # of his position. I found the book to be very plausible, a tough read, he probable accounted for 2,000 GIs as the ramps on their landing craft dropped. I will have to re read it to confirm ammo quantities but I do remember he had to spend a long time waiting for barrels (he had several spares) to cool, during which time he kept up fire with several rifles. I think he also had to conserve his ammo. I thing his marksmanship was above average and he was sited in an excellent position.
 
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Field Marshal August Van Mackensen in Hussar uniform in 1915.
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And at the other (lower) end of the spectrum...

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“If there is a hell, we are in it. If there is despair, we dwell in it. If there are nightmares, we live it. Here, we go about our daily lives in suffering and squalor of blood, feces, rats, and rotten flesh. The men talk about killing themselves, or shooting themselves in the leg or foot. I cannot blame them. Days and weeks and months on end, we cannot get away.“
- Diary of an unknown French soldier found at Le Morte Homme, Verdun, France 1916.
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There were TWO Augusts von Mackensen, father and son, War One and War Two.

When I was taking my Masters' courses at a certain Canadian university, my instructor in Eastern European and Soviet history was a Jesuit who had a most interesting past. We each were supposed to do term research projects for presentation and critique by the Prof and the entire class.

One student (not me) was assigned a paper regarding the escape of Nazi war criminals after the end of the Second War. This would have involved heavy research on Die Spinne, ODESSA and other similar networks, none of which went about publishing reference material. There was virtually nothing available in the University Library. He said this when it was time for his paper to be attacked and the Prof snapped back, "Well, you could have asked ME!" Yes, he was in it up to his neck for a couple of years; how he ever ended up here, I will never know!

During the actual War, he was a Slavic languages translator on the staff of von Mackensen the younger., who commanded First Panzer Army and the 14th Army near the end. The general died in 1969.
 
That's a lovely clean pic of a reasonably rare bird. Thanks for that, Plump Anthony. :)

Looks like the Germans operated a few after they took Holland:

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Good to see you, Smellie. I hope you're keeping well.
 
Performance

Maximum speed: 475 km/h (295 mph, 256 kn) at 4,100 m (13,451 ft)
Range: 1,510 km (940 mi, 820 nmi)
Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 13.5 m/s (2,660 ft/min) 5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 6 minutes 20 seconds
Wing loading: 125.3 kg/m2 (25.7 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 0.22 kW/kg (0.13 hp/lb)
Armament
8× 7.9 mm (0.31 in) forward-firing FN-Browning machine guns in the nose
1× 7.9 mm (0.31 in) machine gun in rear turret
300 kg (660 lb) of bombs (G.1 Wasp could take 400 kg (880 lb))
or

2× 23mm Madsen cannons in nose
2× Further unspecified forward firing machineguns
1 Further unspecified machinegun firing aft[23]
 
Lead Ship,Dreadnought Battleship RM Conte di Cavour pictured as she transits the Ponte Girevole swing bridge at Taranto, August 31st 1923.
139422087-3550639661710068-6557790869276827082-o.jpg
 
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