Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-25
THREE HEAVY GUNS OF WAR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
IN HE howitzer and the mortar are
filing a large space in the war
q news, and those weapons are re-
ferred to as often as are field guns.
field pieces" cannon rapid firers.
"uuick frers" and machine guns"
There is no sharp and distinct under
standing on the part Of the average
person as to the difference or distinc-
ton between the field gun. the siege
gun, the howitzer and the mortar.
The precise line of distinction or
mark of distinction between these
classes of weapons might be difficult
even for an ordnance technician to de-
fine Perhaps it is that hard and fast
line does not separate these classes.
1t is certainly difficult for a layman to
tell just where the gun ends and the
howitzer begins, or where the howlt-
ger ends and the mortar begins. But
man does not have to definitely express
the line of separation in order to know
field gun from siege gun, gun
from a howitzer and a howitzer from
mortar. Certain properties and charac-
teristics once peculiar to guns, howit-
GERS and mortars are now In greater or
less degree common to all. The chief
difference between these weapons lies
in the relation of length of bore to
diameter Of bore, and powder pressure
and velocity in relation to the size and
weight Of protectiles.
Considered in a broad and general
way, the special purpose of the gun
was and is to destroy other guns in
march or in position, to destroy troops
in the open and to batter down objects
behind which troops find shelter. The
projectile of the gun by high powder
pressure was given a high velocity
and a relatively fiat trajectory. which
means that the shot passing from the
gun to the target did not rise nigh
gun and target. To withstand the
powder pressure required for this work
the gun was heavy in relation to the
weight of the projectile. From the
fact that the shot Travelled IN pain
relatively of slight curve its slope OF
fall or its angle of fall was not steep.
When it reached the highest point In
its path, which is called Its maximum
ordinate, it continued to travel forward
as it came down. 1t would go through
a stone wall, or perhaps smash 1t, or
would go deep into dirt embank-
ment, but it was not easy to put a
shot inside a narrow deep trench, or to
| break through the earth and timber
rooted. and it was not easy to plant
a shot SO close behind an embankment
as to kill men sheltered there.
The shot from the gun was good at
penetration, but ineffective in search
| ing the rear of cover. To accomplish
that purpose another style gun was
devised. The pressure per square inch
of powder chamber was decreased, the
angle of elevation of the gun was in
creased, the angle of departure of the
shot was greatly increased and the
shot after reaching the summit of it's
path fell so steeply that if the range
were known and the practice good the
shot would plunge through the cover
of a trench, land in an open trench
or fall so close behind an embankment
or parapet that men would find no
shelter there.
| This being possible by a reduction of
powder pressure per square inch of
chamber surface and consequent re-
duction in the speed OF the projectlle
it was found that the weight of the
gun in relation to the weight of the
projectile could be diminished. thus in
creasing its mobility or the facility
with which it could be moved from
place to place.
1t was found that the barrel of this
gun could be very much shortened
| thus effecting a saving in weight. But
in making the changes in this gun
instead Of absolutely decreasing its
weight the gun-makers enlarged its
| bore and increased the size OF It's pro
| jectile, thus increasing it's efficiency
This type of gun, though not in the
narrow and technical sense a gum"
is ordnance and an element of artillery.
and was given the specific name
"hoWitZer.'
| why this type was called a howitzer
| is a question for debate, and it has
| never been settled. "Howitzer" is
| word that after various changes came
from the German and meant "cata-
putt" which was one of the ancients'
engines of war. The catapult and the
ballista were classic artillery of the
cross-bow type, taking their names
from words meaning to throw or to
hurl. The ancient engine which threw
big stones and necessarily gave very
high trajectory was the scorpion.
which came generally to be called the
onager.
zer". is clear, but why it should have
been given to gun with a higher
angle of fire than other guns and
higher trajectory than other guns, is
not explicable. "Howitzer was not
the name of the man who first thought
of or who first built this type of gun.
The first howitzers were in reality a
reversion to the early type of gun
that, because of the weakness and
auickness of charcoal powder, which
actually was powder" or dust, and Of
spherical shot and of windage or
clearance between shot and bore, gave
very high trajectories and steep slopes
Of fall. The howitzer has proved its
efficiency in producing a vertical or
nearly vertical fire, and from a short
and light gun has come to be the
heaviest of the guns accompanying
Europes field armies. Its power has
been tremendously Increased, yet 1t