South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-12-26
BIG GERMAN RANGE
GUN WAS FORCED"
LudendOrff Ordered Longer
Range for Bertha to
Demoralize Paris.

BERLIN. Dec. 25.-Though the
main secret Of the German guns
which bombarded Paris was soon
known to British artillerists, the gun
and its story long remained a mys-
terry to the public.
Commander Kinzel Of the German
navy, who took part in the design,
construction and tests Of the gun,
has now made public an account Of
his experience with IL.
The gun, he says, was a naval gun
in that it was invented and served by
naval personnel. It was not alto
gether a sudden idea TO produce a
gun that could shoot as far as Paris
from the German line. The range
had steadily risen.
When the war broke out the
heaviest German gun could only fire
a distance of So kilometers (nearly
twenty-five miles). Then the need
was felt for a gun with a range Of
45 kilometers (about % 1-2 miles),
so as to be able to lombard Dun
L
signed, and on APRIL %, 1915, the
first shell was projected into Dun
I kirk harbor. BY January, 1917, a
/ German gun had been constructed
able to lombard St Omer and
Doullens from Cambria, a distance
/ Of CO kilometers (nearly SO miles)
In the spring Of 1916 Gen. Lu-
/ dendorf had given his consent 10
| materials being assigned for the
| construction Of an experimental gun
/ that should be able 10 lombard
I Paris from the German line. then
! distant, only 80 ktlometers CSC 1-2
| miles).
To Work at Once.
The naval ordnance staff at once
went to work on the difficult prob
lem Of ballistics involved. Before
/ they could embark on construction
I work they had TO form in their
minds some picture Of the loading
/ chamber, to calculate the weight OF
| prOjectile, and decide what prOpel-
\ liant must be used. Something like
/ double the usual initial velocity was
required. and an immense amount
] 4
/ done in complete secrecy.
When the work had been in prog
ress for nine months. Ludendorff
/ suddenly requested them TO alter
/ the design so as to make the range
/ 12O kilometers (75 miles) instead Of
/ 100. Commander Kinzel observes
that it was rather Ike saying to an
athlete, you have jumped five feet
/ ten inches; now jump six feet"
For a long time the designers were
at a loss. but ultimately they seem
TO have overcome all ballistic diff
/ culties and the gun was built.
Length Was Monstrous.
The charge, ordinarily one-third
/ Of the weight OF the projectile. was
\ twice as heavy. The length OF the
/ chamber was monstrous. At an an
/ gle Of 45 degrees the barrel tower
I ed over houses. trees, and roofs. II
/ needed some courage to shoot with
a thing like "a stick of gigantic as
/ paragus." But the material stood II.
Commander Kinzel gives an inter
/ esting account OF the testing; no
artillery trial ground, he says, was
f large enough. and the proposal 10
/ fire over the enemy territory was
/ rejected because that would have
/ given away valuable technical in
+ formation. IN conjunction with the
/ ministry OF marine the decision was
reached 10 fire the gun from land at
/ about the approximate distance
/ from the sea the shell was calculated
/ to carry. Batteries on the shore were
warned. the ground divided into OBJ
/ servation areas, and two searlanes
I were sent out 10 set 10 watch for
the shell. It was estimated that Il
would explode at 10 kilOmeters Css
miles, from the gun.
4 Cowshed Was Hit.
At 3:15 one afternoon the sea
/ planes were warned by wireless. AT
I tention shell FIRE" Three minutes
was the time estimated for the shell
+ 20 reach the marked area. Then
/ came a ring on the telephone at the
I central station: Reports OF explo-
sion heard" It was found on in
/ curry that the shell had fallen al IS
/ kilometers (59 miles) from the gun.
and 400 yards inland. II had hit
a cowshed. but there were no casu-
alties
The pieces were collected and ex-
amined. They showed that the shell
had been 10 an altitude OF 40 kilo-
meters. The distance. however. was
short Of that for which the gun was
designed. and there followed new
consultations. calculations, and de-