From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Disappearing gun
Disappearing gun
The BL 8 inch disappearing gun of the South Battery, at North Diagrams of typical Buffington-Crozier disappearing gun car-
Head in Devonport, New Zealand. riage model 1896 which was used extensively in US coastal em-
placements. Shown in up position for firing.
Inside a disappearing gun emplacement at Henry Head Bat-
tery.
A U.S. Coast Artillery battery with two guns on disappearing down into a pit protected by a wall (the parapet) or a
carriages. bunker after it was fired. This retraction lowered the gun
from view by the enemy while it was being reloaded.
It also made reloading easier, since it lowered the
breech to a level just above the loading platform, and
shells could be rolled right up to the open breech for
loading and ramming. Although it had these advantages,
the disappearing carriage was also a complicated mech-
anism. In the U.S., disappearing carriages were mostly
withdrawn from active service by the early 1920s.
The disappearing gun was usually moved down be-
hind the parapet or into its protective housing by the
force of its own recoil, which (on many models) lifted
up a very heavy counterweight. Before firing, the crew
tripped a catch on the counterweight, causing it to fall in-
A drawing of a disappearing carriage, showing in-battery and
to a well at the center of the gun position and move the
loading positions.
gun back up "into battery" (firing position).
Some disappearing guns also used compressed air,[1]
carriage)
A disappearing gun (often called a disappearing carriage
while a few were built to be raised by steam.[2]
is a type of heavy (mainly coastal) artillery for which the
gun carriage enabled the gun to rotate backwards and
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Disappearing gun
Disadvantages
The disappearing gun had several drawbacks as well:
• The carriage design restricted maximum elevation to
under 20 degrees and thus lacked the necessary
range to match newer naval guns entering service
during the early part of the 20th century.[3] The
additional elevation gained by mounting the same
gun on a later non-disappearing carriage increased
their range.[4][citation needed]
• The time taken for the gun to swing up and down
and be reloaded slowed the rate of fire. Surviving
records indicate a rate of fire of 1 round per 1 to 2
minutes for an 8-inch (20 cm) gun, significantly
slower than less complicated guns.[1]
• The improvement in the speed of warships
demanded an increased rate of firing. The
disappearing gun was at a disadvantage compared
with a gun that stayed in position as one could not
aim or reposition a disappearing gun while it was in
the lowered position. The gunner still had to climb
atop the weapon via an elevated platform to sight
and lay the weapon after it was returned to firing
position.[3]
• Their relative size and complexity also made them
expensive compared with non-disappearing
mounts.[1]
Splinter-damaged 6-inch (15-cm) United States Model 1905 dis-
appearing gun at Fort Wint. History
Disappearing guns as a functioning concept were invent-
Advantages ed in the 1860s by Captain (later Sir) Alexander Mon-
crieff, who built on his observations in the Crimean War
The disappearing carriage had several principal advan-
to improve on existing designs for a gun carriage capable
tages:
of rising over a parapet before being reloaded from be-
• It afforded the gun crew protection from direct fire
hind cover. His key innovation was a counterweight sys-
by raising the gun over the parapet (or wall in front
tem that raised the gun as well as controlled the recoil.
of the gun) only when it was to be fired, otherwise
Moncrieff promoted his system as an inexpensive and
leaving it at a lower level, where it was also able to
quickly constructed alternative to a more traditional gun
be loaded easily.
emplacement.[5]
• With its guns in a retracted position (down behind
Buffington and Crozier further refined the concept
the parapet), the battery was much harder to spot
in the late 1880s by incorporating hydro-pneumatic re-
from the sea, making it a much harder target for
coil control to assist the counterweight action. The Buff-
attacking ships. Flat trajectory fire tended simply to
ington–Crozier Disappearing Carriage (1893) represented
fly over the battery, without damaging it.
the zenith of disappearing gun carriages,[3] and guns of
• Interposing of a moving fulcrum between the gun
up to 16-inch size were eventually mounted on such car-
and its platform lessened the strain on the latter and
riages. Disappearing guns were highly popular for a while
allowed it to be of lighter construction while limiting
in the British Empire, the United States and other coun-
recoil travel.
tries.
• Simple, well protected earthen and masonry gun pits
However, in the 1890s, a series of Royal Navy/New
were much more economical to construct than the
Zealand Division of the Royal Navy trials carried out in
previous practice of constructing the standing heavy
New Zealand (where numerous disappearing guns had
walls and fortified casemates of a more traditional
been bought and installed during the Russian Scares), re-
gun emplacement.
vealed the virtual impossibility of a small shore installa-
• The entire battery could be hidden from view when
tion being hit by a warship, except by chance.[1] Others
not in use, unlike a traditional fort, enabling
dispute that the advantages were so limited, and point to
ambuscade fire.
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Disappearing gun
Naval artillery
At least once, the concept was also attempted for conver-
sion to a naval use. HMS Temeraire was completed in 1877
with two disappearing gun turrets sinking down into bar-
bette-structures (basically circular metal protective walls
over which the gun fired when elevated). This was to
combine the ability of the early pivot guns to swivel with
the protection of more classical fixed naval guns. How-
ever, the design was not successful and apparently never
repeated. It is thought that both harsh saltwater environ-
ment and the constant swaying and rolling of a ship at
sea were to blame for problems with the complex mech-
anism.[3] In any case, heavy gun turrets soon afterwards
Aiming the 14" guns at Fort Hancock, New Jersey. entered naval service, making the idea moot.
the efficiency of such artillery in for example, the Battle
of Port Arthur.[citation needed] In any case, with their pro-
See also
tective benefits thus cast into doubt, no further produc-
tion of the expensive gun carriages was undertaken in
New Zealand.
Though effective against ships, the guns turned out
to be vulnerable to aerial attack. After World War I bat-
teries of disappearing guns were usually casemated for
protection or covered with camouflage for conceal-
ment.[6] By 1912, the guns were declared obsolete in the
British Army, with only some other countries, particu-
larly the United States, still producing them up to World
War I[1] and keeping them active through to the end of
World War II.[3]
Other applications The mount for an 8-inch (20 cm) disappearing gun at South
Channel Fort showing the hinged retraction mechanism, Victo-
Gun lift battery ria, Australia.
One unique and even more complex type of disappearing
gun was Battery Potter at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook, • Coastal artillery
New Jersey. Built in 1892, the Battery covered the ap- • Seacoast defense in the United States
proaches to New York harbor. Instead of using recoil • Specific installations
from the gun to lower the weapon, two 12-inch barbette • Australia
carriages were placed on individual hydraulic elevators • Ben Buckler Gun Battery, Bondi, New South
that would raise the 110-ton carriage and gun 14 feet to Wales
enable it fire over a parapet wall. After firing, the gun • Flagstaff Hill Fort, Wollongong, New South
was lowered for reloading using hydraulic ramrods and a Wales
shell hoist. While the operation of the battery was slow, • Fort Queenscliff, Port Phillip, Victoria, with a
taking 3 minutes per shot, its design allowed an unlimit- recovered gun from South Channel Fort
ed field of fire.[citation needed] • Fort Nepean, Port Phillip, Victoria
Battery Potter required a huge amount of machinery • Fort Scratchley, Newcastle, New South Wales
to operate the gun lifts, including boilers, steam pressure • Henry Head Battery, Sydney, New South
pumps and two accumulators. Due to the inability to gen- Wales
erate steam quickly, Potter’s boilers were run nonstop • Steel Point Battery, Vaucluse, Sydney, New
during its 14 year life, creating a significant operating South Wales
cost. After the proving of the Buffington Crozier carriage, • Signal Hill Battery, Watsons Bay, Sydney, New
the United States Army abandoned plans to build several South Wales
additional gun lift batteries.[citation needed] • South Channel Fort, Port Phillip, Victoria
• Canada
• Cape Spear, Newfoundland
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Disappearing gun
• United Kingdom
• Flat Holm, Bristol Channel, Wales
• Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth, England
• Crownhill Fort, Plymouth, England
• United States
• Battery Chamberlin, Presidio of San
Francisco. Only Buffington-Crozier
disappearing carriage still operating.
• Battery Potter, Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook,
New Jersey. This is only remaining steam
hydraulic battery.
• Fort Casey, Washington
• Fort Hunt, Virginia
References
Armstrong BL 6-inch Mk V disappearing gun at Taiaroa Head,
New Zealand [1] ^ Disappearing Guns (from the Royal New Zealand
Artillery Old Comrades Association)
[2] The Defenses of Sandy Hook (from a Sandy Hook,
• New Zealand (Armstrong Disappearing Guns)
Gateway National Recreation Area, U.S. National
• Fort Jervois (Lyttelton), one mostly intact BL
Park Service information pamphlet. Accessed
6-inch Mk V and one working-order BL 8-inch
2008-02-22.)
gun
[3] ^ The Disappearing Gun (from the
• North Head (North Shore, Auckland), one
’navyandmarine.org’ website, with further
remaining gun barrel with mostly intact
references. Accessed 2008-02-22.)
carriage
[4] The Six Inch Shield Gun (from a private website.
• Taiaroa Head (Dunedin) one restored BL
Accessed 2009-02-28.)
6-inch Mk V
[5] "Moncrieff’s method of mounting guns with
• Philippines
counterweights, of using them in gun-pits, and of
• Fort Mills, Corregidor Island, Manila Bay,
laying them with reflecting sights : a paper read at
Luzon [7]
the Royal United Service Institution (1866)" (from
• Fort Wint, Grande Island, Subic Bay, Luzon
archive.org. Accessed 2009-06-25.)
• South Africa 9.2 inch disappearing gun in Fort
[6] "Fort Winfield Scott: Battery Lowell Chamberlin".
Wynyard, Cape Town. Visible in Google Earth at
California State Military Museum.
coordinates 33° 54.136’S 18° 24.807’E.
http://www.militarymuseum.org/
• Thailand
BtyChamberlin.html. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
[7] American Seacoast Artillery in the Philippines
(12-inch, 10-inch and 6-inch) (from the Coast
Defense Study Group website. Accessed
2008-11-14.)
[8] D. Quarmby, Casemate (Fortress Study Group), 84,
2009, pp17-18
• Hogg, I.V., "The Rise and Fall of the Disappearing
6
Carriage", Fort (Fortress Study Group), (6), 1978
Armstrong 6-inch breechloading disappearing gun of
External links
the 1880s at the Chulachomklao fort, Samut Prakan, • The Moncrieff Disappearing Counterweight Carriage
Thailand • The Hydropneumatic Disappearing Mounting
• Phra Chulachomklao Fort, Bangkok, seven
Armstrong BL 6 inch guns on
hydropneumatic disappearing carriages, all
in working condition[8]
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Disappearing_gun&oldid=472960092"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Disappearing gun
Categories:
• Artillery by type
• Military equipment of the Industrial era
• Warfare of the Industrial era
• Military history of the United Kingdom
• Military history of New Zealand
• Coastal artillery
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