It also happens often that some technical device first comes into fashion and then goes out of it, as, incidentally, happens with many other things. For example, everyone has heard of such a weapon as a mortar. Trunk-pipe, bipedal support, plate - that's, in fact, all weapons. The rate of fire reaches 25 rounds per minute and this is with manual loading. It is known that in addition to caliber mortars, there were also over-caliber mortars, which have remained today only in museums and in photographs. After the First World War, over-caliber mortars in their classic form were no longer used. But what can you say about the so-called pin mortars, in which a metal pin plays the role of a barrel, on which a mine is put on for a shot?
"Grenade mortar" in action.
They were started by the German mortar Granatenwerfer 16, developed in 1915 by an Austrian priest, but first of all, it got into the German army. The arrangement of this weapon was extremely simple: a barrel with a carrying handle, a base plate with a protractor, a barrel clamp and a firing mechanism. The barrel was bottle-shaped to better fit into the hollow tail of the grenade. The firing mechanism of the striker type was in the barrel and descended by "pulling the string". The elevation angles ranged from 45 to 85 degrees. To aim at the target, a handle on the barrel was used, after which the barrel was fixed with a special clamp. The Germans themselves called it a grenade launcher (grenade thrower), but the name "grenade mortar" would be quite suitable for it.
Mine for the German "grenade mortar".
Shooting from it was carried out by a grenade with a notched shell, which gave, when bursting, the same fragments in shape and weight. The inertial fuse had a high sensitivity, so that when it hit the ground, the grenade did not have time to go deep into it and all the fragments flew in different directions. At the same time, in the bow of the grenade there was a special charge of black powder so that the grenade's burst could be seen from afar! The greatest firing range was achieved at an elevation angle of 45 degrees and ranged (depending on the type of mine) from 255 meters to 300 meters. At an angle of 85 degrees, the distance was minimal - 50 meters, and you had to pay attention to the wind so that a grenade would not hit you on your head! Although the weight of the system turned out to be about 41 kg, on the battlefield it could well be moved by a crew consisting of only two people and even dragged ammunition after it, and, if necessary, even one soldier.
Mortar Granatenwerfer 16 mod. 1916 g.
Interestingly, the fire was fired from a base platform, into which a screw was screwed, located on the mortar plate. It turned out that the mortar rotated in all directions along with the plate on this base, that is, it could hit targets at all 360 degrees! The German soldiers liked this weapon. Sit yourself in a trench and "shoot" mine after mine at the enemy! It is not surprising that mines were also produced for him in large quantities, and his mines were used even in aviation, where they were used as light bombs. But the main feature of it, we emphasize, was that a mine or a grenade was put on the barrel, and not obsessed with it.
German 8, 9/20 cm rod mortar: photo
Years passed, Stokes-Brand mortars also settled in the German army, which had already become the Wehrmacht, but the Germans were armed with an 8, 9/20 cm rod mortar. The caliber of the mortar (rod diameter) was 89 mm. Weight 93 kg. The rate of fire was 8 - 10 rounds per minute, that is, quite decent for a weapon that fired mines weighing 21, 27 kg (!) At a distance of about 700 m, while the weight of the explosive that it delivered to the enemy was 7 kg, that is was more than the weight of the actual shell of the Soviet 76, 2-mm cannon! With the caliber of the warhead, this mortar was used to destroy long-term firing points of the enemy, his infantry, set up smoke screens, even to destroy minefields.
Well, it consisted of the following parts: a smooth guide rod in (a simple steel pipe), from the bottom of which there was a breech with a ball support (in addition, a bracket was fixed to it), a base plate and an ordinary biped. Simple, isn't it? But the main thing is the caliber of the warhead - 200 mm. But already for the Soviet caliber 160-mm mortar, both a complex loading system and a wheel drive were needed, that is, it was a really powerful weapon, but it was not possible to put it in a trench for close combat! Meanwhile, the Germans, along with an 89/200-mm rod mortar, also used a rod mortar, which fired 380-mm high-explosive and smoke mines. The weight of a mine of this caliber was 150 kg, and the weight of the explosive charge was 50 kg!
Diagram of the device of a 29-mm rod "Blaker bombard".
Well, now it should be said about the British, who were very unlucky at the beginning of World War II. In Dunkirk, they abandoned so many weapons and military equipment that they simply had nothing to defend the British Isles. Everyone knows the story that this is how, for example, the "plumber's dream" appeared - the Stan submachine gun. However, the need-mother prompted the British military to adopt more unusual designs and, in particular, the "Blaker bombard", and in fact another, already a British version of the rod mortar.
Bombard tests.
And it so happened that Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Blaker became interested in rod mortars, hoping to create a model more effective than the Stokes system. But then Dunkirk arrived in time, the army was sorely lacking anti-tank guns, 840 of which were left in France and only 167 were in England. Moreover, there were so few shells for them that it was forbidden to shoot them even for training purposes.
The "bombard" crew in the "mortar pit" is preparing to fire.
And so Blaker thought, and offered his design to the Department of Armaments as an anti-tank weapon, promising an efficiency no less than that of a 42-mm gun! Many military officials expressed doubts that this is how it will be and that "this" should be generally accepted into service. However, on August 18, 1940, the Prime Minister himself, Winston Churchill, took part in testing the new weapon, and he … liked it! He stated that it will be used as a temporary replacement for anti-tank guns and will go into service for the militia. Considering that the militia of English townspeople and farmers at that time generally armed themselves with hunting rifles (in the funny French - and not at all tolerant comedy "Babette Goes to War" this moment is beaten very well), then such a serious weapon immediately raised his authority and sense of his own significance. That is, its role as a "PR weapon" outweighed all other considerations!
However, to be sure: outwardly the bombard looked very impressive. The fact is that although Blaker created it as a rod mortar, for some reason he kept it on it … the outer barrel-casing, which did not play any special role, but gave it solidity. Inside is the actual rod with a diameter of 29 mm, on which the mine was put on with the tail. The cruciform support legs made it possible to fix the "bombard" on the ground, and the shield protected the crew from bullets and shrapnel. The weight of the barrel and the mechanism was 50 kg, the machine weighed 100! The bomb weighed 20 kg and could be aimed at a target at a distance of 100 yards (91 m). There were two types of ammunition: high-explosive and incendiary. The rate of fire reached 5-8 rounds per minute, but in reality it was even less.
"Bombard" on a concrete base.
They decided to use them as … stationary, positional weapons! To do this, along the entire coast of Britain, they began to dig "mortar pits" - "mortar pits" which had the peculiarity that in the center of each such "hole" a concrete or base was installed, on which only one barrel of the "Blaker bombard" was fixed, which was freely aimed at everything. 360 degrees. As such, it was a good weapon with which one could regularly train and increase combat readiness in case of an invasion!
As a weapon of the "battlefield" "bombard", as they say, "did not go". Firstly, she jumped high when shooting and strove to break the gunner's neck. Secondly, these "bombards" were to be operated from ambushes. However, as one of the sergeants said, “I don’t smile every time to change my underpants after I’m waiting for a German tank to lie in a roadside ditch or in the bushes, and besides, let it go 50 meters!” True, it was noted that if a bomb from a mortar hit a tank, then it was guaranteed to disable it. The explosive charge was already very large in it. But … on the other hand, a tight fuse, which happened to not work!
Nevertheless, these Blaker bombards were produced … 18 919 pieces, and about 250 bombards were delivered in 1941-1942. in the USSR under the Lend-Lease program. As a result, only the experience of using such bombs became positive, which ultimately led to the creation of a really effective anti-submarine bombardment "Hedgehog".
An American Marine near a Type 98 mortar on Iwo Jima.
However, even the German 380-mm mines fade somewhat before the Japanese 320-mm mines to the rod mortars of their own design, because their weight reached 306 kg! The mortar had the designation "Type 98" and was a rectangular support made of beams from which a launch tube protruded. And… that's it! An even heavier 400-mm mortar had a similar design. To equip the position, they dug a hole with inclined walls and put this support on one of them, and put a mine on its rod sticking out of it. The support was enough for 5-6 shots, after which the support fell into disrepair. The shot was fired with an electric current. It is clear that there was no question of any rate of fire, but the weapon was effective. The fact is that the Japanese put such mortars against American landings in the Pacific Islands. Somewhere 12-24 were delivered on the island of Iwo Jima, 24 on the island of Batan and they were also on Tarawa and Okinawa. They were shooting at the water's edge, a place where the landing equipment always slows down somewhat, and the paratroopers leave it. The mine explosions left craters 2.4 m deep and 4.6 m in diameter and had an extremely strong demoralizing effect on the US Marines. On Iwo Jima, 12 of these mortars were installed in the mouths of caves and therefore inaccessible to American bombs, while they themselves simultaneously fired their huge shells along the water's edge.
320-mm mine for the Japanese rod mortar.
It should be noted that in modern conditions it is rod mortars that are the ideal weapon of guerrilla warfare, since they are very easy to produce in artisanal conditions. Their calibers can be very different, they can be placed in car bodies, in trenches, and masked in pits. All this, by the way, was appreciated by the Italians, who adopted the AR / AV700 three-barreled rod grenade launcher, which fires with conventional rifle grenades, which are worn on launching rods similar to rifle barrels. The shot is made as follows: inside the rod there is a channel through which the bullet of an ordinary rifle cartridge 5, 56 or 7, 62 mm, depending on the modification, moves. Inside the grenade, the bullet strikes the capsule, igniting the propellant charge and the jet engine. In flight, the grenade stabilizes the plumage. Thanks to this, the firing range reaches 700 m.
Italian rod grenade launcher AR / AV700.
You can shoot in one gulp or in turns, with a rate of fire of 6-7 rounds per minute. Armor penetration of the cumulative grenade - 120 mm. The length of the rod-barrel is 300 mm, the weight of the installation is 11 kg, the grenade is 920 g, its charge is 460 g. It is clear that according to this principle, 6, 8, 12 or more chargers can be made, again in the bodies of cars, Well, there are also enough rifle grenades in warehouses today.
