Forgotten History: World's Biggest Black Powder Cannon - a 100-Ton Gun
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
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The largest muzzleloading black powder cannons ever built were the Armstrong 100-ton guns which saw service with the Italian Navy and with British coastal fortifications on Malta and Gibraltar. They were purchased by the Italians first, to outfit a pair of new super battleships, each vessel having two turrets with two of these guns in each. To avoid being outclassed, the British ordered two guns for installation to protect the Grand Harbor of Malta and two more to protect Gibraltar. Today one survives at each location, and we are visiting the Rinella Battery in Malta, which was built to house one of the Maltese guns.
These guns had a maximum range of 8 miles, and was capable of piercing 15 inches of iron armor at 3 miles. It had a 17.7 inch (45cm) bore fired a 2000 pound (900 kg) shell with a 450 pound (200kg) charge of black powder. The gun itself weighed approximately 102 tons, and with its cradle and a shell the whole assembly came in at 150 tons.
Aside from the massive scale of the piece, the most interesting part of its design is actually the loading machinery. Because of the titanic size of the gun and ammunition, Armstrong designed a fascinating hydraulic reloading facility which makes up the body of the fortress in which the gun is set. A pair of steam engines drove a pair of hydraulic accumulators, which provided hydraulic pressure to move the gun on its carriage, to douse the barrel after firing, to hoist ammunition into position for loading and power a 60-foot (18m) ramrod to mechanically ram the charge and shell into place. Two mirror-image reloading galleries under the fortification operated in turn, giving the gun a sustained rate of fire of 1 round every 6 minutes - at least until its 120-round barrel life was exhausted.
I am grateful for the Malta Tourism Authority's assistance in helping to make this visit and video possible, and would also like to give special thanks to Simon, our awesome reenactor guide!
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I realise i'm spoiled when i half-expect him to shoot it..
Me too
I mean you can go there and fire cannons, just not that one sadly
It's probably worn out. 4 test fires/year times 20 years, plus a few extra tests, gets pretty close to a 100 shot barrel lifetime.
Yeah I felt entitled to lol
It’s no longer capable of being fired. Fort Rinella was left derelict for a number of years and thieves stripped the cannon for metal parts to sell for scrap. A lot of essential components were lost and cannot be replaced.
Meeting Ian in person and showing him around the Battery was amazing and so much fun! You are more than welcome back at any time! If you come to visit again we will have done even more to restore the Battery to it's former glory!
Best wishes and I hope to see a bunch of your fans come here and enjoy a day with us!
Thanks!
You have an exceedingly cool
Job 😊
What a great video thanks for your information you have a great job
Simon Gustafsson thank you for showing Ian/us around! It was really interesting.
Simon Gustafsson thank you for helping make this awsome video possible
Eighty years ago I was born about two miles away from that 100-ton gun and I spent my youth at Rinella playing with other children in that Fort, which in those days hardly anyone ventured to go there. Under and around the gun there is an underground area which is quite large and in those days some building contractor or the Military had housed all his building structural tools in there. We played about in that area for about 10 years with no one caring about its historic value. Very close by, there is a Fort Ricasoli and also the area where they have a film facility. I saw the water gigantic water tank being built for Raising the Titanic and also saw the model being raised. The level of the tank was such that it blended with the real sea at the background. The model itself was quite impressive. Also, I saw some scenario from "The Gladiator ". My brother has one of the air-cooled radial engines which they used at the film facilities to make storms and wind with it. It is a 550 Hp aircraft engine. There is so much to see and the historic places could be more appreciated by both the locals and the tourists.
Some years later at the age of 16, I went to Chatham Dockyard and then attended the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. I used to go to Bambrough Castle, which I learned that it belonged to Lord Armstong, the man who built the 100- ton gun and other armaments. Later on, in life I went to Barmbarough Castle where I was hosted by Lord Armstrong relations, his grandson I believe, but I am not sure. My wife, my daughter and I were given the run of the castle and it was a very pleasant surprise that I was treated so nicely by the relatives and descendants of Lord Armstrong who build the 100- ton gun, near which I still live to this day at Kalkara!
Thanks for sharing this. Long(re) life my friend. Cheers.
Bad ass! I live not too far from fort casey in WA state & its always fun to do turret crawls
Wow
@@TarmanTheChampion I am pretty sure every kid in Washington has been to Camp Casey. Flagler, Fort Stevens in Oregon, all so cool for any kid, no matter their age.
my father was from there and spoke of the Axis air raids when he was 5(ish)
grazzi hafna
I've seen videos on this before, but everyone else only focused on the cannon itself. I agree with Ian here; the loading systems are the real magic of this installation. Brilliant stuff for the 1800s.
Armstrong had a house near Newcastle which ran on hydro-electric and hydraulics. Have a look at Cragside House on google.
@@jameswroe2403 I lived in rothbury a 2 min walk from cragside, its an impressive manor
An old saying , The British sailors loves their grog, while the French sailors drink Champaign, while Italian sailors stick to port.
?Hmm strange I thought the French drank Wine. :)
I do like how the English language is still full of low-level naval sass e.g. 'Dutch courage', 'Dutch tilt'
@freebeerfordworkers Er, it kind of was. As with 'dutch tilt' or 'dutch angle' referring to a skewed angle, usually used in films now. It implies drunkenness, as does 'dutch courage'. Brits took up gin pretty enthusiastically, but that doesn't stop it being a point of mockery. Also I suspect you're not from Britain if you think that respecting someone and taking the piss are mutually exclusive. See the number of military jokes and stereotypes about everyone from closest allies, to different branches of the British military who absolutely relied on one another, to their most dangerous enemies. No one is spared. If Dutch courage is alcohol, British courage is humour.
@freebeerfordworkers Origin and use are not the same thing. Listerine was invented for disinfecting floors but they found they could charge more if they sold it as a hygiene product.
If that was true, America would have been discovered a couple centuries later
The Battery Steele on Peaks Island in Maine had 2 massive 16 inch guns back in the 40s, and they only fired once as a test, but they broke every window on the island
That's great I love stories like this
Been there many times with my brother. The view from on top of the battery is absolutely beautiful
"It was a really embarrassing experience for the Italian navy, and in fact it took them almost a decade to get over it."
Basically the entire military history of modern Italy in one sentence.
Clearly you didn't read Catch 22. In particular the passage about the cackling old man in the whorehouse.
They did well in the unification war though.
@@MrCmon113 Yeah, so good that Prussia said "Well, go f... yourself, Italy. Thanks for absolutly nothing." after the War ... ô.ô'
Even tho i'm italian i'll have to agree with you on that
Still we make food better than you
@Baron Von Grijffenbourg god i frickin'love you
“If you have this shotgun in the garden, no one dares trespass” I really like that turn of phrase lol
@Knight-Sgt. Reyes it’s 2021. Nothing surprises me these days
Can you imagine how LOUD this must have been....and because those poor Italians talk with their hands they wouldn't be able to cover their ears
@@keencolios591 Exactly. That is why they talk with their Hands.
@War Zone Caesar was stabbed 23 times
Lol
@War Zone That probably had more to do with celts living and breeding in Roman territory over the past 1500 years. Gestures were intregal to their language, and likely would have vestigial remnants as more celts had latin as a first language.
@War Zone Caesar died because he was traitor abusing the roman system to pay his debts and glorify himself at the expense of the very foundation of their republic.
Ian I don't think that's a support beam in that reloading hole, I think it's a "Keep those damn kids out" beam.
Yeah, probably.
An incredible feat of engineering - especially the loading system - given the technology available. Absolute genius.
I'm pretty sure that none of that system was innovative, it was just big. I think the real tricky part would have probably been the construction of the cannon. there's a technical drawing of a cross-section of the cannon that shows that it's constructed of many interlocking bands of steel (or wrought iron, I'm not sure), and they all would have been huge and very difficult to shape and assemble. the machinery used in the factory to build the gun (furnaces, cranes, power-hammers etc) would have been much more impressive than the machinery required to operate the gun. you can find videos on yourube of factories forging giant steel objects. the machinery is extremely impressive, and it would be even more so if it had to be powered on site by coal-fired steam engines.
love how its playing "Rule Britannia" inside the reloading bay at 9:20
The bell boys at the hotels in Malta really go the extra mile.
Ἀντίγονος I was going to say theater usher.
Actually they go about 5 miles on a full charge...........
Gun designer sounds like donzi,selling boats to smugglers then to officials to catch the smugglers
Char Aznable he was was doing the same thing with ships too, selling to both sides. a naval arms race is good for business especially if you are supplying everyone.
That is the uniform used by the Royal Maltese Artillery in the Fort during the 1880s. The pill-box with a yellow band was used for stationed artillery while the ones with a red band was for mobile artillery.
Couple of things:
1) It's nice to see Robert Webb found a job in historical tours
2) The guy who pulls that string WAS the best paid soldier in the garrison, his payment was in firing the biggest derp gun in history to that point
God it really does look and sound like him
Shooting footage is missing.
XD the guy even said if they shot once it would destroy the windows in the near town XD so i hate to live next to the cannon XD
With that paint job, I think Ian's afraid to admit it shoots mustard instead of cannonballs. Maybe we can sell it to the place that holds the record for World's Biggest Cheeseburger?
I think the camera got crushed by the shockwave when Ian fired it.
That museum guy is a legend, one of my favorite cameos 😂
I wonder if these were shipped in huge crates with ACME logos on them.
Beep beep
Instantaneous delivery ✓
* Gets squashed by a container *
Wiley E Coyote bought a couple of these @ acme surplus
Joni - Brilliant response!
As a Maltese, it's always cool to see some of this stuff get more attention!
Fun fact: the bridge shown at the very start of the video (to enter the fort), was originally a retractable bridge (basically the 19th century steampunk version of a medieval drawbridge), known as a Guthrie rolling bridge
Damn neat.
I love how this is all just literally steampunk. It gives some legitimacy to the idea. Plus is like to know more about these ww2 war rooms.
“Ok”
-Ian McCollum, 2019
"Ok" x106
Guide: Says something about the Cannon
Ian: *OK*
Guide: yes, exactly
Take a shot for every Ok
@@ohhellno747 ok
So wait. Your telling me they had ships with 4 of these things on them? H O L Y S H I T
A single volley I imagine would nearly flip the ship lol
humans have built a lot of angry boats
@@LaLloronaVT If they need to retreat they point the cannons to the back and fire away like the tank in Vice City
These were actually turrets a modern concept of cannons but not technically cannons these fired shells like howitzers the largest known cannon was an ottoman 110 pounder designed by a Hungarian engineer for Mehmet the conqueror the cannon ball itself was 110 pounds imagine the weight of the cannon it took 5 elephants to transport and 5 men to just load the ball oh and the dardanelles cannon was 1.8 ton and the ball itself was 1 ton lol
@@shukterhousejive pure gold 🤣🤣🤟🏻
The guy that had the job to pull "the string" must have gone deaf in 1 shot, or had been chosen because he was already deaf (or because his commanding officer hated him) XD. I cannot imagine the concussive force you would feel standing right by that monster. Probably shakes you to the core. The whole system has a Very, Very cool design especially for its age.
Brutal
The string-pullers probably had joint problems, cracked ribs, ruptured spleens, appendixes...
Mike F who actually AIMED the damn thing...???
@@taggartlawfirm right. The scale of the reloading system is impressive but how do you fine tune the accuracy of somthing that large?
What was omitted from the video is that the gunner who fired the gun hid in a little cut out in the wall to help reduce the percussive forces on himself. Still, it isn't something I would like to do. Also, when the gun was being test fired, residents in the area were advised to open their windows so that they weren't broken.
Thank you for the subtitles. Much appreciated. What a beast of a gun!!
I love the fact that rule Brittania is playing in the background of the engine room
🇬🇧
•TheKaisTzar • 'The British Empire is eternal!' and it will rise again, stronger and more powerful than before.
British Empire will rise again,...< - - great they you can help more with standing up to Russia and China,... need all the help we can get.
Small mathematical note for you guys. If my information is correct, the standard rifle used by the British at the time would be a 1853 Pattern Enfield or the Snider Enfield conversion which used about 50 grains of powder. This cannon used approximately 3.15 million grains or about 63,000x the powder charge of a standard rifle.
I went to Fort Rinella a couple of years ago on my holiday to Malta and seeing the Armstrong Gun in person was unbelievable. The fort also do musketry, cavalry and artillery displays. The staff are highly knowledgeable and fantastic at bringing history to life. I’d definitely recommend anyone to go see it because I know I’ll certainly go again 😄
"It would fire the cannon right into the fortification
[Note: this would be bad]"
My sides
As someone who really has no interest in guns at all, (some interest in general history), I find Ian's presentations fascinating. It's not just the discussion of the weapon but the background and context that he can include that makes them so interesting. Showing their place in history, and this is an excellent example. That he is now being invited to places to show stuff is a testament to the quality of his presentations. Great stuff.
Everything about this was awesome. From the island itself, the hospitality and simon. The massive orchestra composed to keep that gun working was awesomely described. Ian, you were a pleasure to watch and listen to as usual ( i appreciate the fact that you weren’t constantly interrupting simon ). This was an awesome video. Thanks
OK
Great video. I travelled back in time and felt myself like a "steampunk gunner". Thank you
This was really interesting. Can't imagine the process in a rush when this was in action. I'm impressed if this thing actually took down a ship from a long distance. Aiming must have been a nightmare.
Thank you for using subtitles, it makes is much easier to understand during the time in the echo-y rooms
When he was holding that wire at 6:11 I thought it was a firing wire and he was gonna light one off. Lol
I’m from Newcastle Upon Tyne where these guns were made, the site of the construction still exists, it’s a key feature on the scenery around the river Tyne and has built things from warships, aircraft, tanks to munitions.
Yeah, same, I'm fairly sure for a school trip I got to go to Armstrong's house and shit, and his rotating bridge is still in use today
@@kappatalist1014 Pretty sure it's also running on the original hydraulics. Just swapped the steam engine for an electric motor.
People build things, not places. And those people are all dead.
I too went to Armstrong's house, Cragside the first house in England to be run on electricity
derek watson I’m not sure but I think it was the first house in the world to be ran by electricity and have electrical lighting.
What I would give to hear that gun fire just once... Probably my hearing...
Only be able to hear it fire once hell bet that's gonna be the last thing you hear
I like to imagine the steam engine was just for show and they had to use the 40 soldiers to manually pump the pressure every time.
That thing is cooler than steampunk, because unlike most weaponry in steampunk, it actually works.
SteamDoomMetal
74,511,940 foot pounds of muzzle energy. Suitable for dangerous game.
Made for hunting krakens.
You forgot a word. Suitable for vaporizing dangerous game.
foot pounds? Seriously? Those are units from, well, let's say even before this cannon was built
+Ronald de Rooij Also how does distance/weight become distance^2/time^2?
Foot pounds could at best be describing tourque, not energy.
And yet, ft/lb is also a unit of kinetic energy.
Fantastic video. How they managed to build that in those days is totally beyond comprehension. Thanks to all involved for sharing.
The 100 ton guns were built at the Royal Arsenal Woolwich (Pronounced Wool-Itch) The Aresenal is on the south side of the River Thames, the Aresenal had it's own fleet of boats and tugs, with thier own Blue Naval Ensign. In addition there were two barges called Gog and Magog, after the to giants of the City of London. These guns were on the front page of The Times newspapers as the most expensive ever built. The proofing of the guns was done at Shoeburyness at the rivers mouth. In order to get there they were shipped on the barges, when a slight technical problem occured. They managed to drop the gun when loading it onto the barge! This again made the front page of the papers, It took 9 days to get it back out of the river. The two guns on HMS Thunderer, the first Royal Navy Turret ship, were also a nightmare. One was Double Charged, and blew causing 36 deaths. Following this the remaing gun was returned to Woowich for tetsing and never refitted. Reason I know this, I used to work at Woolwich and during the closure of the site did a lot of historical research for the decommisioning team.
P.S the shells are not one ton. The Imperail Ton (The ONLY on ethat counted at the time) is 2240 lbs avouirdupois. The Colonials have trouble with thier Arthmatic My Lord!
Sorry I 'll try to clarfiy. The Shells wieghed 2000lbs In Imperial English measurment this is not 1 ton. An Imperial Ton is 2240lbs weight, so in England the weight of shell would be considered just under the Ton.
About as much trouble as you have with your spelling. It's "Arsenal".
And imperial. Was also misspelled. Just saying. And testing. And arithmetic. And I think you meant two giants not to giants. And you left an L out of woolwich. Whole thing is kind of poorly executed. I'm sure you were joking but before you joke about us "colonials" and our math.... maybe proofread.
Typing not my strongpoint, then neither ifs football. :-)
51WCDodge their arithmetic* 😁
“This gun was hi-tec at its time” and “This gun became basically obsolete when introduced”
Hmmm.. ;) History is fun.
The hidraulics and steam systems were still top of the notch, it's just the gun itself that became obsolete.
Shotgun in the garden, no one dares trespass haha
I'm more impressed by you standing in 30mph wind and getting no wind noise outside.
Thought I was the only that noticed this,.. nice going.
If your more impressed by a Wind Muff than a 100-ton blackpowder cannon than has a range of eight miles... Well maybe you should become a politician, they need people interesting in mundane things!
Yes, 110lb parcels, so you can "easily" load them into the cart, instead of trying to lift 450lb all at once.
Suddenly I feel like maybe our ancestors were a bit more fit than we are to-day.
110 lb sacks aren’t particularly heavy, especially if it’s your job to load them constantly. A fit soldier should easily be able to load them
Yes they were more fit. Only in this modern sedentary age would a man think lifting 110lb into a cart is difficult.
well I don't think its too out of place as the bags at home Depot for example of Portland cement is 95.5 lbs and the associates and contractors lift those all the time
The simple solution is to lift the parcel with your comrade. workforce was very cheap these days
It’s a piece of my city’s heritage. Newcastle upon Tyne. The bridge you spoke of is the Swing Bridge in the same city. There’s still a factory at “Armstrong Works” where they still make armaments for tanks.
They were the battleship Dandolo and Duilio (1882) at their time the most feared
'Most feared' is a relative term...They were Italian.
If the United Kingdom, which had historically one of the most powerful navy, and France took exceptional countermeasures against this class of ship they were sure a menace for their interests in the Mediterranean
Ian when from disassemble weapons to going inside the weapons
I wonder if anybody back then knew that what they were working on (i.e. this cannon) would eventually be turned into a museum. That'd be pretty cool.
the bob ross of artillery. nice video, ian.
Kemeta 44 firing a 100 ton canon for when making a shitty painting can't relief your stress
Too bad the other happy little cannon in this fort didn't survive...
*because everyone needs a friend*
happy little accident with this thing would be interesting
Oh,.. the other happy little cannon guy survived,... they had a fight and he's about 8 miles away, over on the horizon. LOL
Those Victorian engineers! Delightful video, thanks Ian.
Well that was truly awesome! Thank you Ian, went to Malta as a kid but only got t see the Pop Eye village, not the amazing steampunk deathstar lol
Raise hands who would love to fire one of these bad boys.
I volunteer as tribute!
Rock Island Auction Company sorry the line starts back here XD
I prefer to have hearing, id like to watch from a mile away though
✋
WHAT? I CANNOT HEAR YOU!
Thanks dude.. you're really good at finding interesting weapons and explaining the history behind them. Really appreciate your effort!
I do like that it was saved for historical reasons. History deserved to be remembered.
How rude, he did not tip that bellhop despite his extensive tour of the facility.
But can launch Poland into space?
Maybe if Soviet and Merkel can into Anschluss 2.0 , Kurwa.
*K U R W A*
Can launch Poland car into space.
Finally: Poland cannot into space
Wtf is Poland?
14:33 Very faintly can hear the British Fife and Drum music.
The old British industrial equipment and buildings are so nostalgic and beautiful!
1 round every 6 minutes with a crew of only 35 men.
Schwerer Gustav, 1 shot every 40minutes with a crew of ~40people
@@thesenate4743 But Gustav's purpose was entirely different, and the range was much,much,much bigger(39km). Not to mention, the gun shown here in the video weighs 100 tonns, Gustav weighs 1350 tonns, also the weight of a single shot of the gun in the video is around one tonn, while Gustav's was 6.8 tonns. You can't compare those two in any way. In fact, if you put them in proportion to one another, the fact that Gustav could fire 1 shot in 40 mins is ASTONISHING. Also, way more than 40 men manned Gustav, i have not found a single source depicting the gun without an escort of around 2000 soldiers give or take.
@@ThatZenoGuy True, but it still doesnt undermine my point
@@ThatZenoGuy If you read my first reply, you will see that that's exactly what im saying
@@pigeon2929 I want to make it even more impressive. The wiki says max range was 47km ( 29 miles) and the max shell weight was 7 tons. Slightly better specs than mentioned.
What a wonderful piece of history, thanks Ian!
That was immensely cool Ian, many thanks for showing us.
Sending test results to the enemies of the empire - those were the days when you could keep enemies at bay simply with a letter.
???
There is more deterrence than ever. What do you think are all of the aircraft carriers and nukes for?
the rational ones you can, the irrational ones don't care or don't believe you
What a great mini documentary, the accumulator is amazing!! Thank you man, good job!! Insane statistics on this one. A friction lanyard !!??
An awesome piece of technology, the guns dropped to 9" just after this but expanded again to 15" by the start of WW1. At the end of the war we did equip a battlecruiser with a 18" gun (HMS Glorious) and I'm being kind with its armour as it really was a over sized light cruiser. The plans were to build British battleships with 18" guns in the 20's but a outbreak of global common sense ditched that idea. Great video and Malta looks somewhere well worth visiting.
That's quite the Spandau!
Greene Fieldmann you mean Bren. Its an english gun gosh take the piss properly
Quite right -- that's a Brünn gun if I'd ever laid eyes on one!
I myself have seen the one in Gibraltar. And can confirm it’s huge
That’s a damn good mic to fight that wind so well. Good video
“Note: this would be very bad” thank you for the helpful anecdote. I would not have guessed a 20 ton round at point back range would be “very bad”
It's one ton, I think?
Awesome video Ian. Thank you for bringing it to us. I was so interested I began reiterating all that I had learned to my wife who stared at me and nodded feigning interest. I proceeded to talk none the less. The sign of a good video in my book.
Will this be on sale at the rock island auction house? I uh... i want it.
For... Reasons
For the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.
You would ONLY need to fire it ONCE.
😜😜😜
A nice show piece in the living room.
No Fuckingway debit, if possible.
Theres a big cannon like this in Hong Kong at the coastal defense museum. It was apparently american in origin, and was on a Portuguese ship(if i remember correctly) and was dredged out of Victoria Harbor. It'd be cool to see an episode on it.
Precursor to the Schwerer Gustav
The ultimate auto-loader.
Museum Dude:
*Sir, are you having a stroke or something ?*
Gun Dude :
*Okey*
Now, what this thing needs is proper shoulder stock and foregrip and it's perfect.
Pavel Tobiáš bump stock
MrButtsworth *FuLL sEmI-aUtO*
WoT theshadow9929 assault weapon of war full semi automatic
Better off building a bullpup, easier to conceal
The bayonet for that gun is huge... too
What a fascinating 19th century view. Thanks to Ian and the Maltan Guard for taking the time to explain how the procedure worked.
8:24 is that Ian's time machine he's standing next to that he used to go back in time and talk to this guy?
Mrs H and I were there in April 2019. I had already visited the one in Gibraltar in September 2018. My Great Grandfather was in the Royal Garrison Artillery in Gibraltar in the early 1890’s. Great video. I can’t understand why you’d get a thumbs down for a factual video like this. Following you on IG too. Keep up the good work!
I wonder how much damage this could do to a modern warship.
20:23 Hey, the gunners in the loading chamber have a railing, perhaps he's allowed to lean like they said he would I can hear the conversations about the nice sargent and the nice 'hoficer
" So anyway, I says,
"Forget the dental plan."
"Forget sick leave. I just want a railing," you know?
"One railing right here."
Yeah, I know. I've almost fallen over that thing so many times.
- So what did they say? - Oh, get this.
They said they're worried we'd be leaning all day.
- They said that? - Yeah.
Wow what a great video! That Maltese curator was very knowledgeable. I would like to learn more about the targeting systems used by late 19th century naval guns.
There is something about british engine rooms... immideately reminded me of the one beneath the tower bridge
Stefan: That's because it is! The same company designed both.
Sweet! thanks for the hint.
The thing that is very easily overlooked is that even in WW II that monster could still have sunk a large warship with one round. It could do it today if you could somehow manage to load and operate it.
Dwight E Howell erm no... theres no way this thing can achieve anything against a battleship firing HIGH VELOCITY 2500 Pound shells at ranges exceeding 28 miles...
He didn't say it would win a duel..... just that being on the receiving end of a shell from this is STILL not going to be a good day to any modern Battleship.
Kizron Kizronson Doubt it it would had done anything but dent the armour. The limited range meant any legitimate battleship could had standoff and destroyed these guns at whelm.
kovona if a modern battleship took one of these to the side at 1 mile, particularly the high explosive variety, it would NOT stand a chance.
Gregory Filin Doubt it. Blackpowder shell filler. 400 m/s velocity vs 700 m/s for modern capital ship guns in WWII. That's 3 times less kinetic energy for same caliber. Something like an Iowa class battleship would had shrugged it off as long as it was a hit on the armour.
2 years and this never came up in my feed till now! What an awesome video.
Thank you for this fascinating presentation. Wouldn't it be amazing to have an animation of the equipment and processes?
Nice, a hydraulically powered extractor and follower, with a rotating barrel that fires from a closed bolt. Semi auto only, no manual safety.
There is another quite interesting example of a gun of the same era called Perm Giant, which is a steel replica of the bronse Tsar Cannon, it used 60kg of black powder, 120kg loads and the construction weight was just under 100 tonns
Russians have put over 300 rounds trough it, but only test firing. The intersting thing - they had another shooting tests with it during the Perestroika period of the Soviet Union pretty much a century later
My home town Newcastle upon Tyne...Armstrong was way ahead of his time.
Wool-what now?
Woolwich rhymes with "Pull-Itch"
"It would fire the cannon into the fortification" (note this would be bad) that cracked me up so hard, like yeah, when you're designing a cannon, and first think about the heat of battle, trying to reload a cannon as fast as possible, you're not thinking about, what if I accidentally shoot myself with a 2000 pound warhead. So "note, this would be bad" should probably be in the instruction manual
Damn, i was really hoping they were gonna test-fire it:)
When the Gibraltar 100 ton guns were test fired the locals were advised to open their windows to protect them from the shockwave from the muzzle blast. At one of these tests performed for a visiting VIP the loaded gun failed to fire. After the safe time specified for this type of event (I think 2 hours but it was 40 years ago that I read this) they asked for a volunteer to crawl down the barrel to attach a cable to a threaded hole in the tip of the projectile. After he did this, he was immediately promoted to sergeant and the gun was safety unloaded. My ancestor was a British soldier who married a local while serving in Gibraltar. He also reached the rank of sergeant but pre-dates this gun anyway.
13:20 the acoustics in that tunnel were nuts
Holy feck, the guy actually firing the gun stood right beside it!? I feel like the sonic blast would've destroyed his internal organs (and ears for sure without some REAL proper protection), but maybe it wasn't that bad...?
I'd love see it being fired though.
Probably stood way back behind it. Big guns had really long firing lanyards.
Reaching back to Gozo.
david suursoo < - - I would need one about 500 yards long.
There's a concrete niche near the front of the gun where he would try to hide when firing the gun.
you would have thought that from aiming to firing would have to be pretty short period, I know ships were not that fast but a few seconds delay could mean the difference between a hit and a miss, so the firer could not have been too far way could he. Perhaps they had lots of expendable sailors for firing duties lol. I wonder how successful they would have been in hitting a moving target. The expense of building the gun and the mechanism to load and fire it must have been immense, so each fire must have cost a fortune.
I dare gun jesus to take this apart
What if. This was fired into a modern battle ship?
You get a big ass shell through your very expensive modern battleship, as opposed to your 1800s battleship.
modern battleships have bigger and better guns
You always manage to surprise and impress, ian.
Good job and an atta boy.
The battle Ian is talking about at the beginning should be the Battle of Lissa. An interesting fact: the Austrian Navy crews were not so Austrian. They were obviously subjects of the double-headed eagle, but most of them were north-eastern Italians, Dalmatians (Dalmatia is now part of Croatia, but they were not croatian at all at the time), Croatians, and probably a minority of other Slav nations (Serbians, for example). A proof of this ethnic mix is that Wilhelm von Togetthoff used to give orders to his ship's crew in venetian dialect. This for saying that History is rarely a simple black and white scenario.
When steampunk was sci-fi :) Awesome!
Its really cool to see the inner workings of a gun this size! 35-40 men to operate this beast!!!
That's crazy. Man I have been there and didn't understand a thing. Thank you for the details!