V-3 or The London Gun

Discussions on the equipment used by the Axis forces, apart from the things covered in the other sections. Hosted by Juha Tompuri
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Lt.Mortyr
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V-3 or The London Gun

#1

Post by Lt.Mortyr » 29 Mar 2003, 10:22

I saw this masterpiece on a T.V program and I would like to know how it works (it had a very strange design due to a cannon) and other technical facts. Also is you have any pictures of it, please attach it to your post. Thanks for your help...

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StG-44
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v3

#2

Post by StG-44 » 29 Mar 2003, 16:49

"V3" was the mokingly name for the Volksturm ;)

Greetings
Christian


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AvD
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#3

Post by AvD » 29 Mar 2003, 17:51

Here it is (and it is not the Volkssturm):
http://www.warplaces.net/uk036.htm

HTH

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Scott Smith
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#4

Post by Scott Smith » 29 Mar 2003, 22:13

Basically, in order to get extreme range a shell has to be accelerated to extreme velocity. So instead of one powder charge doing the job the V-3 shell was continually accelerated by subsequent charges throughout the length of the barrel until it exited. The 15cm shell of the V-3 "High-Pressure Pump" was essentially a dart that could hit London if it achieved sufficient velocity. With a large volume-of-fire from a huge underground firing bunker and many barrels, this would have been the equivalent of a standard siege. The shells would fall unpredictably anywhere in the metropolitan London area around-the-clock and essentially paralyze the city, an important staging point for the Allied invasion. The shells could have also been loaded with poison gas for even greater effect.

The V-3 still needed a lot of development but the firing bunker on the French coast was built anyway to save time. The bugs could have been worked out but probably not before the Normandy invasion. Nevertheless, because of the threat this posed, future-President John Kennedy's older brother, Joe, Jr. was killed on a bombing raid against the bunker at Mimoyeques in 1944. He may have been the one groomed for President by their millionaire father, former-Ambassador Joe, Sr.

Nowadays the super velocity for projectiles is achieved with rocket engines. A V-2 for example might have a thrust duration of 60 seconds and deliver a lot of power in that time, accelerating to many times the speed of sound. A conventional supergun like the Paris Gun of WWI would have to deliver all this energy in the short burn time of the powder charge before the shell leaves the barrel. This requires tremendous strength to contain the explosion and a new barrel for every few shots. And each subsequent shell had to be a larger size as the barrel was worn. The V-2 rocket, conceived by Walter Dornberger as a cheap replacement for the WWI Paris Gun that could be also fired from a simple mobile battery, solved this problem with rocket engines and an analog computer guidance system but it required a lot of expensive development. The V-3 supergun also solved the problem, despite some bugs like exploding barrels from mistimed detonations, but it had to be fired from a huge bombproof underground bunker that was destroyed before it could be completed.

Anyway, Saddam Hussein was building a V-3 type supergun capable of shelling Israel designed by Canadian armaments genius Gerald Bull. The Israelis assassinated him in Belgium in 1990, and the Iraqi gun was dismantled by UN arms control agents after the Gulf War. Gerald Bull was trying to develop a cheap way of launching small satellites into orbit with his supergun technology, but could not sell his innovative armaments designs to Western governments without corporate backing.
:)

Gerald Bull's "Space Gun," tested at the Yuma, AZ Proving Grounds in the 1960s. With too much already on its plate, NASA wasn't interested.

Image

Lt.Mortyr
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#5

Post by Lt.Mortyr » 30 Mar 2003, 08:44

Thanks all for your help :)

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