20th Century Paris Gun

[Gunner87]

Being ex Royal Artillery and with an interest in this arm of the military I thought to share the following.

 

The 'Paris Gun' was designed by Fritz Rausenberger and manufactured by Krupp. The artillery piece fired a 106kg shell over 120km reaching a maximum height of over 39km's. The shells were the first man made objects to reach the stratosphere and not equalled until Germany produced the V2 in WW2.

 

The wear on the 34m barrel meant a larger shell had to be used after every shot and rebored at 65 rounds. The gun was operated by 80 Imperial German Navy crewman with a maximum rate of fire of approximately 20 rounds per day.

 

Paris was shelled between March and August 1918 and initial reports suggested the city was being bombed from the sky as no artillery was heard. Another theory, reported by the press, was that the city was being shelled by Germans nearby or within Paris itself. After inspection of the fragments the French realised they were being shelled by a long range artillery piece and started a search for the German guns. It wasn't until days after the first shell landed that the 'Paris Gun' was located by French air reconnaissance.

 

Between 320 and 367 rounds landed on the French capital before the guns were withdrawn from the front. It is reported that 250 people were killed by the weapon, with the worst incident happening on Good Friday when a shell landed on the roof of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Chruch killing 91 and injuring 68.

 

No 'Paris Guns' were ever recovered by the allies despite Germany being ordered to hand one over after the Treaty of Versailles. As such, exact specifications and performance figures varied until Rausenbuerger's notes were discovered by Gerald Bull in the 1980's. The Iraqi 'Super Gun' was a product of this design. The discovery and development of the 'Super Gun' did not bode well for Bull who was assassinated as a result of his involvement. 

 

Gunner87