Descriptif :
'9.45 in Trench Mortar - Flying Pig'Origin :
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Descriptif : '9.45 in Trench Mortar - Flying Pig' |
Origin :
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As soon as the French Head Quarters understood the importance of having trench artillery weapons, a request was sent to develop a mine thrower able to shoot high power explosive shells, in addition to the conventional 'Mortier de 58'. This is how the idea of the 240mm trench mortars came to life in 1915. A first weapon named 240 CT ('240 Court de Tranchée') was quickly follwed by a new version 'mortier de tranchee de 240 LT' (Long), who was to have quite a 'succesful' career.
This model was able to send fin tailed 86 kg (42 kg of explosive) shells that were entirely introduced into the tube, at more than 2000 m, causing terrible destructions. Unhopefully, its set-up before firing was long and difficult, and the weight of its platform materials quite heavy. It appeared on the front in July 1916.
This concept seduced the British Armies in 1916, but they required some modifications to the initial design tested in UK. The biggest modification required that the propulsive charge of the British version should be introduced by the tube mouth, as the bomb, whereas the original French solution used cartridges entered from the breech opening. Moreover, the British version used a Lee Enfield mechanism to ignite this charge from the side of the tube base. The resulting '9.45 in Trench Mortar' became the standard heavy trench mortar of the British Army.
This weapon was build in UK under license, was dressed on a massive wooden floor for firing and could be dismantled into 4 loads for its transportation. The size and shape of the huge shell were the reason for this weapon nickname ‘Flying Pig’. The first version (MkI) had a 51 inches (1300mm) tube, while the following ones (Mk II to IV) had a 69 inches (1800 mm) tube. It was a little shorter than its French brother.
Main characteristics :