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Mortar (weapon)

A mortar is today usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, muzzle-loaded cannon, consisting of a smooth-bore (although some models use a rifled barrel) metal tube fixed to a base plate (to spread out the recoil) with a lightweight bipod mount and a sight. Mortars are typically used as indirect fire weapons for close fire support with a variety of ammunition. Historically mortars were heavy siege artillery. Mortars launch explosive shells (technically called bombs)[1] in high-arching ballistic trajectories.

The 230 mm (9.1 in) petard mortar used on the by Britain in World War II.[20]

Churchill AVRE

The used by Japan in World War II to some psychological effect in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

320 mm (13 in) Type 98 mortar

The and PIAT anti-tank launchers used by Britain in World War II.

Blacker Bombard

The launcher, used from the deck of a ship, used 24 spigot mortars which fired a diamond pattern of anti-submarine projectiles into the sea ahead of the ship. A sinking projectile detonated if it struck a submarine, and the pattern was such that any submarine partly in the landing zone of the projectiles would be struck one or more times.

Hedgehog

Roaring Meg on display at Goodrich Castle

Roaring Meg on display at Goodrich Castle

World War II US Army movie footage of the 914 mm "Little David" mortar

From the 17th to the mid-20th century, very heavy, relatively immobile siege mortars were used, of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) calibre, often made of cast iron and with an outside barrel diameter many times that of the bore diameter. An early example was Roaring Meg, with a 15.5 in (390 mm) barrel diameter and firing a 220 lb (100 kg) hollow ball filled with gunpowder and used during the English Civil War in 1646.


The largest mortars ever developed were the Belgian "Monster Mortar" (24 in (610 mm)) developed by Henri-Joseph Paixhans in 1832, Mallet's Mortar (36 in (910 mm)) developed by Robert Mallet in 1857, and the "Little David" ((36 in (910 mm)) developed in the United States for use in World War II. Although the latter two had a calibre of 36 in (910 mm), only the "Monster Mortar" was used in combat (at the Battle of Antwerp in 1832).[34] The World War II German Karl-Gerät was a 60 cm (24 in) mortar and the largest to see combat in modern warfare.

used in mortars before the modern age

Carcass (projectile)

Chemical mortar battalion

a lightweight mortar, sometimes improvised

Coehorn

, a mortar used to test the strength of gunpowder

Eprouvette

List of heavy mortars

List of infantry mortars

Livens Projector

A Guide to Modern Mortar Systems

(PDF). Department of the Army. December 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.

"Field Manual 3-22.90 – Mortars"

(PDF). Department of the Army. 17 July 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.

"Field Manual 3-22.91 – Mortar Fire Direction Procedures"

(PDF). Department of the Army. 1 March 2000. Retrieved 7 January 2013.

"Field Manual 23-91 – Mortar Gunnery"

Mallet's Mortar, the largest British mortar ever made

Defense Update: Modern mobile 120 mm mortars

Defense Update: Advanced mortar munitions

How does a mortar work? – video

Mortars during World War I

WW II-era German 60 cm self-propelled mortar

The Karl Morser

(streaming wmv)

Video