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Railway gun

A railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval artillery, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best-known are the large Krupp-built pieces used by Germany in World War I and World War II. Smaller guns were often part of an armoured train. Only able to be moved where there were good tracks, which could be destroyed by artillery bombardment or airstrike, railway guns were phased out after World War II.

Not to be confused with Railgun, a weapon that propels projectiles by means of an electromagnetic field.

History[edit]

19th century[edit]

The idea of railway guns was first suggested in Russia in 1847 by Gustav Kori (proposal),[5] followed by Ye. Repin (project, 1855), Pyotr Lebedev (who outlined the theoretical foundations of the railway artillery in Primeneniye Zheleznykh Dorog k Zashite Materika, 1857) and P. Fomin (developed a project of a large-caliber cannon, 1860).[6][7]

An 11.2" or 28 cm railway gun is preserved at the , Canberra, ACT, Australia. Captured by the AIF at Amiens in 1918.

Australian War Memorial

In the United Kingdom, a barrel survives. This was constructed too late to see service in World War I; it was put into service during World War II, but never saw action. In September 2013 it was moved to the Royal Armouries artillery museum at Fort Nelson, Hampshire.[39]

BL 18 inch Howitzer

A 12" railway gun is preserved at the , Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia, United States.

United States Army Ordnance Museum

A US Navy from World War I is preserved at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington DC, United States.

14"/50 caliber railway gun

A German 283 mm gun ("Anzio Annie") is displayed at the United States Army Ordnance Museum, Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. It was constructed using parts from two German guns that shelled the Anzio beachhead and were partially destroyed by their crews before being captured by the Allies.[40]

Krupp K5

Krupp K5, Todt Battery Museum, France

Krupp K5, Todt Battery Museum, France

MK-3-12, at the Central Museum of Railway Transport, Russian Federation, at Varshavsky Rail Terminal, St.Petersburg

MK-3-12, at the Central Museum of Railway Transport, Russian Federation, at Varshavsky Rail Terminal, St.Petersburg

TM-1-180 at the Moscow Victory park Museum of the Great Patriotic War

TM-1-180 at the Moscow Victory park Museum of the Great Patriotic War

TM-1-180, Krasnaya Gorka fort

TM-1-180, Krasnaya Gorka fort

TM-1-180 and TM-3-12 Krasnaya Gorka fort

TM-1-180 and TM-3-12 Krasnaya Gorka fort

TM-3-12 Krasnaya Gorka fort

TM-3-12 Krasnaya Gorka fort

Bethlehem Steel 7-inch (178 mm) railway gun, Museu Militar Conde de Linhares, Brazil

Bethlehem Steel 7-inch (178 mm) railway gun, Museu Militar Conde de Linhares, Brazil

Barrel of German 28 cm Bruno from World War I, at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra

Barrel of German 28 cm Bruno from World War I, at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra

List of railway artillery

Arnold, Colonel B. E. (1982). Conflict Across the Strait: A Battery Commander's Story of Kent's Defences 1939–45. Dover: Crabwell Publications / Buckland Publications.  0-906124-06-9.

ISBN

Berhow, Mark A., ed. (2004). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide (Second ed.). CDSG Press.  0-9748167-0-1.

ISBN

Breyer, Siegfried (1973). Battleships and Battle Cruisers 1905–1970. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.  978-0-356-04191-9.

ISBN

Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.  0-87021-459-4.

ISBN

Doyle, David (2011). K5(E) Railgun – Detail in Action. Carollton, Texas, United States: Squadron Signal Publications.  978-0-89747-635-5.

ISBN

Engelmann, Joachim (1976). Armor in Action – German Railroad Guns. Squadron/Signal Publications.  0-89747-048-6.

ISBN

Hall, D Major.

Military History Journal The South African Military History Society. - Vol 2 No 3 June 1972. Guns in South Africa 1899–1902 Part V and VI

(2005). Allied Artillery of World War One. Crowood Press. ISBN 1-86126-712-6.

Hogg, Ian V.

Jäger, Herbert (2001). German Artillery of World War One. Crowood Press.  1-86126-403-8.

ISBN

Lewis, Emanuel Raymond (1979). Seacoast Fortifications of the United States. Annapolis, Maryland: Leeward Publications.  978-0-929521-11-4.

ISBN

Many, Seymour B. (April 1965). "He Made No Complaint". United States Naval Institute Proceedings. {{}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

cite journal

Miller, H. W., Lt. Col. Washington: Government Print Office, 1921

Railway Artillery: A Report on the Characteristics, Scope of Utility, Etc., of Railway Artillery, Volumes I and II

Phillips, Lance (1965). . Cranbury, New Jersey: A.S. Barnes and Company. ISBN 0-498-06303-8.

Yonder comes the Train

Robbins, Charles B. & Lewis, E. R. (2000). "The Chilean-American 12-inch Gun". Warship International. XXXVII (2): 184–190.

Westing, Fred (1966). The Locomotives that Baldwin Built. Bonanza Books.

Zaloga, Steven J & Dennis, Peter (2016). Railway Guns of World War II. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing.  978-1-4728-1068-7.

ISBN

"When Artillery First "Took to the Rails"

152 mm Finnish railway gun

. Retrieved April 21, 2005.

"Railwaygun Web Museum"

Railway Gun Museum

K5 Eisenbahngeschutze

United States Navy Railway Batteries

US Army Railway Artillery in World War I

excellent drawings in article on the 14-inch M1920 railway gun

"Gun Train Guards Ends of Panama Canal -- Rolling Fort Crosses Isthmus in Two Hours" Popular Mechanics, December 1934 pp.844-845