Palmerston Forts – Part 4 – The Royal Armouries Museum
Time for something a little more exotic, here’s a 122mm quick firing gun/howitzer from the Soviet Union circa 1938. This particular weapon came from Czechoslovakia, and some examples of this type of gun were in service as late as the 1990s. Next up we have a Hotchkiss 37mm revolving gun from France dated 1879. Ammunition in this weapons would have been gravity fed from a hopper (not shown) and it fired explosive shells.
This is a very rare piece indeed, a German Pak 41 from 1941. The Pak 41 was a 75mm Anti-Tank gun of which only 150 were ever made. Using a tapered (or squeeze-bored) barrel, the gun would maximise the exit velocity of the shell to ensure penetration of he target. As one who appreciated German weaponry from WWII, this is a very nice weapon indeed.
{default}
To the left we have an M59 Czechoslovakian 82mm recoilless gun from about 1960. Note the large armoured panel on display behind this piece. This is one of two metal panels uses for target practice, another is shown in the picture on the right. It is almost staggering to see such a massive slab of metal melted and holed in this manner, and displays such as this really bring home the firepower of modern weapons systems.
The large artillery piece to the left is an Iraqi GH N-45 dating from 1990. A 155 mm gun/howitzer designed by the man who designed the "Supergun", such weapons caused coalition forces some problems during the first Gulf War. It is accompanied by a Japanese 37mm Anti-Tank gun from 1941.
Here’s a 2.95 inch British quick-firing mountain gun from 1901. Designed for use on difficult terrain, it was used during the African colonial wars in the early 20th century. Oh, and another catapult.
And to round off this section of the tour, here’s something very interesting – a section from the prototype Iraqi "Supergun" itself!
[continued on next page]
