Notes 4: Weapons and Technology Developments of World War One

1. Notes 4: Weapons and Technology Developments of World War One World Wars - WWI Ms. Hamer February 14, 2011

2. Beginning of Modern Warfare • While some weapons, such as the submarine and machine gun, had seen limited use before World War I, this war marked the change to modern warfare and weapons. • Switch from offensive weapons and strategy to defensive • War was spent figuring out how to best use weapons

3. War in the Trenches

4. Bolt Action Rifle • Previous improvements: “rifling” –> grooves in the gun to make the bullet spin upon exit; faster, further, more accurate • New improvements: bolt action –> load a clip of multiple cartridges to fire more rapidly • Best: British Lee-Enfield (SMLE) – 10 cartridge clip = 15 rounds a minute; short enough to handle from the back of a horse

5. Light Artillery • Previous improvements: Breech loaded; gunpowder already in shell • New Improvements: Recoil was a huge problem, the solution was to set the gun on a cradle • Best: French “75” –> 75 mm gun that could be reloaded rapidly and was therefore quite lethal

6. The 75mm Light Artillery Gun

7. Heavy Artillery • Harder to move than light, but could fire much further • Allies relied on light while Germans had heavy

8. Machine Gun • Previous Issues: First used in US Civil War, hand cranked, often overheated, cumbersome and heavy • Solution: Maxim Machine Gun (British version was called Vickers) • could fire 600 shots per minute • water jacket kept it cool • recoil of gun dropped the spent shell and loaded the next • Use in WWI: Initially Europeans thought this a dishonorable weapon for war and just used against colonial populations. Didn’t know how to use it offensively. Became great defensive weapon

9. Machine Guns Original Maxim Design 1889 British Vickers Gun in WWI

10. Grenades • Previous issues: • unreliable, fuses not of same length, often wouldn’t detonate or would detonate on you • too cumbersome to throw easily • production was so slow that troops crafted their own • Improvements: • more reliable and less likely to kill you • easier to throw (grooves to grip and smaller) • rapid production by 1916 • some were rifle launched and could travel 600 feet

11. Progression of Grenades in WWI Jam Tin Bomb Mills Bomb

12. Poison Gas • Germans first used chlorine gas at Ypres on April 22, 1915 • Released 168 tons • 15,000 Allied troops dead within minutes • Allies called this diabolical and monstrous, yet worked to produce their own

13. Chlorine Gas • Only poisonous gas at first • Yellow in color; heavier than air and would sink into trenches • Seared windpipe and lungs, caused choking and coughing, skin turned shiny gray-black • If enough gas was inhaled, lungs secreted a thick yellowish goo that was impossible to cough up • Highly fatal

14. Protection against Gas • At first used cloth or sock soaked in urine over the mouth and nose – worked if gas did not get around it • Then maxipads dipped in bicarbonate of soda were manufactured by the army • Eventually an actual gas mask that covered the eyes and had a filter box connected to the mask by a tube because earlier models did not work against phosgene. • First ones didn’t fit well so a nose clip closed off nostrils and your mouth clamped on the tube. • Ones for horses did not cover eyes and were loose fitting, so only worked sometimes

15. WWI Gas Masks

16. Phosgene Gas • Developed by Allies • 18 times more deadly than chlorine • Invisible (as opposed to the clouds of yellow for chlorine gas) • Smelled good like fresh cut grass • Trauma did not come until a few hours after exposure so those hit with it did not realize what was happening at first

17. Mustard Gas • Effects not detected until a few hours after exposure • Caused blisters on the skin, eyes, throat, and lungs • Gas masks prevented internal injuries, but the gas could penetrate clothes and cause external burns • Only needed a little amount so it could be added to shells • Contaminated soil stayed that way for weeks

18. Trickier Gas and Effects • Combination of phosgene and chloropicrin • Chloropicrin got through the gas masks and caused a soldier to throw up - they would remove their mask to do this and inhale the phosgene • By the end of the war, more than 50 different chemicals were being used, 100,000 tons used in the 4 years of the war • Not as effective as hoped because it was only a surprise at Ypres and the Germans did not use their advantage there

19. Poison Gas Casualties of WWI

20. The Tank • First used Autumn 1916 by the Allies • Designed to cross No Man’s Land and trenches • British designed the Mark I • Male and Female designs (Big Willie and Mother) • Male had heavy artillery • Female had machine guns • Called tank because the original name, “landship” was easy to figure out • Problems: crew suffered from fumes and the intense volume; treads were made thicker and deeper because they had to carry wood to get out of mud

21. The Tank • Freaked out the Germans at the Somme on September 15, 1916 • Germans woke up and saw giant metal beasts rolling towards them and screamed “The devil is coming!” • November 1917 Battle of Cambrai, Allies gained 7 miles on Germans in just hours with 400 tanks

22. Lack of Weapons • Both sides expected war to end quickly and did not have enough weapons to sustain a war in the beginning, especially ammunition • Russia was especially bad: • Could turn out 50,000 rifles/month, but had 1.5 million troops • In some battles, 1/3 of the men had no rifles and had to wait for their comrades to be shot down to take their guns

23. The Air War

24. Airplanes • Initial problems: • Many models (1 set of wings or 2, engine in the front or rear) • Flimsy (plywood and cloth held together with bailing wire) • No brakes and couldn’t go above 50mph • Often victims of friendly fire • Benefits: more maneuverable than balloons and could cover more ground – originally used for reconnaissance • Improvements: painting of country flags prevented a lot of friendly fire

25. Airplanes in WWI Monoplane Biplane

26. Dogfights • Initial plane to plane weapons were throwing knives, revolvers, and bricks! • Machine guns were soon used, but were difficult to load and use (Vickers guns were easier to load) • Allied pilot, Garros, put deflectors on his propellers to have a front mounted machine gun • Germans found out, but improved it with the Fokker designed interrupter gear • Fokker’s plane could also fly 80 mph – first real fighter plane

27. Fighter Planes The Red Baron’s Fokker Tri Plane

28. Dogfight Panorama

29. Aces • Average age : 20 • Were trained to fly since few had even been in a plane before • 60% of Allied air deaths occurred during training • After training life expectancy was 3-5 weeks • Were seen as modern knights and heroes • More eccentric then other soldiers

30. The Flying Aces of World War I FrancescoBarraco, It. Eddie “Mick”Mannoch, Br. Eddie Rickenbacher, US Manfred vonRichtoffen, Ger.[The “RedBaron”] Rene PaukFonck, Fr. Willy Coppens deHolthust, Belg.

31. Zeppelins • Initially used by the Germans – had 26 at start of war • 500 feet long, aluminum frame, propellers and crew of 20 were supported by the gondola that suspended beneath • Dropped bombs on London at night • First constant attack of civilians in European warfare • Bomber planes were developed by Allies • Faster planes that could carry a ton of bombs and fly farther than fighters

32. Anti-Zeppelin Measures • Zeppelins could fly much higher (6,000 feet with load compared to 1500 feet for planes) • Anti-aircraft 13 pound gun (later 18 pound) + searchlights • Faster aircraft – British Martinsyde-Scout + incendiary weapons like bullets with phosphorous • Air horns to warn civilians

33. Airplanes vs. Balloons • Balloons were initially better for reconnaissance than airplanes because you could get a longer and more steady look • Improvements to the aerial camera allowed it to be mounted to the plane and automatically take a picture every few seconds

34. War at Sea

35. Ships • Ironsides after US Civil War • British Dreadnought built in 1906 – faster, more and bigger guns, oil instead of coal • Both England and Germany had these by the start of the war • Were so expensive that there weren’t really any battles between these except • Battle of Jutland May 31, 1916 – Germans sunk 3 British Dreadnoughts, 2 through a design flaw that left the shell magazine exposed and would set the ship on fire

36. From Top Left, clockwise: British Grand Fleet sailing in 1914; HMS Indefatigable sinking; Battle of Jutland Maps

37. HMS Dreadnought 1906

38. Battle of Jutland May 31 – June 1 1916 • Only major naval battle

39. Submarine / U-Boat • Initial models were seen in both the American Revolution and Civil War • Pre WWI Models were larger – about 500 tons and could travel on the surface at the same speed as merchant ships • Had controlled ballast and most could stay underwater for up to 24 hours as well as fire underwater missiles (torpedoes) • Germans improved the U-Boat with more stability on the surface

40. U-Boat

41. Use of Submarines • British thought they would just be defensive • Germans immediately began attacking British ships • Unrestricted submarine warfare – Germans began attacking merchant ships headed to England

42. Anti-Submarine Measures • Seagulls and seals did not work… • Hydrophone could hear it • Groups of three listening ships could determine direction and speed • Depth charge • Did not have to directly hit a sub – shock waves were enough to spring leaks and break fuel lines • Q-Ship • Military ship pretending to be a merchant ship would fire on a U-Boat when they surfaced • Dazzle Camouflage • Made it hard to determine size, direction, and speed of ship • American made mines with 35’ long “antennae” • Mined the German entrance to the North Sea in 1917

43. Dazzle Camouflage Depth Charge Exploding Hydrophone

44. WWI Movie Clip • Original US footage – weaponry • Begin 1:43