Atomic cannon in action and German predicesor (pure whiffery)

[sagallacci]

Whee! Re-release of the Renwal Atomic Cannon. I'm building my first one as "Hot Dog", the unit that helped turn the Warsaw Pact attack into Western Germany in '62, complete with the four "kill" rings on the muzzle. You know, when Warsaw Pact forces made a plunge into western territory during that storm and "Hot Dog" fired pretty much blind into just behind where they hoped the spearhead to be. Got incredibly lucky in hitting logistics, and more telling, intimidating E. German and reserve Russian troops as well as Russian commanders with multiple nuke shots so early into the action.

And since we all know that WWII Germany designed/invented EVERYTHING, I'll be doing a second version which will be the original German version of what the US closely copied. Of course the German original will use two modified Tiger hulls for the transporters and a version of the K5E gun.

[RotorheadTX]

King Tigers...definitely King Tigers - they're sleeker! 

[Captain Canada]

Nice !

[sagallacci]

Oh you bet! The hulls will be modified slightly, the heavier armor will be replaced with thinner plate to save on weight.

[KJ_Lesnick]

Wouldn't the blast wave and radiation levels emitted by the weapon either blow up or irradiate the hell out of the gunners?

[RussC]

These were 15kt 280mm atomic shells, not the big H-bombs. The cannon threw them at least 20 miles so no blast effects and fallout was the only concern. Side note- my Dad trained on the M65 as well as some other cannon at Ft Sill Ok. He later went into Antiaircraft and 37mm instead of preparing for nuclear shooting. They fired conventional proj. from the M65 for training.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6gy_krPau8&feature=related

   During the 1960's there were 155mm nuclear rounds for the "long tom" artillery and these would only go 12 miles.
 
   For a ridiculously close throw of atomics, see this-
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_%28nuclear_device%29   

[rickshaw]

Ah, yes, the Davey Crockett.  If nothing else it shows just how crazy the thinking in the Cold War was at times.  The DC was as close as they came to an Atomic hand grenade and I doubt anybody had any illusions about the outcome of firing one...  

Thankfully the 173rd Airborne Bde left their Davey Crockets behind on Guam when they deployed to Vietnam in 1965 - although apparently they were quite prepared to take and use them.   

[NARSES2]

I had models of a lot of these Atomic Cannon when I was a kid. Mainly Aurora and Renwall I think. As kids back then you didn't think of the consequences.

In the RA museum at Woolwich there is a 25pdr (re chambered to NATO whatever) with a gunshield that looks like a classic German helmet that was supposed to protect the crew from fallout from Soviet atomic shells  The crew were meant to work from inside it ??

Whats with the new Avatar Brian - to much honey ? 

[rickshaw]

Fatso, the far-arsed wombat is a famous Australian icon from the Sydney Olympics, I'll have you know!  No honey for a Wombat.  He just eats, roots and leaves. 

[KJ_Lesnick]

RussC

These were 15kt 280mm atomic shells, not the big H-bombs. The cannon threw them at least 20 miles so no blast effects and fallout was the only concern.

Still the radiation release from 20 miles with a 15 kiloton yield, wouldn't you end up getting first and second degree burns from that?

[rickshaw]

20 miles is further than the nominal horizon.  Any A-bomb going off below the horizon would not effect the gun crew (who would be taking shelter anyway).

[RussC]

20 miles is further than the nominal horizon.  Any A-bomb going off below the horizon would not effect the gun crew (who would be taking shelter anyway).

  According to Dad, when they practiced, they would all duck inside the prime mover cabs and drop the steel shutters, then fired 'Annie by a pushbutton remote from there.
 
  Fave war story of his was that during a speech by some big general to a reviewing stand of reporters and congresscritters, their unit was sending 155's over their heads from their hidden defilade about 5 miles away and going to a range 5 miles on the other side of them, and the "finale" fireworks was a low slant shot from Annie which according to him at that height would sound like a freight train(s) rocketing overhead and would even suck your breath away a little bit. 

[rickshaw]

I'm assuming BTW that they are ground burst.  If they are airburst, then you might get some flash, depending on altitude.

[dadlamassu]

King Tigers...definitely King Tigers - they're sleeker! 

Maybe ... But if they wanted it to move they'd have needed something more reliable - a Panzer IV or lengthened Pz 38(t) or 38(d).

I had an Atomic Annie as a kid.  might need to buy a new one for nostalgia!

[sagallacci]

My current plan is to use KTiger hulls with the front and side armor removed for weight reduction. The intent is to have drive and suspension that can handle the all up load, something the smaller hulls can't do. I originally wanted to use Panther hulls, but the suspension wouldn't handle the all up weight.

BTW, the atomic rounds were airburst, but at usual range, the flash energy was not an issue. For small devices like that, you didn't have to start worrying until you got under 4 miles out and chance of real injury was closer still. The one live shot was only about 6 miles out. Though the intended max range was 20 miles, the actual range was only 14.