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Description: | M.L. 50-POUNDER STICK BOMB-THROWER.
MARK I.
Sutton-Armstrong. (With Silencer attachment.)
A low-pressure smooth bore trench mortar, the prototype of which was the Krupp bomb-gun of 1912. It was designed and produced by Messrs. Sir W. G. Armstrong-Whitworth & Co., Ltd. An experimental 5-inch trench howitzer designed by this firm had been sent out to France in December, 1914. It fired a 5-inch howitzer shell, but became so clogged with mud that not a single round could be fired.
The Sutton-Armstrong mortar, developed by Lieut. F. A. Sutton in conjunction with Messrs. Armstrong- Whitworth & Co., was first a 60-pdr. stick bomb-thrower (August, 1915) and then a 50-pdr. (October, 1915) and was approved in March, 1916, and orders were placed in June, 1916. During the next six months the design still remained in an experimental stage, but in January, 1917, this type of heavy mortar was definitely rejected as unsuitable in range, weight of bomb and rate of fire, while it was complex in design and unsafe in respect of the action of its bomb-stems.
From it, however, was evolved an experimental 112-lb. stick bomb-thrower and then the 3.5-inch Sutton-Armstrong 200-lb. stick bomb-thrower, the first purely naval bomb-thrower of this type and one of the most efficient anti-submarine weapons of this type employed.
The Trench Howitzer was designed to fire a 50-lb. stick bomb filled with High Explosive and fitted with percussion fuze, at ranges up to 600 yards. The howitzer body consisted of a steel cylinder screwed into spherical chamber, attached to which is an explosion chamber for containing the charge. The mouth of the explosion chamber is closed by a breech screw with interrupted threads and inside it, secured to the breech screw, a steel cup acts as a gas-check. The howitzer is fired by means of a T-headed friction tube. Inside the howitzer body is fitted a steel piston to take the end of the steel bomb stick. A steel cap is screwed on the muzzle end, which is provided with a shock absorbing gland.
When the howitzer is fired the gas expands into the spherical chamber in order to reduce the pressure and yet provide sufficient gas to propel the heavy bomb the required distance. A bye-pass is fitted to carry off any waste gas from the chamber.
The spherical form of the chamber allows the howitzer to be mounted on a simple plate carriage containing wood block.
The elevation is controlled by means of a hand screw attached to the body of the howitzer and mounted in universal joint arrangement. This joint is supported on three steel pillars in such a manner that the howitzer in be depressed, elevated or deflected as required. The range of elevation is arranged from 40 degrees to 70 degrees and a graduated arc is provided as an indicator.
Deposited by Messrs. Sir W. G. Armstrong-Whitworth & Co., Ltd. 1919.
Black painted 50lb bomb thrower mortar with silencer attachment and set on a base plate. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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