Dynamite gun
Encyclopedia
A dynamite gun is any of a class of artillery
pieces distinguished by their specialized operating mechanism and purpose: they use compressed air to propel an explosive projectile. Dynamite guns were in use for a brief period from the 1880s to the beginning of the twentieth century.
Because of the instability of early high explosives, it was impractical to fire an explosive-filled shell
from a conventional gun
. The violent deflagration
of the propellant
charge and the sudden acceleration of the shell would set off the explosive in the barrel of the gun. By using compressed air, the dynamite gun was able to accelerate the projectile
more gradually through the length of the barrel. See Internal ballistics
.
Guns for naval use were supplied with air from shipboard compressors. A small model for field use by land forces employed a powder charge to drive a piston down a cylinder, compressing air that was then fed into the gun barrel. This field model was famously used by Theodore Roosevelt
's Rough Riders
during the Spanish-American war
, but had actually been used previously by Cuban insurgents
against Spanish forces.
The guns fired a relatively lightweight shell; necessarily the guns had a low muzzle velocity, requiring a high angle of fire even at short ranges. This increased the flight time of the shell, and so resulted in a loss of accuracy. See External ballistics
.
By 1900, the availability of stable high explosives, the longer range of conventional artillery, the gun's mechanical complexity, and its inherent limitations made the dynamite gun obsolete.
, an American artillery officer, saw the demonstration, and over the next few years improved the design, building and demonstrating a series of prototypes.
The Navy was impressed, and commissioned the construction of a specialized "dynamite gun cruiser." The , launched in 1888, was armed with three fifteen-inch pneumatic guns capable of firing an explosive projectile one and one half miles.
In 1897, a Zalinski dynamite gun was fitted to the first American submarine . It was later removed in 1900.
From 1894 to 1901, the Army purchased and installed several coastal artillery
batteries
of fifteen-inch dynamite guns. These could throw an explosive projective from 2000 to 5000 yards depending on the weight of the projectile, from 500 to 50 pounds. Compressed air at 2500 psi was supplied by a steam-driven compressor. In addition to the guns and their ammunition, the steam boiler, compressor, and other equipment necessary to operate the guns weighed over 200 tons. In 1904 the batteries were decommissioned, and the guns dismounted and scrapped.
as an air source. For use by troops in the field, this was impractical. The Dudley-Sims dynamite gun used a smokeless powder
charge to compress the air. Beneath the gun barrel was a cylinder into which the powder charge was loaded. When fired, the expanding gas from the smokeless powder compressed the air in the cylinder, which was then fed into the gun barrel, accelerating the explosive projectile. The US Army bought sixteen of these guns.
The Sims-Dudley gun weighed about one-thousand pounds and had a bore diameter of two and a half inches. Its ammunition was not actually dynamite; the shells were filled with a nitrocellulose-based gelatin, and exploded by either a time or percussion fuze. Each round of ammunition weighed about ten pounds, five pounds of which was the explosive filler. It was cylindrical in shape, with a rounded nose, with twisted vanes on its back to provide spin-stabilization during flight.
Roosevelt and his Rough Riders used a Sims-Dudley gun during the siege of Santiago
, with mixed results. The gun did work as intended, delivering high-explosive shells on target. Because of its relatively quiet pneumatic operation and smokeless powder
charges, it did not betray its presence, and so was not targeted by the Spanish. But it was mechanically unreliable and not very accurate. On balance Roosevelt was not enthusiastic, but found it "more effective than the regular artillery."
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
pieces distinguished by their specialized operating mechanism and purpose: they use compressed air to propel an explosive projectile. Dynamite guns were in use for a brief period from the 1880s to the beginning of the twentieth century.
Because of the instability of early high explosives, it was impractical to fire an explosive-filled shell
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
from a conventional gun
Gun
A gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew-served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol,...
. The violent deflagration
Deflagration
Deflagration is a term describing subsonic combustion that usually propagates through thermal conductivity; hot burning material heats the next layer of cold material and ignites it. Most "fire" found in daily life, from flames to explosions, is deflagration...
of the propellant
Propellant
A propellant is a material that produces pressurized gas that:* can be directed through a nozzle, thereby producing thrust ;...
charge and the sudden acceleration of the shell would set off the explosive in the barrel of the gun. By using compressed air, the dynamite gun was able to accelerate the projectile
Projectile
A projectile is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force. Although a thrown baseball is technically a projectile too, the term more commonly refers to a weapon....
more gradually through the length of the barrel. See Internal ballistics
Internal ballistics
Internal ballistics, a subfield of ballistics, is the study of a projectile's behavior from the time its propellant's igniter is initiated until it exits the gun barrel...
.
Guns for naval use were supplied with air from shipboard compressors. A small model for field use by land forces employed a powder charge to drive a piston down a cylinder, compressing air that was then fed into the gun barrel. This field model was famously used by Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's Rough Riders
Rough Riders
The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
during the Spanish-American war
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, but had actually been used previously by Cuban insurgents
History of Cuba
The known history of Cuba, the largest of the Caribbean islands, predates Christopher Columbus' sighting of the island during his first voyage of discovery on 27 October 1492...
against Spanish forces.
The guns fired a relatively lightweight shell; necessarily the guns had a low muzzle velocity, requiring a high angle of fire even at short ranges. This increased the flight time of the shell, and so resulted in a loss of accuracy. See External ballistics
External ballistics
External ballistics is the part of the science of ballistics that deals with the behaviour of a non-powered projectile in flight. External ballistics is frequently associated with firearms, and deals with the behaviour of the bullet after it exits the barrel and before it hits the target.-Forces...
.
By 1900, the availability of stable high explosives, the longer range of conventional artillery, the gun's mechanical complexity, and its inherent limitations made the dynamite gun obsolete.
The Zalinski dynamite gun
The original invention of a gun to fire an explosive charge with compressed air was the work of D. M. Medford of Chicago, Illinois. His prototype was demonstrated in 1883 at Fort Hamilton, New York. Edmund ZalinskiEdmund Zalinski
Edmund Louis Gray Zalinski, was a Polish-born American soldier, military engineer and inventor. He is best known for the development of the pneumatic dynamite torpedo-gun.-Early life and military service:...
, an American artillery officer, saw the demonstration, and over the next few years improved the design, building and demonstrating a series of prototypes.
The Navy was impressed, and commissioned the construction of a specialized "dynamite gun cruiser." The , launched in 1888, was armed with three fifteen-inch pneumatic guns capable of firing an explosive projectile one and one half miles.
In 1897, a Zalinski dynamite gun was fitted to the first American submarine . It was later removed in 1900.
From 1894 to 1901, the Army purchased and installed several coastal artillery
Coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications....
batteries
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
of fifteen-inch dynamite guns. These could throw an explosive projective from 2000 to 5000 yards depending on the weight of the projectile, from 500 to 50 pounds. Compressed air at 2500 psi was supplied by a steam-driven compressor. In addition to the guns and their ammunition, the steam boiler, compressor, and other equipment necessary to operate the guns weighed over 200 tons. In 1904 the batteries were decommissioned, and the guns dismounted and scrapped.
The Sims-Dudley dynamite gun
Pneumatic guns for shipboard use, or at fixed coastal fortifications, could rely on a steam-driven gas compressorGas compressor
A gas compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume.Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transport the fluid through a pipe. As gases are compressible, the compressor also reduces the volume of a gas...
as an air source. For use by troops in the field, this was impractical. The Dudley-Sims dynamite gun used a smokeless powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
charge to compress the air. Beneath the gun barrel was a cylinder into which the powder charge was loaded. When fired, the expanding gas from the smokeless powder compressed the air in the cylinder, which was then fed into the gun barrel, accelerating the explosive projectile. The US Army bought sixteen of these guns.
The Sims-Dudley gun weighed about one-thousand pounds and had a bore diameter of two and a half inches. Its ammunition was not actually dynamite; the shells were filled with a nitrocellulose-based gelatin, and exploded by either a time or percussion fuze. Each round of ammunition weighed about ten pounds, five pounds of which was the explosive filler. It was cylindrical in shape, with a rounded nose, with twisted vanes on its back to provide spin-stabilization during flight.
Roosevelt and his Rough Riders used a Sims-Dudley gun during the siege of Santiago
Siege of Santiago
The Siege of Santiago also known as the Siege of Santiago de Cuba was the last major operation of the Spanish-American War on the island of Cuba. This action should not be confused with the naval battle of Santiago de Cuba.-Santiago Campaign:...
, with mixed results. The gun did work as intended, delivering high-explosive shells on target. Because of its relatively quiet pneumatic operation and smokeless powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
charges, it did not betray its presence, and so was not targeted by the Spanish. But it was mechanically unreliable and not very accurate. On balance Roosevelt was not enthusiastic, but found it "more effective than the regular artillery."
See also
- Pneumatic weaponPneumatic weaponA pneumatic weapon is a weapon that fires a projectile bymeans of air pressure, similar in principle to the operation of pneumatic tube delivery systems...
- Dale FortDale FortDale Fort is a battery site to the West of Milford Haven, Wales.Occupied from Elizabethan times to the present day, the main buildings were built for the military protection of Milford Haven in the 1850s, but the most unusual feature is its use for trials of Edmund Zalinski's Pneumatic Dynamite Gun...
- Air gunAir gunAn air gun is a rifle , pistol , or shotgun that fires projectiles by means of compressed air or other gas, in contrast to a firearm, which burns a propellant. Most air guns use metallic projectiles as ammunition. Air guns that only use plastic projectiles are classified as airsoft...
- Spud gun
- FN 303FN 303The FN 303 is a semi-automatic non-lethal riot gun designed and manufactured by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal. The FN 303's projectiles have been specifically designed to break up on impact, reducing risks of penetrating injuries...
- Holman ProjectorHolman ProjectorThe Holman Projector was an anti-aircraft weapon used by the Royal Navy during World War II, primarily between early 1940 and late 1941. The weapon was proposed and designed by Holmans, a machine tool manufacturer based at Camborne, Cornwall...
- Steam cannonSteam cannonA steam cannon is a cannon that launches a projectile using only heat and water. The first steam cannon was designed by Archimedes during the Siege of Syracuse. Leonardo da Vinci was also known to have designed one ....