Aberdeen Proving Grounds

[Birdseye]

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_David"]Little David - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Little-david_an_US_siege_mortar_world_war_II.jpg" class="image"><img alt="Little-david an US siege mortar world war II.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Little-david_an_US_siege_mortar_world_war_II.jpg/300px-Little-david_an_US_siege_mortar_world_war_II.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/b/b3/Little-david_an_US_siege_mortar_world_war_II.jpg/300px-Little-david_an_US_siege_mortar_world_war_II.jpg[/ame]

This 36 inch Mortar is sort of lying there. The tire on the end of the barrel is anchored and cannot easily be removed. I wonder if it has some connection to the story of people errrrr ... fornicating in the Barrel of Mons Meg?

:tinysmile_shy_t:

 

[Birdseye]

Anzio Annie aka Leopold

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzio_Annie"]Krupp K5 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:KruppK528cmRailwayGun1945.jpg" class="image"><img alt="KruppK528cmRailwayGun1945.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/KruppK528cmRailwayGun1945.jpg/300px-KruppK528cmRailwayGun1945.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/a/ad/KruppK528cmRailwayGun1945.jpg/300px-KruppK528cmRailwayGun1945.jpg[/ame]

Anzio Annie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anzioanniegun.jpg German K-5 Railway gun "Leopold" (aka "Anzio Annie")


"Anzio Annie" and "Anzio Express" was the name used by the Allies for a pair of German K5(E) railroad guns that shelled the Anzio beachhead during World War II. The Germans named them "Robert" and "Leopold".
The guns were discovered on a railroad siding in the town of Civitavecchia, on 7 June 1944, shortly after the allies occupied Rome.[1] Robert had been partially destroyed by the gun crew before they surrendered and Leopold was also damaged but not as badly. Both guns were shipped to the U.S. Aberdeen Proving Ground, (Aberdeen, Maryland) where they underwent tests. One complete K5 was made from the two damaged ones, and Leopold remains on display to this day at the United States Army Ordnance Museum located on the Aberdeen grounds.
A second surviving gun can be seen at the site of Battery Todt in northern France.

Note the shape of the leaf spring. An eagle?

 

[SG500]

Wow, I'm impressed, that's one impressive projectile, wish I lived a bit closer to Aberdeen proving ground. Did you see any squeezebore stuff in the museum, if so please post pictures.
Ta,
Dave.

 

[Birdseye]

Coast defense gun

This is a 19in gun that was originally made for a class of battleship that was never made. I thing that this is the last example of the largest of the coast defense guns in the US.

I include, for some of these pictures, the young master (tm) to give a sense of the sheer size of these things.

 

[Birdseye]

Last one of the Coast Defense gun.

 

[Birdseye]

This is a series of shots of the indoor display. I recall that I was told that it was ~50,000 sq ft. Sounds about right.

There were many shoulder arms from all countries, both auto and not. Pistols and MGs.

There were pieces of small ordnance as well as a nice display showing the development of ammunition. There was also a nice display dedicated to the EOD folks.

I was told that the whole thing, indoor display, tanks and all is going to be relocated to Virginia. Why? Same reason the RA are in Leeds now. Seems to me that Aberdeen is inseparable from ordnance. Maybe not.

 

[Birdseye]

Some more.

 

[Birdseye]

yet more images

 

[Birdseye]

Almost done.

The area is on two levels.

 

[Birdseye]

Last one from inside.

There were more small (37mm) cannon than I had seen elsewhere.

 

[Birdseye]

The outside area was 25 acres though it seemed like more. A nice thing was that the vehicles were on concrete pads that were canted so that water would run off. Nonetheless, there were definate signs of decay. I understand that they are looking for funds so that the Foundation associated with the museum can do more in the way of restoration.

It is a very large collection but suffers a bit from lack of explanatory (outside) material and virtually no context or history of the individual pieces.

I think in terms of overall quality of presentation the West Point museum is a bit better. Maybe not, there is really no "outside" associated with the WP museum. I'll try to get there is spring and report back.

 

[Birdseye]

I must say that the overall effect was pretty overwhelming.

 

[Birdseye]

Next five pictures.

 

[Birdseye]

Five more.

 

[Birdseye]

The end.

I would definitely reccomend a trip to Baltimore. The gun show is worth a visit, even if you aren't an ardent arms collector, and Baltimore itself if pretty nice. We went for my daughter to have an interview at an art college there and coupled that with all of the other activities.

Anyway, if you have any questions I'd be happy to try and answer.


n.b. I was hoping to take a few pictures at the gun show but it is a no-no. There was a fair amount of stuff >$10,000 on the tables so they are a bit sensitive. I did see a sweet grenade throwing shoulder weapon dated 1792 @ $14,000.

 

[sudelmuk]

Indeed, it seems youv'e had a very interesting weekend, Birdseye.
Thank's for your efforts to show us these impressive pictures!

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Nice day out !

Hi Birdseye how nice to have somewhere like that to visit with so much to see.

Many thanks for sharing those great pictures with us all.

 

[Birdseye]

It's certainly a pleasure. I will do West Point this spring and another, small military museum that is quite close to me.

Glad you enjoyed the pictures.

 

[tigbrand]

Nice pics

Hi Birdseye,a possibly stupid Q! Why would you not be allowed to take pics of guns at a show,when so many people in the US own guns? Even we havent lost the right to do that, although its probably in the pipeline in our alarmist,kneejerk country.Tony.

 

[Birdseye]

Hi Birdseye,a possibly stupid Q! Why would you not be allowed to take pics of guns at a show,when so many people in the US own guns? Even we havent lost the right to do that, although its probably in the pipeline in our alarmist,kneejerk country.Tony.

Probably paranoia, either with regard to crooks or the government. Probably crooks more than anything else. As I said, I saw some mighty expensive things there. Actually, I saw very little that required a license. No firearm prior to 1898 (?) requires any sort of government anything.