Shuvalov's "secret howitzer"

52

“A secret howitzer of the 1753 model of the PI Shuvalov system. Militaryhistorical Museum of Artillery, Engineering and Signal Corps, St. Petersburg

Weapon from museums. While studying at the Leningrad Institute of Railway Engineers, I lived in a student hostel on the Petrogradskaya side, next to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Since he was drawing from childhood Tanks and planes, then I could not pass by the Museum of Engineering Troops and Artillery. A camera was an unaffordable luxury for a student at that time. So I bought an album and went to the museum on weekends, since it was a five-minute walk from the hostel, and I drew everything I could. Cannons, guns, swords and banners. Cavalrymen with paintings on the walls of the museum. I am still looking through these old yellowed albums with pleasure. Some parts of the weapon are not always visible in the photo. And in books you will not see the whole range of small arms of the 90th-XNUMXth centuries. Until the XNUMXs of the last century, one could rarely read about weapons in popular literature.


At all times, people have sought to create guns with a larger caliber in order to achieve a greater impact force of the nucleus. For example, here is the Pumhart mortar made in Styria at the beginning of the 820th century. The cannon is made of metal strips held together by hoops like a barrel. The caliber is staggering: 8 mm, barrel weight 259 tons, length 700 cm, core weight 600 kg, and she sent such cannonballs 15 meters with a powder charge of 10 kg and an elevation angle of XNUMX degrees. Vienna Military History Museum

Historical literature has paid more attention to the description of events than to the technical parameters of weapons of that period.
After reading V. Pikul's novel "Pen and Sword", I enthusiastically began to dig information on the history of the Seven Years War, fortunately, as a conscientious reader, I was admitted to the holy of holies of the city library in my native Velikiye Luki. And the institute's library had a good collection of historical literature, including scientific literature.




But this is its French counterpart in a smaller caliber from the Paris Army Museum. And this one is no longer forged, but cast, moreover, from two screwing parts: the barrel and the chamber!

Alas, except for the description and schemes of battles, little has been found.

In addition, studies took up most of the time. I was, as today's youth say, a “botanist”. That is, he plowed himself. Specialty "industrial and civil construction" and even specialization in the department "Architecture" - these are drawings, drawings and again drawings. Moreover, computers were then the size of a chest of drawers and were capable of performing only elementary calculations. True, calculators have already appeared. Domestic "Electronics" had decent dimensions. And imported "Casio" and "Citizen" were too heavy for the student. We never dreamed of drawing on a computer.

Shuvalov's "secret howitzer"

Both absolutely monstrous guns and very light ones were invented. For example, here's a 37-mm "leather cannon" 1619-1653. manufacture, owned by the Archbishop of Salzburg. The gun had an extremely thin bronze barrel, wrapped in leather and braided with rope! The sample that has come down to us has a crack in the barrel. She could not stand the pressure of the gases. But how it works, you can see well! German National Museum, Nuremberg

However, trips to the Artillery Museum made it possible to formulate knowledge about the weapons of that era in sufficient detail. Both the Russian and the Prussian armies. Fortunately, both domestic and captured weapons in the museum were in abundance.

There are many cannons of the pre-Petrine era in the halls and in the open areas of the museum, but it was not very interesting to draw barrels without gun carriages. Cannons from the times of Narva and Poltava: alas, the drawings have not survived. Somewhere I "sowed" them when moving. But for the Seven Years War, the graphics have been preserved.

And although my main specialty in publishing is illustrations in magazines and books, the epistolary genre is not alien to me either.


Interestingly, at first most of the guns were loaded from the breech with the help of such interchangeable chambers, which were locked in the barrel with a "latch". Army Museum, Paris

One day, picking up my archive, I found drawings of the guns of the Seven Years War. Including Shuvalov howitzers. Why not talk about them? Moreover, they became the forerunners of the guns that received the name "unicorns" in the Russian army and served faithfully for over 100 years.


But why does this coolerine (caliber 125 mm, weight 2546 kg, cast in 1584 for Friedrich von Montbeliard, Duke of Württemberg) have such a twisted barrel and a snake on it? But what can you say - the fashion was like that! Army Museum, Paris

The same V. Pikul wrote (sorry, not literally), they say, take a hole, frame it with bronze - and you will get a gun. In fact, not everything is so simple.

Creating a regular army, Peter I paid great attention to the development of artillery. A large number of guns that did not meet the requirements of the time were inherited from the streltsy troops of the new Russian army. These were guns and mortars, which differed significantly in caliber and design. Field artillery was practically absent. Peter I made an attempt to unify the system of artillery weapons. During his reign, the number of gun calibers significantly decreased and the design of carriages and machine tools was simplified. New cannons with shortened barrels - howitzers - appeared. These guns could fire not only flat but also hinged fire. However, the idea of ​​improving the combat characteristics of the new guns did not leave the Russian gun-makers. If shooting with cannonballs depended only on the length of the barrel and the charge of gunpowder, then shooting with buckshot required different approaches. Indeed, when fired with buckshot, the bullets fly away from the barrel edge in all directions. Some of them fly above the target, and some burrow into the ground, not reaching the target. In order for most of the buckshot to fly in the horizontal direction, it was necessary, as it were, to "push" the gun barrel to the sides. The first experimental 3-pounder cannon was cast from cast iron by Tula gunsmiths in 1722. She had a rectangular barrel and could fire both cannonballs and buckshot. The trunk included three cores, that is, the width of the trunk was equal to three heights. The new gun passed the tests, but was not adopted for service. Its combat characteristics turned out to be very low. Due to the breakthrough of powder gases into the gaps between the cannonballs and in the corners of the barrel, the firing range was insignificant, most of the buckshot also did not reach the target. The survivability of the gun barrel was also low: cracks formed in the corners of the rectangle due to uneven loading. It became dangerous to shoot from such a gun.


Another very beautiful weapon from the Vienna Military History Museum. And the "dolphins", handles for lifting tools, well, just like they were alive!

Thirty years later, thanks to the improvement of the technology of making guns, Russian gunsmiths created a new howitzer. The idea of ​​creation belongs to General Feldzheikhmeister Count P.I. Shuvalov. And the gunsmiths Major Musin-Pushkin and the master Stepanov brought it to life. The gun had an oval barrel and a conical charging chamber. This made it possible, on the one hand, to ensure the spread of the bulk of buckshot bullets in the horizontal plane. On the other hand, the barrel survivability increased to an acceptable level. The howitzers were intended primarily to destroy enemy infantry and cavalry on the battlefield. From the middle of 1754, new howitzers began to arrive in the field artillery regiments. At first, the barrels of new guns on the march were covered with covers so that the enemy would not know about their design.


And these are "dolphins" - women! Decorated with a 1733 cannon cast in Dresden. Stands in London today in front of the Woolwich Arsenal

The baptism of fire "secret" howitzers (as they began to be called) received in the battles of the Seven Years War, in battles with the army of Frederick II. In the battle of Gross-Jägersdorf, it is the secret howitzers that play the main role in the victory. This is how the famous writer Valentin Pikul describes these events:

Prussian cuirassiers in armor rushed towards the Cossacks, heavily blowing up the ground with their hooves. With an iron jamb they cut into the rosy glow of battle, from the smoke glittered - clearly and dimly - long dull broadswords ...
Cossack lava, overtaken by the enemy, swung back in panic. The sharp-faced steppe horses stretched out in flight, flaring their nostrils - in blood, in smoke. No one at Levald's headquarters guessed that this was not a flight of the Cossacks at all - no, it was a risky maneuver ...
Russian infantry made way for the Cossacks. She seemed to be opening the wide gate now, into which the Cossack lava immediately slipped. Now these "gates" must be hastily shut, so that - following the Cossacks - the enemies do not burst into the center of the camp. The infantry opened frantic fire, but did not manage to close the "gates" ... I did not have time and could not!
The solid Prussian cavalry, shining with armor, “flowed squarely, in the best order, like a kind of fast river” right inside the Russian square. The front was broken through, broken through, broken through ... The cuirassiers were cutting down all who came to hand in a row.


Experimental 3-pounder cannon of the Tula plant, 1722, Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, St. Petersburg

But then the Russian artillery rolled up, and von Lewald, putting the chicken aside, hurried out onto the lawn again. Alas, he saw nothing already. From the many pounds of gunpowder burned out in battle, the smoke thickened over the Gross-Jägersdorf field - into a cloud! It became impossible to breathe. The faces of the people turned gray, as if they had been sprinkled with ashes. From the thick of the battle, Lewald heard only a thick growl, as if there, in this cloud of smoke, were gnawing at invisible terrible animals (it was the "Shuvalov" howitzers who were firing!)
- I don't see anything, - Lewald stomped impatiently with his boots, - Who will explain to me what happened there?
And this is what happened ...
The attack of the Cossacks was deceiving, they deliberately brought cuirassiers directly under the Russian canister. The howitzers bounced off so well that the whole Prussian squadron (just the middle one in the column) immediately fell to the ground. Now "some fast river" suddenly appeared to be torn apart in its stormy, fearless current. The cuirassiers, who "had already jumped into our frunt, fell into a trap like a mouse, and they were all forced to perish in the most merciless manner."


Shuvalov's "secret howitzer" and a 3-pounder gun of the Tula plant, 1722. Drawing by the author

Valentin Pikul, of course, bent about the "drove up". Alas, the design of the carriages of field guns did not allow them to be quickly moved across the battlefield.

Most likely, the position of the howitzers was prepared in advance, and the Cossacks simply brought Prussian cuirassiers under the barrels of the guns. And then - a matter of technology.

However, the desire to be able to quickly move artillery pieces across the field in less than 50 years will lead to the appearance of horse artillery in European armies.


107-mm regimental "unicorn". The barrel is bronze. Length 114 cm.Weight 180 kg. Cast in the second half of the XNUMXth century. Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps, St. Petersburg

However, the "secret" howitzers did not last long in service with the field artillery of the Russian army. Still, the survivability of the barrel was lower than that of conventional guns, and firing cannonballs from them was almost impossible. And most importantly, new systems of artillery pieces - "unicorns" - appeared in the Russian army. Based on howitzers, they had a longer barrel and a conical loading chamber. Ballistic performance was outstanding for its time. Unicorns have been in service with the Russian army for over a hundred years. But that's another story.
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52 comments
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  1. +11
    29 July 2020 18: 14
    Uh ... uh ... Aron Sheps? Am I missing something about the authors?
    Okay, anyway, the material is interesting!
    1. +14
      29 July 2020 19: 16
      Quote: Leader of the Redskins
      Uh ... uh ... Aron Sheps? Am I missing something about the authors?
      Okay, anyway, the material is interesting!

      Yes, the same Sheps, who illustrated more than a dozen books about military equipment, including Katorin and our Shpakovsky !!!
      Sincerely yours, Vladislav !!! I hope to continue the cycle !!!
    2. +8
      29 July 2020 21: 31
      Uh ... uh ... Aron Sheps?

      If the material is written professionally, it does not matter who the author is - this is knowledge, in its purest form.
  2. +6
    29 July 2020 18: 20
    it was interesting to see the drawings.
  3. +7
    29 July 2020 18: 45
    Thanks to the author for a beautiful and interesting article! hi good
    We are waiting for the sequel about Unicorns.

    M.V. Lomonosov, line from
    ON A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
    ABOUT THE EXCELLENCE OF THE NEW INQUIRED ARTILLERY
    BEFORE THE OLD
    GENERAL FELDZEIGMEISTER AND CAVALER
    COUNT OF PETER IVANOVICH SHUVALOV

    "Everyone is waiting for the land where hope will fly.
    All Parnassus said to me: “There is a regiment
    God and the courage of the generals are with Elizabeth,
    Russian chest, your weapons, Shuvalov. "

    Count P.I. Shuvalov
  4. +3
    29 July 2020 18: 56
    Great article. I wonder if there were similar decisions in foreign armies?
    And yes, the Artillery Museum to this day is a Mecca for collectors and fans of military history.
  5. +17
    29 July 2020 18: 56
    As an artist, the author of the article is a professional. But as an artillery historian - an amateur.
    A camera was an unaffordable luxury for a student at that time.
    I don’t know in what years the author studied at the institute, but in the USSR a camera was available to anyone who had at least 6 rubles in his pocket, even children.

    "Shkolnik" camera - price - 6 rubles.
    As for Shuvalov's "secret howitzers", the count simply did not know that the exact same effect could be achieved by simply shortening the barrel.
    1. +13
      29 July 2020 19: 07
      Well, the author lied about the camera, to make a point. "Change" then cost 15 rubles, for a student it is quite an affordable price. Another thing is that it was necessary to shoot either on film with a sensitivity of at least 250 GOST units (in fact, with a special developer it was possible to stretch the sensitivity up to 1500 units), or with a flash, in general, the author did not take photographs, and does not know how to do it. It was. And he should have brought the drawings, if they have survived to this day. The article is interesting.
      1. +7
        29 July 2020 22: 13
        I had a FED 5V camera in my teens, which was pretty good. But when I went to the photo circle, I was convinced that the Smena could take good pictures.
        1. +10
          29 July 2020 22: 33
          When I was a child, I shot with my father's "Zorky-S", the lens "Industar-22", in my student years I bought a DSLR "Zenit-E" with "Industar-50" for 77 rubles in the store "Jupiter" on Kalininsky Prospekt in Moscow, later I bought it to her lenses, from the "Jupiter-37" portrait lens to the "MTO-500" telephoto lens. Then he adapted himself to develop the slides. A good time is the mid 70s.
        2. +8
          30 July 2020 09: 33
          Quote: Sergej1972
          But when I went to the photo circle, I was convinced that the Smena could take good pictures.

          Smena-8M teaches you to be accurate.
          You only have 35 frames (36, of course, but the last one was often lost during development). I rewound the tape - a check. Film sensitivity - check. Excerpt - check. Aperture - check. Range - check. Removing ... your division - I forgot to remove the lens cap! smile
          1. +3
            30 July 2020 10: 11
            I often had this problem - I forgot to remove the lens cap.
          2. +3
            30 July 2020 17: 28
            At the Change, you could still take a bunch of times for the same frame! The shutter was not cocked there, when rewinding ...
            1. +2
              30 July 2020 17: 58
              Quote: Theodore
              At the Change, you could still take a bunch of times for the same frame! ...

              It was like this ... on the first film there were four double exposures. Therefore "rewound the tape - check"was required.
              Quote: Theodore
              The shutter was not cocked there, when rewinding ...

              But about "shutter cocked - check"I forgot. I relaxed, switching to" Sharp ".
              With such a control table, now I would press the button and think - why not click. smile
              1. 0
                1 August 2020 19: 59
                Quote: Alexey RA
                Relaxed by switching to "Sharp".

                Everyone has his own path good First Experience - Father's Prize Camera
                Mir - a Soviet rangefinder camera, produced by the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant from 1959 to 1961. Mir - a simplified modification of the Zorky-4 camera, featured a photographic shutter with a reduced exposure range. 156.229 Mir cameras were produced.
                So at first I had "automatic", only then a personal "Smena-8M", for a short time, and the masterpiece LOMO-135, "semi-automatic" laughing “Zeniths” were acquired from personal earnings. And now there are two "Zeniths" on which the hand does not rise to sell, or throw away, although they are lying idle ... There were three, but one was presented to my daughter, for film photo experiments and its traces were lost somewhere in St. Petersburg.
                In school years, it was very easy to invite the girl you liked to the mystery of photo printing, the images appearing before our eyes on a blank sheet of paper, the light of a red lantern, the increased temperature of a stuffy room (in my "workshop"), new (for her) smells of reagents - incredible brought together Yes
    2. +12
      29 July 2020 19: 35
      Viktor Nikolaevich, Shuvalov's secret howitzer became the forerunner of the unicorn. The author reflected this in his article. So I suggest you wait until the cycle continues.
      By the way, by shortening the barrel it also made it possible to use bombs and this is implemented in unicorns !!!
      As for the cameras, in the 80s only Smena were on sale. I don't remember the price, but not sky-high. I remember my first FED-5 was the subject of universal envy, and then Zenith appeared with a built-in exposure meter, a dream of life !!!
      On the other hand, the ability to draw has always been valued more than photographing !!!
      Regards, Vlad!
      1. +3
        29 July 2020 23: 03
        Zenith with built-in flash ...
        But do not forget the Soviet "soap dish" LOMO Compact-Automatic!
      2. +3
        30 July 2020 13: 28
        "Change" cost about 15 rubles.
    3. -1
      5 September 2020 18: 40
      Quote: Undecim
      As for Shuvalov's "secret howitzers", the count simply did not know that the exact same effect could be achieved by simply shortening the barrel

      Expansion in one plane? In that physics lesson, you, you see, went to the store for a camera.
      1. 0
        5 September 2020 20: 11
        Do you have the ballistic test results on hand? Or did you want to be smart?
        1. -1
          5 September 2020 22: 17
          Quote: Undecim
          Do you have the ballistic test results on hand?

          I thought you missed one lesson. I was wrong. Obviously you skipped all of the physics clean up. Otherwise, how can you not know that experiment is by no means the only way of knowing.

          Quote: Undecim
          be smart

          This is called thinking. Leave the gopstyle for your grandchildren.
          1. 0
            5 September 2020 22: 26
            Well, think for health.
            1. -1
              5 September 2020 23: 59
              Quote: Undecim
              Well, think for health.

              Would you like to try it too? And then you see that while it turns out - they took it and foolishly rude to the author, not bothering to think beforehand.
              1. 0
                6 September 2020 12: 44
                You are the author's assistant, he instructed you to contact me on this issue?
                1. -1
                  6 September 2020 16: 50
                  Stop talking irrelevant nonsense. Have the courage to face the truth.
  6. +4
    29 July 2020 19: 01
    But that's another story.
    We are waiting for another story! Thanks to the author for an interesting article linked to history! good
  7. +3
    29 July 2020 19: 16
    this is not a howitzer, but a purely grapeshot, which has a narrow application, mankind has gone along the path of creating special ammunition for conventional guns, which we observe until modern times
    1. +6
      29 July 2020 21: 56
      Quote: Ryaruav
      this is not a howitzer, but a purely grapeshot, which has a narrow application, mankind has gone along the path of creating special ammunition for conventional guns, which we observe until modern times

      Mankind has thrown a lot of things in the creation of the "shell-gun" complex !!! laughing
      Especially in our situation - having an afterthought, you can broadcast a lot from the couch !!! Without the slightest reproach to you. hi
      In short, it was essentially impossible to shoot explosive bombs from long-barreled basilisks, couliverns and arquebuses. All this led to the creation of short-barreled - bastards, howitzers and unicorns. In the fleet of Koranad and bombing cannons. Considering that with a smaller mass, howitzers and unicorns had large calibers, they were promising in field artillery. So initially they did not fit a projectile under a cannon, but on the contrary a cannon under a projectile !!! Shuvalov's secret howitzer (by the way, capable of shooting with bombs) was no exception.
    2. 0
      1 August 2020 21: 43
      It is commonly believed that "howitzer" comes from the German "haufnitz" - heap. Initially, howitzers were intended only for firing with stone buckshot - a heap of stones. The gopher appeared in the 2nd half of the 19th century - a multi-barreled weapon for firing grape-shot bullets. PS it would be better if you did not write such comments
  8. AML
    -1
    29 July 2020 20: 35
    And I’m a conspiracy theorist that guns aren’t so simple. :)

    I do not argue that the part (which is simpler and without frills) was probably used for firing cannonballs, but you know, you can also drive nails with a microscope.

    Tell me why try to make different patterns on a purely unitary and long-lived thing.
    Something I don’t remember that the guns and tanks of the Second World War were covered with carvings, stucco and other beauty. Why? Yes, because it was not before that, it was necessary a lot yesterday. She counts the war every penny, and here such beauty. And the calibers of some of the "guns" are such that they would simply be destroyed at the first shot.
    1. +9
      29 July 2020 21: 15
      Quote: AML
      And I’m a conspiracy theorist that guns aren’t so simple. :)

      I do not argue that the part (which is simpler and without frills) was probably used for firing cannonballs, but you know, you can also drive nails with a microscope.

      Tell me why try to make different patterns on a purely unitary and long-lived thing.
      Something I don’t remember that the guns and tanks of the Second World War were covered with carvings, stucco and other beauty. Why? Yes, because it was not before that, it was necessary a lot yesterday. She counts the war every penny, and here such beauty. And the calibers of some of the "guns" are such that they would simply be destroyed at the first shot.

      I will try to answer you.
      Conventionally, "cannon" is correct, after all, an artillery gun is a quasi-existence of engineering art for several centuries! It was not for nothing that Louis XIV ordered the casting of "the last argument of kings" on his cannons! As a matter of fact, being a modern person and possessing an afterthought, even at the level of school education, you can "raise an eyebrow in surprise" why these little things and buns !!!
      But putting oneself in the place of Edward IV, "the model of a hundred-year war," one must remember that his five bombards are the WHOLE ROYAL ARSENAL OF ENGLAND !!! So all of his bombards had personal names. And considering the way the guns were cast during the first centuries, it is not surprising that they received unique monograms and coats of arms of those in power! For example, French - basilisks or German - hoses (snakes)! All the more so considering that before Francis I - artillery was a piece of goods that sovereigns used to measure !!!
      Remember our squeaks "Inrog" or "Gamayun", the famous "Tsar Cannon"! Masterpieces of Chekhov (Chokhov).
      Since the era of the 30 year war, cannons have become a utilitarian and massive object, which in turn led to the simplification of casting and decoration, but traditions still pressed for almost a century! Artistic casting left artillery only at the turn of the Napoleonic era, when “Thousands of guns began to rumble on the battlefield” !!!
      Now in caliber.
      Cannon and mortar cores were different! The first ones in the author's article were intended for firing cannonballs from a stone that had a lower density! Cast iron - appeared later, which led to a decrease in the caliber of guns and the abandonment of bombardments of the "Tsar Cannon" type !!!
      For example, the cannonballs in the Kremlin, like the Tsar Cannon's carriage, are props from the early 19th century! Nice, but?
      Although the British Agagemon, during the breakthrough of the Dardanelles, had a chance to get a stone core from the Turkish counterpart of our Tsar Cannon! It didn't seem enough!
      Regards, Vlad!
      1. AML
        0
        29 July 2020 23: 39
        Thank you, informative. +
      2. +1
        31 July 2020 23: 55
        It's more interesting with cores than it seems. It is clear that the props, but ...
        She's not a shotgun. Not a shotgun at all.
        It was a stone-thrower mortar, and they shot from it with a hewn stone, solid. A couple of dozen times.
        It surfaced during the trasological examination in the second half of the XNUMXs, the State Historical Museum conducted it, and somewhere on the State Historical Museum's website it was posted.
        1. 0
          1 August 2020 06: 52
          Quote: AllBiBek
          It's more interesting with cores than it seems. It is clear that the props, but ...
          She's not a shotgun. Not a shotgun at all.
          It was a stone-thrower mortar, and they shot from it with a hewn stone, solid. A couple of dozen times.
          It surfaced during the trasological examination in the second half of the XNUMXs, the State Historical Museum conducted it, and somewhere on the State Historical Museum's website it was posted.

          That's right, but the Moscow Tsar Cannon is not a stone-throwing mortar, but a classic bombard!
    2. +7
      29 July 2020 21: 16
      Quote: AML
      Tell me why try to make different patterns on a purely unitary and long-lived thing.

      Anatoly, you yourself answered
      Quote: AML
      and here such beauty.

      Well, that's why hunters on the hunt show off, in front of each other, expensive, beautiful and certain weapons factories guns? After all, trophies are obtained on average with equally different guns.
      The owner of the original weapon and feels ... original Yes
      Should I explain this to you men laughing
    3. +1
      29 July 2020 22: 59
      Who knows? An interesting idea With sound and resonators and all sorts of vibrations, you need to experiment and experiment again (but carefully and so that no one knows))) Maybe something interesting will come out After all, "First there was a word" And the plane was also considered a fantasy
      1. AML
        +1
        29 July 2020 23: 50
        Uh-huh, you read it in different ways and it really seems that we live in a post-apocalyptic world. Libraries are burning permanently. Monuments are being destroyed on purpose. There are so many monuments in Syria that have been destroyed. Technology is lost. Once, too, I could not understand how you can lose technologists. But on the example of the central beam of the TU-160, I realized that it was quite real.
        1. 0
          29 July 2020 23: 54
          I've read and watched about Linskalninsha, well, there is no rational explanation for its designs and products based on technologies known to us today. Again, these "crystal skulls" (which are of high quality, of course) There is an inexplicable fact and an inexplicable fact - that means we need to look for some answer " other"
          1. +1
            29 July 2020 23: 57
            On the other hand, some technologies of antiquity receive an explanation Suppose that concrete polymers have already appeared that are as close as possible to natural stone (another question is their economic efficiency)
            1. 0
              29 July 2020 23: 58
              Simultaneously sent and not checked (I can't see the message)
        2. 0
          30 July 2020 00: 10
          By the way, it was always interesting that the libraries burn in the same way as the ammunition depots (in the sense when everything valuable is already from there)? Then there is a chance that knowledge is stored in some kind of bins of the koshchei, At least so
        3. 0
          31 July 2020 23: 59
          Yes, it has always been so, and at all times.
          Look, compare at least the size of the masked "Dragon" and the shuttle, two such dragons will fit into the shuttle's cabin, and there will still be room.

          "Industrial archeology" has been a full-fledged science for a quarter of a century, because there are a lot of factories and production cycles that work, and how they do it and how they were built is a mystery of nature. The documentation is either lost or on media, which is impossible to read and decipher. It's easier to create a similar technology from scratch than to restore an old one.
  9. +5
    29 July 2020 21: 25
    This is the first time I hear that the "secret" howitzers played a decisive role in some kind of battle! Until now, there have been reports that attempts to use "secret" howitzers revealed the shortcomings of this weapon. When the Prussians captured these "miracle weapons", they did not even think of adopting them! Moreover, they placed trophies in the square and put up signs with derisive characteristics ....!
    By the way, the Author mentioned the "three-core" "Tula" guns! But there was at least one more failed idea from the same period! These are the so-called "mortar canons"!
    1. 0
      31 July 2020 21: 26
      First time I hear that "secret" howitzers played a decisive role in some battle

      FROM THE JOURNAL OF MILITARY ACTIONS OF THE ARMY S.F. APRAKSINA (Information source - Istoriya.RF portal, https://histrf.ru/lenta-vremeni/event/view/srazhieniie-pri-gross-ieghiersdorfie)
      The other enemy cavalry, which came out with no less fury, attacked the cuirassier and Riga cavalry regiments and forced them to retreat after the infantry; but as the enemy cavalry was advancing strongly and approached the enemy near the right wing of the first granodera regiment, then this regiment, having made a turn in that position, with such a good success began to fire divisional rifle with such a good success, and with buckshot from the Shuvalov howitzer so happily hit the enemy that he with great damage and haste, he ran back, with which he could not get rid of the cannon shots by a disorderly escape, he rushed into the hollow, but he did not find a place there either ...

      Moreover, they placed trophies in the square and put up signs with derisive characteristics.

      Geyrop savages, what can you take from them. lol
      1. 0
        31 July 2020 23: 17
        Quote: Fil743
        FROM THE JOURNAL OF MILITARY ACTIONS OF THE ARMY S.F. APRAXINA

        Well, yak! "Some" really expected very flattering characteristics for "their" guns ... how not to please "dear little man"! wink
        Quote: Fil743
        Gayrop savages, what can you take from them

        And do not speak! As soon as the earth takes them out!
  10. +1
    29 July 2020 21: 32
    Yes that's right. Good article.

    And in defense of the artist - all the same, in the 70s-80s they were slightly in short supply. But the main thing is that the lousy quality of amateur films greatly degraded the quality of the photo. (and it still had to be manually, at risk, developed and printed a photo). So among young people, only “experts” and “fans” acquired cameras.
    Drawing is even more familiar
  11. +2
    29 July 2020 21: 46


    300 years will pass, they will dig it up and say that the cannon was ...
  12. -1
    30 July 2020 02: 19
    Aron Sheps? Is Shpak afraid of being charged for plagiarism? At one time I had a wonderful teacher. Malikov V. G. Conducted an artillery section in the magazine "Technology-youth". Shpaki did not lie nearby. And now, I see, they are loose. Well, you do not understand the subject of a damn thing (such a plant), why write? Does someone pay him for this crap? IN, do you understand? Where is the historian of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union with a record-breaking flexible spine, and where is the artillery?
  13. 0
    30 July 2020 16: 05
    Shuvalov's "secret gun" looks like it has a Lancaster drill.
  14. 0
    30 July 2020 16: 53
    the pictures are good, but the text is "" After all, when a buckshot is fired, the bullets fly away from the edge of the barrel in all directions. "- bullets and fly back? bully
    I wonder if there is a directional diagram for conventional and Shuvalov howitzers?
  15. 0
    1 August 2020 21: 56
    [quote = Kote Pan Kohanka] Shuvalov's secret howitzer became the forerunner of the unicorn. [quote] [/ quote]
    These are two completely different weapons that have nothing in common.
  16. 0
    1 August 2020 22: 04
    From the middle of 1754, new howitzers began to arrive in the field artillery regiments. At first, the barrels of new guns on the march were covered with covers so that the enemy would not know about their design.

    In total, 50 such howitzers were cast, according to the number of infantry regiments of the field army. Howitzers' servants were staffed from the most reliable people who, under pain of death, were forbidden to say anything about these howitzers.

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