WWI+-+Technology+and+Weapons

=Technology and Weapons of WWI=

=toc=
 * Tanks**
 * British Colonel Ernest Swinton put machine guns on caterpillars which were modified tractors used to move heavy artillery
 * Heavily armored them and had to have a few passengers to operate the machine guns correctly
 * Gave the Western allies an advantage to penetrate the stationary enemy lines
 * At the end of the war 450 British tanks pierced the German defenses near Amiens. August 1918 and this was very near the end of the war

Machine Gun
• Devastating firepower o 400-600 rounds per minutes o Require 6 crew members to operated o Double at the end of the war w/round fed via fabric belts • Early machine guns were easily overheated o In the heat of a battle, the crew would urinated into the jackets to cool it downs • A machine guns = 60-100 rifles • British refused to use machine guns, until 1915, because they believe it was ‘improper warfare’ • Somme Offense o Show the devastating power of a machine gun o In a single day, there were 60,000 casualties in the British side • Develop on tank, aircraft (use also for anti-aircraft device)

Flamethrower

 * First used by the Germans
 * Eventually adopted by the French and British
 * Of limited use due to range.
 * Soldiers with explosive gas strapped to their backs were obvious targets.

Grenades

 * Bombing Parties
 * Main method of assault on trenches consisted of several grenadiers protected by rifleme.
 * Germany had around 70,000 grenades at the start of the war.
 * British grenade, the Mark1, was so unpopular with soldiers that many resorted to making home-made "jam-tin" grenades.
 * Over 50 different models developed during the war.

U-Boats

 * first gained significance during the war
 * introduced for German navy
 * u-boats=military submarines
 * not just used for fleet weapons; effective in enforcing naval blockades
 * functions as practical war machines
 * operated mostly on the surfaces using regular engines
 * triangular in cross-section with a distinct keel and bow
 * gained attention on May 7th, 1915, U-20 sank Lusitania
 * Lusitania= full of cargo; military ammunition that Allies could have used against Germany
 * this put America against Germany
 * Jan 3 1917, u-boats engaged in unrestricted sub warfare, implemented by Germany
 * March 17, Germany sank 3 USA vessels
 * April 1917, USA declares war
 * proved to be successful in the beginning
 * but British blockade of Germany led to an armistice on November 11, 1918
 * German U-boats were surrendered

Airplanes!!!
Airplanes used in WWI were very simple compared to their later counterparts.Although the glory of flying was evident, the actual use on the battlefield was limited.
 * Light design made carrying heavy bombs almost impossible.
 * First planes were used for reconnaissance only. Later Machine guns were added for another person to shoot out of the plane.
 * Finally, a synchronizer was developed that allowed a machine gun to fire through airplane propellers and thus the fighter plane was born.
 * In terms of eventual importance, this was an extremely big step for the military. However, in terms of the outcome of the war. The pilot was not that big.

**Blimps:**
>> The German airships were operated by both the Army and Navy as two entirely separate divisions. At the beginning of the war the German Army had nine machines (including three DELAG craft requisitioned from civilian ownership), the Navy had four. All the craft were identified with the pre-war prefix LZ and a number, to avoid confusion between craft with the same number it is customary to use the prefix LZ for Naval craft and just L for Army craft (the Schütte-Lanz and Parseval types are sometimes identified with the respective prefixes SL andPL). Before the war the Army had lost three zeppelins to accidents and the Navy two, both Naval losses occurred in 1913 and accounted for the majority of experienced personnel. There were major differences in doctrine. The Army emphasised bombing from a low level and close support to ground forces, while the Navy had trained for reconnaissance.
 * //Bombers //
 * Zeppelins were used as bombers during World War I. At the beginning of the conflict the German command had high hopes for the craft, as they appeared to have compelling advantages over contemporary aircraft – they were almost as fast, carried many more guns, and had a greater bomb-load and enormously greater range and endurance. However, their great weakness was their vulnerability to incendiary ammunition.
 * At the beginning of the war, Captain Ernst A. Lehmann and Baron Gemmingen, Count Zeppelin's nephew, developed an observation car for use by Zeppelin dirigibles. The car was equipped with a wicker chair, chart table, electric lamp, compass, telephone, and a lightning conductor. With the Zeppelin sometimes within, sometimes above the clouds and unable to see the ground, the observer in the hanging basket would relay orders on navigation and when and which bombs to drop. Defenders could hear the engines but their searchlights and artillery fire could not reach the airship. The LZ26's basket was lowered from the airship on a specially constructed tether 1000 metres long; other airships may have used one approximately 750 metres long. The tether was high-grade steel with a brass core insulated with rubber to act as the telephone cable.
 * //Scouts //
 * The main use of the craft was in reconnaissance over the North Sea and the Baltic, where the endurance of the craft led German warships to a number of Allied vessels. Zeppelin patrolling had priority over any other airship activity. During the war around 1,200 scouting flights were made.The German Navy had some 15 Zeppelins in commission in 1915 and was able to have two or more patrolling continuously at any one time, almost regardless of weather.They prevented British ships from approaching Germany, spotted when and where the British were laying mines and later aided in the destruction of those mines. Zeppelins would sometimes land on the sea next to a minesweeper, bring aboard an officer and show him the lay of the mines. Before the widespread availability of incendiary ammunition made commerce raiding too risky, they would also land or hover close to a merchant ship suspected of carrying contraband, order all ship's hands to leave in boats, then inspect the ship, and either destroy it or take it back to Germany as a prize.

**Observation Balloons:**
> Gas or hot-air propelled, such balloons were by no means a new innovation in terms of military adoption, having been put to use as early as the 18th and 19th centuries. However they were deployed extensively along the Western Front in particular. Winched into the air, seldom alone, they were usually accompanied by one or two others for comparative observation purposes. > Observation readings were passed down via the use of flags or occasionally by radio, and balloon operators would generally remain in the air for hours at a spell. It was regarded as a dangerous job, for although observation balloons were invariably heavily protected by anti-aircraft and machine gun fire and by wire meshes dangled between groups of balloons, they were often the irresistible stationary target of enemy aircraft. > So far as the various air forces were concerned, bringing down an observation balloon was regarded as a valid victory and were added to each pilot's list of 'kills' in the same manner as enemy aircraft. This was because downing balloons was considered something of a hazardous occupation, although some pilots established reputations as 'balloon busters'. > Bringing down balloons was deceptively problematic. Standard bullets were usually insufficient in themselves, passing directly through the balloon's fabric without setting it alight. When under attack operators on the ground would hastily winch down the balloon and unless the attacking aircraft could succeed in setting the balloon alight - by the use of incendiary or explosive bullets - he would have failed in his mission. Many pilots were careful not to pursue balloons beneath 1,000 feet for fear of the devastating consequences of anti-aircraft fire. > British servicemen were permitted to don parachutes to escape should the balloon come under successful enemy fire, although the chances of a safe escape once the balloon was ablaze was slim. > Balloons were additionally used for home defence purposes and were flown in groups via cables in major cities such as London, each balloon dangling steel cables to form a kind of apron into which attacking enemy aircraft could find themselves entangled and so be brought down. To evade such defences attacking aircraft were obliged to fly at ever higher altitudes, reducing the likelihood of a successful, accurate bombing raid.
 * Observation balloons were commonly adopted by all sides and considered ideal in the static trench warfare conditions largely peculiar to the First World War.