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WWI Weapons

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I print these and have the students organize them. This presentation is simply so the students can see the pictures better

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Page 1: WWI Weapons
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Dreadnought

• This British ship was built in response to

Germany beginning to build a large navy.

This ship made all other battleships obsolete.

Able to reach speed of 28 mph, it had armor

11 inches thick. It was equipped with 10 guns

that could shoot objects a foot in diameter a

distance of 11 miles. Other countries rushed

to build their versions of the British

Dreadnought.

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Destroyers

• Both sides used destroyers in the war.

They were light and fast, capable of

traveling at speeds of 34 mph.

Equipped with torpedoes, their main

duty was to attack battleships. They

were also used in depth charges

against submarines.

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Big Bertha

• The world’s largest cannon, this German artillery gun could fire 1-ton shells a distance of 13 miles. Some versions of “Big Bertha" were pulled by tractors, others were fitted to railway cars. While the range of the colossal gun was noteworthy, it’s accuracy was not. Soldiers had no way of determining where in a city the shell would hit. While this was a setback technically, it hurt the morale on the enemies home-front.

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Barbed Wire

• Barbed wire was strung across the front lines. This made it make it more difficult for the enemy to infiltrate the trenches. Connected to silent posts (wire stakes), the barbed wire was checked nightly. If an attack was planned, the night patrol would go out and cut a path through the wire to allow for passage through the barbed wire.

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Artificial Trees

• Soldiers made artificial tree stumps from

steel cylinders covered with wire mesh

and canvas. Put up at night next to real

tree stumps (which were then removed

so that the enemy would think the new

one was real), they were used to

observe the enemy.

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Maschinengewehr 08

• The Germans recognized that the machine gun would be a useful weapon and was the first country to put it to use during WWI. They used it effectively against troops as they were advancing towards the trenches. Able to fire 400 bullets a minute as far as 2200 yards, it was an effective weapon. The problem was, it was also cumbersome. It took a crew of men to operate it and had a tendency to overheat.

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Mauser Gewehr 98

• Simply called the Mauser, this German rifle was widely used in WWI. The rifle had been battle tested during the Boxer Rebellion when the Germans helped subdue the Chinese who were revolting against foreigners in their country. Dependable and accurate, the Mauser had a detachable clip that allowed it to be reloaded quickly.

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Lee-Enfield .303-inch rifle

• This was the standard British rifle that nearly

every British soldier on the Western Front

received. A good individual weapon and a

favorite among snipers, it was able to fire 12

shots per minute. The Lee-Enfield could be

shot rapidly and accurately and was so

reliable that it continued to be used in WWII.

It is the second most produced rifle ever.

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Springfield

• The American rifle of choice, it was

comparable to the Lee-Enfield. The rifle

was the most common weapon for

soldiers to use in battle because they

were light, dependable and had multiple

shot capability.

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Mark I

• The British developed their land ship under the code name “tank.” Although some in leadership positions saw little use for the weapon at first, it proved useful in trench warfare. Weighing in at 28 tons, it was equipped with two large guns and four machine guns. It could flatten barbed wire and enemy trenches as well as act as a shield for advancing troops. The Mark I was not without its problems. With a top speed of three miles per hour, they often broke down or got stuck in the muddy trenches and the men inside were miserable. It needed two people to drive, which made it difficult to maneuver. The conditions were cramped and were affected by extreme heat and noxious fumes.

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Mark V

• The British Mark V did not come into use until July 1918, but it was an improvement in tank technology. Equipped with two 6-pounder guns and four machine guns, it held a crew of 8. It’s advanced system of gears and brakes allowed it to be driven by one person, which increased its maneuverability. Unfortunately it was still cramped and hot inside the Mark V, sometimes so hot that the ammunition exploded!

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Renault FT-17

• Equipped with one machine gun, the French tank had a two man crew and traveled at a speed of over 4 miles an hour. Designed with the engine in the back and the driver in the front, the Renault featured a rotating turret. These features not only made this model the one that all future tanks were designed off of, but also the most popular tank among American troops. First introduced in 1917, 2,697 were put into use before the end of the war.

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A7V

• The German version of the Mark I showed up in April of 1918, not early enough to make an impact. Weighing in at 33 tons, the Germans produced 120, but only 6 A7Vs saw action. The A7V had a crew of 18 men and six machine guns, and was just as slow as the other tanks of its day. It also had very poor off-road capability and was prone to getting stuck. The large overhang at the front and low ground clearance meant trenches or very muddy areas were impassable. This was worsened by the fact that the driver could not see the terrain directly in front of the tank.

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Chlorine Gas

• First used in large scale by the Germans at the second Battle of Ypres, chlorine gas caused choking, lung damage and sometimes blindness. At first the gas was released from a large canister when the wind was blowing toward the enemy. This caused problems as the wind could shift, bringing the gas toward friendly troops. This problem was solved when special artillery shells were invented that could be shot and then distribute the gas on impact.

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Mustard Gas

• Mustard gas caused severe burning and blistering of the skin and sometimes blindness. At first the gas was released from a large canister when the wind was blowing toward the enemy. This caused problems as the wind could shift, bringing the gas toward friendly troops. This problem was solved when special artillery shells were invented that could be shot and then distribute the gas on impact.

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Fokker DVII

• When the war started, airplanes were a new invention. Invented in 1903 by the Wright Brothers, it soon found its way into military use. The German’s premier aircraft was the Fokker DVII which was quick, easy to fly and rugged. The planes could fly straight up with its guns firing for a long distance without fear that the plane would stall. Although slower than the British Sopwith Camel, it was able to climb to higher altitudes quickly and recover quickly from a dive.

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Sopwith Camel

• A British bi-plane, the Sopwith Camel was considered by many to be the best Allied plane. Agile and able to make sharp turns at high speeds, it was the most successful plane at shooting down German aircraft. First used for scouting, it was soon used for bombing. Pilots first manually dropped bombs over the side, but eventually planes were fitted with bombsights and racks under the plane so that pilots could more easily and accurately bomb the enemy below. Planes were particularly effective against men in trenches.

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Zeppelin LZ38

• Invented in 1900 by German Count Ferdinand von

Zeppelin, zeppelins were giant airships filled with

hydrogen. At the beginning of the war, they could fly

higher than planes and so, without risk of being shot

down, flew over the English Channel to drop bombs

on English cities, targeting English civilians. By the

end of the war, plane technology had improved to the

point that planes could fly above zeppelins and shoot

them down igniting them into fiery balls of hydrogen.

The zeppelin’s use as a bomber was obsolete by the

later part of the war.

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British SSZ

• The Sea Scout Zero had no rigid frame

and therefore its lightweight gave it a

high speed of 45 mph. Put into service

in 1916, airships were now being used

for scouting missions. The British used

the SSZ to scout for submarines.

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HMS Furious

• Built as a battle cruiser, The Furious

was quickly adapted to make the first

aircraft carrier. On July 7, 1918, seven

Sopwith Camels took off from the deck

of the Furious to attack a German

Zeppelin base. The HMS Furious

continued to be used by the British in

World War II.

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British 18 Pounder Field Gun

• First produced in 1904, by August 1914, the

British Army had produced 1,226 of them. It

was so reliable, that by the end of the war,

the army had 9,424 in service and was the

main artillery in use by the British. The field

gun itself weighed nearly 3000 pounds and

could fire 10-18 pound shells of high

explosives a distance of over three miles.

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U-Boat

• Equipped with cannons and torpedoes, the German Unterseeboot could attack ships on the surface or under water. Carrying a crew of 22 -36 men the U-boats were cramped and when underwater ran on electric motors and batteries. In typical sea warfare, enemy merchant ships would allow safe passage for passengers. Although this was impossible for the U-Boat to do and remain effective, the deaths of passengers turned public opinion against the Germans.

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Periscope

• Soldiers from both sides used

periscopes during their times in the

trenches. It was dangerous for soldiers

to peek above the trench. They used

periscopes to peer over the trench to

keep an eye of the movements of the

enemy.

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Flamethrower

• Primitive versions of the flamethrower were

used as far back at the 5th century BC, but in

the First World War, they were first used by

the Germans on British troops. Two versions

were developed: one large and the smaller

hand-held version. Both performed the same

function: they sprayed liquid fire over enemy

troops. Both sides took up its use by the end

of the war.

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Gas Mask

• By the end of the war both sides had

constructed effective gas masks. They

included a face mask, goggles and

respirator, which were effective against

the gases being used. After the

war, outrage over the use of gases

called for the discontinuation of their

use in warfare.

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Maxim

• The first machine gun was invented in 1884 by American Hiram Maxim. Machine gun technology used the fact that the gun recoiled after each shot to its advantage. The energy from the recoil would automatically move the next bullet into the firing chamber. As long as the trigger remained pressed, the gun kept firing. Able to fire 600 bullets per minute, it was an effective weapon, but it was also cumbersome. It took a crew of men to operate it and had a tendency to overheat.

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The Vickers

• The British version of the machine gun, it was not used until later in the war. Able to fire 450-600 bullets per minute a distance of 2,400 feet. It was an effective weapon, but it was also cumbersome. It took a crew of men to operate it and had a tendency to overheat. By the end of the war, all British and French aircraft were equipped with these machine guns.

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The Stielhandgranate

• Introduced in 1915, the German stick

grenade was highly popular among

German soldiers. Some exploded on

impact but most were set to detonate

after either a 5.5 or 7 second delay.

German soldiers often carried such

grenades in satchels thrown around

their necks.

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Portable Field Telephone• Carried in a leather shoulder bag, portable

telephones were used by both sides. Observers close to enemy troops would telephone the gunners to tell them the results of their shelling and help them adjust their aim in order to hit their target. In addition to a telephone headset for verbal communication, it had a key for transmitting Morse code when the line was too noisy for speech to be heard clearly. Although the headset was portable, the telephones only worked if the telephone wires were unbroken. Also, messages were easily intercepted by the enemy.

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Mills Bomb No.5

• Designed in 1915, the British Mills

Bomb No.5 was the standard grenade

used by the British during the First

World War. Built to detonate after a 7

second delay, 75 million No.5s were

produced before the end of the war.

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Wireless Set

• Wireless sets that received and transmitted messages in Morse code were used by troops on both sides once they had moved beyond the reach of field telephone cables. By the middle of the war, due to the ease of the enemy intercepting messages, codes were developed. The French initiated the use of codes, but soon after the Germans followed. Codes were changed frequently as it be came a race for the enemy to break the code in order to decipher messages.

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Carrier Pigeons

• Often the only means of communication, pigeons were widely used to carry messages from the front to headquarters. Limited by the fact that the pigeons could only send message between points that it was trained to fly between, they were still used extensively during the war on land and at sea.

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Dog Messengers

• Used by both sides, dogs were used to

carry messages between the trenches.

Special tubes were attached to their

collars in which a message could be

stored. Trained to leap over barbed

wire, their speed and agility made them

difficult targets to hit.