Service
The wheels were removed and the sMW was then placed in a pit or trench at least 1.5 meters deep, protecting the mortar and its crew. Despite the extremely short range, the sMW proved to be very effective as its massive shells that were almost as effective penetrating fortifications as the largest siege guns in the German inventory, including the 42 cm Dicke Bertha (Big Bertha), a howitzer that was more than 50 times heavier than the sMW. The effectiveness of the sMW is indicated by the number in service which increased from 44 when the war broke out, to 1,234 at its end. In 1916 a new version with a longer barrel was put into production. The new mortar was designated 25 cm schwerer Minenwerfer neuer Art (German for "new pattern"), which was abbreviated as 25 cm Smw n/A. The older, short-barrel model was then designated as 25 cm Smw a/A (alter Art)(German for " old pattern." It is unclear what benefit this change had over the older version.
Note: The data for this weapon differs between sources and cannot be considered definitive.
Data provided has generally been for an a/A mortar as given at the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.
Read more about this topic: 25 Cm Schwerer Minenwerfer
Famous quotes containing the word service:
“The gods’ service is tolerable, man’s intolerable.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)
“Barnard’s greatest war service ... was the continuance of full-scale instruction in the liberal arts ... It was Barnard’s responsibility to keep alive in the minds of young people the great liberal tradition of the past and the study of philosophy, of history, of Greek.”
—Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve (1877–1965)
“You had to face your ends when young
‘Twas wine or women, or some curse
But never made a poorer song
That you might have a heavier purse,
Nor gave loud service to a cause
That you might have a troop of friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)