Disappearing gun

Common card · No. 376750

A disappearing gun, which is a gun mounted on a disappearing carriage, is an obsolete type of artillery which enabled a gun to be hidden from direct fire and observation. The overwhelming majority of such carriage designs enabled the gun to retract backwards and down after it was fired, thus placing it behind a parapet or into a pit protected by a wall. A small number were simply barbette mounts on a retractable platform. Either way, retraction lowered the gun from view and protected it from direct fire by the enemy while it was being reloaded. This design also made reloading easier, since it lowered the breech to a level just above the loading platform; shells could be rolled right up to the open breech for loading and ramming. Other benefits over non-disappearing types were a higher rate of repetitive fire and less fatigue for the gun crew. Some disappearing carriages were complicated mechanisms, protection from aircraft observation and attack was difficult, and almost all restricted...

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