MYSTERY OBJECTS

[David Whipp]

Hmm, didn't you give us the answer to this the other day? Or have I slipped into a time-warp!!

[Marilyn]

I am pretty sure it is a tree!

[Tizer]

Yes, as David says, I get a sense of deja vu. It's the same photo of a hornbeam tree on the Keele University campus that Stanley posted a few days ago. He's blacked out the top part of the sign because they name the campus buildings after the trees.

Here's something to keep your attention...what's this and where was it located?

[plaques]

Cross Channel railway gun. WW1 Location Barlick station. Found in Stanley's treasure chest.

[Tizer]

No, no, and no! (Although anything might turn up in that treasure chest.)

[Julie in Norfolk]

The guess from Norfolk is Scapa flow. Coastal defence gun?

[Stanley]

Yes, it was the Hornbeam at Keele. Such a wonderful tree I used it in two topics.....
The gun is interesting. They have tried to address the problem of long barrels drooping (see Steam engines for same problem in long shafts) and I don't think it has a buffer recuperating system (unless it's inside the girder structure) so it's fairly early. The breech looks strange as well. In short, never seen it before and haven't the faintest idea! One thing I'm certain about, it never caught on.

[chinatyke]

The man looks comical, perhaps a circus performer. Either that or he is French. My guess is a human cannon located near Dover to return Frenchmen pre-channel tunnel era.

[Tizer]

Well done, Julie, you're right on target with your `coastal defence gun'. That was it's purpose, and Stanley is correct in saying it's `fairly early' and that it `never caught on'. China notes that the man in the photo looks comical - it's possible he was the inventor of the gun. Now, Stanley has mentioned how the gun looks strange and he's right...so, what's special about this gun?

[plaques]

The barrel is made up of sections possibly to make the cost of replacing the worn parts a bit cheaper. Also it is supported by girder frame to minimize gunners droop. The artillery men used to drink a lot of beer in those days. Most of these coastal guns were taken off clapped out warships. Whether they would ever be able to hit their target is debatable.

[Tizer]

I doubt that this gun was ever on a ship. There's something fundamentally different about it.

[chinatyke]

...so, what's special about this gun?

Italian and never used in anger.

[Tizer]

I don't think there is anything Italian about it!

[Stanley]

Does it use compressed gas instead of cordite?

[Tizer]

Stanley's bang on target with the fact that it used compressed gas. Can anyone elaborate on that? Why were such guns invented, where, when and who by? In Britain I know of only one having been installed.

[plaques]

The idea of a dynamite gun was developed by Zalinsky and the went on to be further developed by Captain Rapieff. I'd never heard of them until your posting so have a read at this Link.

[Stanley]

Fascinating.... Only reason I can think of is a shortage of cordite.

[Tizer]

Well done, Plaques...and thanks for the web link, that web site is amazing, I hadn't seen it and there is far more information than I'd found from my own search. The photo I used was given to me by Mrs Tiz who had just returned from a natural history course at the Dale Fort (Pembrokeshire) centre of the Field Studies Council. It's a picture of a Zalinski-designed gun of the type that was installed at Dale Fort in the 1890s to defend Milford Haven from enemy warships. The gun is long gone of course but the concrete base is still there together with the tunnels that housed the compressed air mechanisms (now very damp and dark, according to our intrepid OG reporter, Mrs Tiz who ventured into them!).

Incidentally, the last but one of the `guns' shown in the web page linked by Plaques is the Holman Projector which we've already covered in this OG topic: LINK

More photos from Dale Fort...


When iron-hulled warships came in we needed some way of propelling a shell containing a high explosive, such as dynamite, that could penetrate the armour...


The guns became obsolete with the invention of picric acid explosives ...


You can see the base for the gun just right of centre in this view of Dale Fort...


And this is the base today...

[Tizer]

Here's another interesting mystery object to challenge you!

[Pluggy]

Looks like a set from a 50's 'B' Sci Fi movie.......

[Stanley]

Inflatable base for an amateur's telescope.......

[Cathy]

A woman is stood on the right hand side taking a photo.
Can't think what it is, but it isn't real.

[Tizer]

I can see why you've all made those comments - when I first saw the picture I thought it must be an electronic beehive! It's claimed to be a photograph of something being demonstrated although I'd be the first to say it looks a bit suspicious and fictitious. But the `thing' itself actually existed, whether exactly like this or not. It created a lot of publicity at the time and got the attention of government, both here and abroad.

[PanBiker]

Laser Cannon?

[Tizer]

You're getting warm, but they'd probably never heard of lasers in those days.