Little David 36-inch Siege Mortar

Little David was the nickname of an American 36 inch (914 mm) caliber mortar used for test firing bombs during World War II. Towards the end of the war it was modified to serve as a siege mortar, as it was expected that the US forces would encounter extremely strong fortifications during the invasion of Japan. Because Japan surrendered, the invasion was unnecessary and Little David was never used in combat. Little David is still one of the artillery pieces with the largest caliber in history, beating even the German 800 mm supergun Schwerer Gustav (although it is equalled by the 19th century French Monster and British Mallet's mortars). The mortar was to be transported by two artillery tractors, making it more mobile than a railway gun. Its potential effectiveness was questionable because of its limited range and accuracy.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Little
• David
• 36
• inch
• Siege
• Mortar

[stefanmckinley]

limmited acuracy? who cares when you got a 30 foot crater! Tunnel colapes would be more effective on underground fortifications than actual hits anyway!

[TylerFknMetal]

holy shit...holy shit holy shit holy shit!!

That's wonderful

[beardo52]

Little David was built as a bomb throwing mortar, a test gun used in arial bomb development, as the cost of dropping so many single bombs by plane was too expensive, and consumed resources needed elsewhere. Its use as regular artillery was an afterthought.

[redreaper2020]

made in america.

[MrHEILDEMFUHRER1]

@MrDragonator DORA 800 mm l david 914mm . u fault

[SebasRabet]

@MrDragonator dora is 800mm this one is 916mm, dora is bigger because it was created earlier and technology wasen't as far as when this boy was build. I guess, and dora was just propaganda,

[MrDragonator]

Dora is bigger

[cuntylishus]

Chuck Norris can duel-wield these

[G777GUN]

@Venatorial

Both would be better, qaulity and qauntity.

[Venatorial]

@G777GUN i would still say... quantity over quality... remember wat happened on the german east front when the russian war machine grinded into gear? yep, the germans got run over by massive soviet armies ( superior in numbers )... historical proof that quantity isn't bad.. but it's based on the type of engagement to say if quantity or quality is the better choice

[G777GUN]

@stefanmckinley

"Quantity over (expensive) quality." You need quality in a war. If Little Davids accuracy was bad even at short ranges then why would you want quantity of these things. Im not saying id rather have Gustav all though it would do a better job and less likly to be destroyed because it shoots long range. Gustav is expensive and long time to make but extremly destructive. Little David is cheap and can be made in large qauntity but fragile and not so affective at even short range.

[stefanmckinley]

@G777GUN your still not listening. It's a logistics problem, not an engineering problem. If you would like I have a list of suggested reading on logistics.