Prussian Naval Howitzer: "Vulcan"

The development of the Vulcan-class Naval Howitzer was publicly-ridiculed by Imperial Admiralty commanders. Senior figures expressed their doubts to the Press that it could ever be safely fired without the recoil sinking the vessel, and some voiced opinion that perhaps the Kaiser, or "Little Willie" as they christened him, was attempting to compensate for a personal deficiency elsewhere.

In private however, Naval Chiefs were concerned. The Vulcan represented a massive leap forward in Prussian naval engineering for although the vessels were very slow and handled rough seas poorly, their formidable armament could deliver a devastating bombardment. The Vulcan's 48" howitzer could drop Nitroglycerine shells on targets over 18 miles away. This far outstripped the range of even the most powerful Imperial guns.

Despite Admiralty fears, the Vulcans never proved to be a serious threat. There were only ever eight Vulcan vessels commisioned. Their numbers were limited partly due to the enormous cost of forging the gun barrels, but mostly because even one firing of the gun deafened the entire crew of the craft, resulting in few sailors being willing to serve on board.

Interested readers are invited to view more images of this vessel here.

The Arctic Expeditionary Force

The photograph above shows one of the light artillery support vehicles of the Imperial Arctic Expeditionary Force. In 1877 these troops were sent to the island of Svalbard to support the Kingdom of Norway in their increasingly-fractious territorial disagreements with the Russian Empire.

Russian submersibles had, five years previously, planted the double-headed eagle flag on the seabed beneath the Arctic ice, ostensibly claiming the entire Arctic Ocean as their sovereign territory. Naturally, the Norwegians objected strongly to this claim, and the area around the islands of Svalbard and Novaya Zemelya became the scene for a high-stakes game of political gamesmanship and military maneuvre.

Imperial commanders were reluctant to become involved, convinced they could do little to assist; the Imperial Navy was ill-suited to the ice-clogged waters and the Royal Aeronautic Corps could not fly dirigibles in the frigid and stormy skies. However, following a direct appeal to the Queen, Imperial military chiefs were instructed to do all they could to support the Norwegians.

The following summer, the Arctic Expeditionary Force left harbour and sailed for Svalbard. Despite the Force never seeing any action, this open show of support from the Empire was to give the Romanov dynasty pause for thought. The brief hiatus in Russian operations allowed the Norwegians to properly arrange their defence forces, albeit for a conflict that never materialised. Russian plans for territorial expansion were to be forgotten in the chaos of Revolution only a few years later.

In truth, the Arctic Expeditionary Force was woefully ill-equipped. Most commentators agree that if conflict with Russian forces had ensued on Svalbard, Imperial troops would have been quickly overwhelmed. This was an Imperial bluff that could have proved an embarassing defeat.

Further photographic images of this vehicle may be viewed here.

Mobile Howitzer "Wasp"

Bismarck's determination to secure Prussia's "place in the sun" was to see the Great Powers engage in a constant struggle for influence and colonial power in Africa.

From 1831 onwards, Prussian troops were being sent deep into the African interior, often on the pretext of helping native leaders resist the oppression of other European nations.

Although never breaking out into open conflict, strained relations between Prussia and the Empire in Colonial Africa were played out over a constant background of small-scale raids across poorly-defined borders.

The ill-fated Prussian occupation of the Tanganyika Territory in 1863 was to see the attempted use of self-propelled artillery by Prussian forces. Whilst these mobile units had won themselves a formidable reputation on the battlefields of Europe (earning the affectionate nickname "The Kaiser's Wasps" amongst Prussian troops) they were to prove unreliable at best in the heat and damp of the African rainforest.

Howitzer pilots were forced to become adept mechanics as well as drivers and gunners, resulting in the typical ill-temper displayed in this photographic image taken at the time. More photographs, some in colour, may be seen here.

Mobile Mortars of the Transvaal Free State

The elephant-mounted mobile mortars of the Transvaal Free State were employed to devastating effect against Imperial troops during the early engagements of the Second Transvaal War in 1899.

The guerilla fighters of the Transvaal would strike at supply convoys and camps in short, sharp raids whilst avoiding traditional mass engagements with Imperial forces. The elephant mortars were loaded with shells designed to scatter shrapnel over a large area, killing few but injuring many. In the hot, fetid conditions these injuries would quickly become infected, and the resulting numbers of incapacitated troops threatened to overwhelm the limited Imperial hospital provision.

Following his succesful defence of the town of Mafeking, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell was charged by Imperial Army Command with responsibility for ending the Transvaal elephant threat by any means possible. Baden-Powell was to pioneer the use of 'defoliant tactics' where forested areas believed likely to harbour guerillas would be subject to aerial bombardment with incendiary chemical mixtures. Whilst resulting in the unfortunate extermination of much of the region's wildlife, this aggressive 'scorched earth' strategy quickly neutralised the Transvaal elephant menace.

Without mortar support, the Free State troops became much less effective at disrupting Imperial movements and supplies, and although a limited insurgency continued to cause order issues throughout Southern Africa for years, the Second Transvaal War was effectively over. Victory in the conflict ensured Imperial control of the massive Cavorite mines of Witwatersrand, at the time the largest deposits of the mineral to have been identified.

A collection of further photographic images, many of them reproduced in full colour, may be viewed here.