weird weapons

[VAE VICTUS]

found some pics in book of body armour used in ww1,and then another of a shield type device used in trench warfare of ww1,and then one of a german with 8 stick grenades tied together to take out fortifications.any other instanes of strange devices in war?

[Alexanderofmacedon]

I've heard some Gaulic troops carried rope to strangle enemies because of their advantage with power.

Maybe just a rumor...

[Kraxis]

The German 'visionslit bomb'. A circular flat bomb used to shove through the visionslits of tanks. Effective enough if used, but it was fairly limited since you had to get on top of the tank.

Japanese baloonbombs. Odd weapon supposedly meant to set the great American forests alight...

[Watchman]

The Chinese would sometimes strap a barrel of gunpowder to the rear of an oxen, set the thing on fire, and drive the terrified creature out of the fortress hopefully to detonate among besiegers and their siege engines.

They also shot some pretty weird stuff from their trebuchets; molten iron or poison bombs with such highly descriptive names as "human excretement bomb"...

Winches, pulleys and cranes were often used wherever the know-how was available both by and against medieval and ancient fortifications - to lift soldiers to the battlements, for example, or conversely grab rams and similar siege engines and hoist them up, rendering them useless.

Sometime in the 1500s or so the English tried to give pikemen some firepower by tying a longbow to the pike-shaft. As one writing on combination weapons has it, "in the history of combination weapon the sword-cane represents sanity and the pike-longbow raving psychosis."
Needless to say, the experiment was unsuccesful and quickly abandoned.

[Flavius Clemens]

Story I've heard more than once, but can't guarentee accuracy of, is that in early days of the eastern front the Russians trained dogs to run under tanks by hiding food there. They then attached bombs to the dogs, triggered by a pole that would be knocked down by the tank chassis. Unfortunately as they trained them using Russian tanks, and the dogs weren't too smart... the plan was soon discontinued.

[English assassin]

I think you would have to try pretty hard to beat the Panjandrum:http://johnfowles.org.uk/nevilshute/thesecretwar/

A sort of giant rocket powered cotton bobbin thing.

[Kraxis]

Story I've heard more than once, but can't guarentee accuracy of, is that in early days of the eastern front the Russians trained dogs to run under tanks by hiding food there. They then attached bombs to the dogs, triggered by a pole that would be knocked down by the tank chassis. Unfortunately as they trained them using Russian tanks, and the dogs weren't too smart... the plan was soon discontinued.

True enough... There are plenty of pictures of such dogs and enough accounts from German troops to verify it (they despised the practice a whole lot seeing dogs as noble animals). They were not too effective as the dogs were easily killed by machineguns (they had to be fairly big dogs and they aren't too nimble or hard to detect), and they would run towards any vehicle with tracks, friend or foe.

They were trained by being starved then having food placed under tracked tractors. Before use the dogs were starved for a few days (making them even worse as they were not deployable right away) to make them properly inclined to run through a noisy and scary battlefield.

[Watchman]

The German troops developed some odd jokes regarding that. "Remember that exploding dogs are a purely Russian phenomenom. When you are on leave back home, do not shoot every dog you see just to make sure. The people around you will not be happy."

[hoom]

They don't come any weirder than Davy Crockett

[Kraxis]

They don't come any weirder than Davy Crockett

One sentence... "Portable nuclear device."

While strange I don't find it THAT strange. But it sure belongs here.

The Japanese I-400 submarine would likely fit here too. Big, heavy, slow and armed like a Corvette on the surface, it was a submarine/carrier, with six planes in storage and a catapult on the bow.

[Franconicus]

That reminds me of two other strange systems:

Before WW2 the Soviets had a big bomber (I think it was the biggest then, cannot remember its name). The problem with the strategic bombers was that the escort fighters could not protect them, because they were only short range. Russian engineers solved this problem this way. The bomber carries some fighter and releases them in case of attack.

Another strange weapon is the manned torpedo. It was developed by the German navy close to the end of WW2 to operate in the Channel or near coast. It was one torpedo for the crew (1-2men) and another torpedo attached.
Most of the manned torpedoes failed because the crew fell asleap.

[King Kurt]

That reminds me of two other strange systems:

Before WW2 the Soviets had a big bomber (I think it was the biggest then, cannot remember its name). The problem with the strategic bombers was that the escort fighters could not protect them, because they were only short range. Russian engineers solved this problem this way. The bomber carries some fighter and releases them in case of attack.

.

I believe the US did something similar with an airship and several biplane fighters attached - very Jules Verne. The germans had a system of a Me 109 on top of a Ju88 - the bomber was unmanned and packed with explosives - it was called a Mistel. The combo flew to near the target, the remote controlled Ju 88 was then detached and flown to the target - sounds great, but wasn't a sucess. - Have a look here for all permutations of Mistels - http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/V...tel/mistel.htm

There are loads of weird and wonderful german planes on http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/index.html - I recomend a look - there is even a jet powered flying wing, which looks like something from Indiana Jones!!

[Ludens]

Another strange weapon is the manned torpedo. It was developed by the German navy close to the end of WW2 to operate in the Channel or near coast. It was one torpedo for the crew (1-2men) and another torpedo attached.
Most of the manned torpedoes failed because the crew fell asleap.

I think the Italians were using something similar (a mini-sub) at the start of the war. Not a devastating succes, but IIRC they did do some damage.

The carrier-bomber sounds like a good idea, but how is the fighter supposed to get back?

[Franconicus]

The carrier-bomber sounds like a good idea, but how is the fighter supposed to get back?

They weren't!

[DemonArchangel]

That reminds me of two other strange systems:

Before WW2 the Soviets had a big bomber (I think it was the biggest then, cannot remember its name). The problem with the strategic bombers was that the escort fighters could not protect them, because they were only short range. Russian engineers solved this problem this way. The bomber carries some fighter and releases them in case of attack.

Oh that. The program was recent revived in the form of American bombers releasing UAVs that hovered over an area scanning for targets and engaging them.

[Watchman]

One of those really big American strategic bombers buzzing around in the fifties or so (don't recall the name, but it apparently has the distinction of being about the largest class of bomber the US ever deployed) also tried that fighter-carrying schtick. I think the fighter was called "Goblin" or something like that.

Somewhat related, but not all that weird as such, would be those twin-hull Mustangs. A bunch were given specially trained crews should the Cold War go hot and it become necessary to send strategic bombers deep into the USSR; these things were supposed to fly escort, and nobody had much illusions theirs would almost certainly be even more of an one-way trip than the bombers'...

[Dagobert II]

Hey all;

I have one, Archimedes' burning mirror. That dude was a genius.
Funny thing how he may have (single handedly) held back the
Romans only to be undone by a Gladius.

http://www.crystalinks.com/archimedes.html

Halfway down the page...

[Tribesman]

I think the Italians were using something similar (a mini-sub) at the start of the war. Not a devastating succes, but IIRC they did do some damage.

Some damage being with a combination of mini-subs and scuba divers they left several British Battleships sitting on the harbour bottom till they could be repaired/refloated .

One of those really big American strategic bombers buzzing around in the fifties or so (don't recall the name, but it apparently has the distinction of being about the largest class of bomber the US ever deployed) also tried that fighter-carrying schtick. I think the fighter was called "Goblin" or something like that.

Some B-36 were eqipped with parasite fighters F-85 Goblin but they were abandoned after tests , however RF-84Thundersflash (recon version of the Thunderstreak) were used as the B-36 extended the range and the trapeze gear allowed for recovery as well as launch of the aircraft

I believe the US did something similar with an airship and several biplane fighters attached
As did the British , Italians and Germans dating back to WWI .

[Uesugi Kenshin]

The Japanese had a plane in the works, though I'm not sure it was ever produced, that was capable of running under water. I believe it was supposed to get close under water and then fly up to make an air attack, I could be wrong though.

[JimBob]

If memory serves the USSR used mice to chew into the wires of German tanks during WWII, German responded by training cat battalions.

[Kongamato]

A dam-busting "bouncing bomb" was used by the British in WWII on certain German dams. It was not used much.

http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webproject...ing%20Bomb.htm

[Ja'chyra]

Didn't someone, us perhaps, try to make a floating airfield on an ice berg?

As an aside to the dog bombers, don't forget the dolphins and seals, the Germans also developed a gun that could fire round corners, having a curved barrel, designed to stop people hiding in a tanks blind spot next to the tracks.

[Franconicus]

If memory serves the USSR used mice to chew into the wires of German tanks during WWII, German responded by training cat battalions.

Weren't they trapped by those Soviet dog batallions? Man, that was a real dog fight!

[Tribesman]

Didn't someone, us perhaps, try to make a floating airfield on an ice berg?

Ice and saw-dust .

[Watchman]

I know the Brits sometime in the Fifties or so tried to build a submersible warship. Weird looking thing (imagine a cross between a destroyer and a late-war sub); presumably unworkable, given that the project was buried.

If memory serves the USSR used mice to chew into the wires of German tanks during WWII,...

Wasn't that the Germans' "the dog ate my homework"- grade excuse after Kursk ?

[English assassin]

I know the Brits sometime in the Fifties or so tried to build a submersible warship. Weird looking thing (imagine a cross between a destroyer and a late-war sub); presumably unworkable, given that the project was buried

Not in the fifities but in the first world war, you may be thinking of the K class steam powered fleet submarines, widowmakers if ever there were:

http://www.submariners.co.uk/Boats/Barrowbuilt/K_Class/

Or ossibly the M class, which were bult on K class hulls http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/m_class.htm and mounted a battleship gun in a barbette or, the X1, built in 1926 with two 5.2" guns in a turret.

The french Surcouf (inter war) also mounted a pair of cruiser caliber guns in a rotating turret.

[master of the puppets]

the belly bow, early roman bow, very large looked like a cross bow, drawn while braced against stomech and fired.

[Ludens]

the belly bow, early roman bow, very large looked like a cross bow, drawn while braced against stomech and fired.

I can't quite recall it's name (Gastra-something), but it was a Greek weapon out of the workshops of Dionysios of Syracuse. IIRC it was a primitive crossbow (the real crosbow was invented around that time in China). I don't know if it was very effective.

[Kraxis]

Didn't someone, us perhaps, try to make a floating airfield on an ice berg?

That was actually the Brits and Commonwealth... An unsinkable carrier, that would have been rather nice.

The bellybow was a Greek weapon, and 'just' a primitive crossbow.

[The Wizard]

Well, back in the day, the first heliopoleis (siege towers) were pretty damn strange weaponry!

But, with hindsight: the exaggerated form of the Turkish kiliç (now commonly known, and shown -- read: in Hollywood -- as the scimitar) and the bigger two-handed weaponry from India are pretty strange weapons.

And, oh, the staff mace from China. And those dual swords with hooks at the ends with which you could disarm your opponnent (both showcased in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).