Historic context :

Entering into war in 1917 at the side of France and Great Britain, the USA had acquired from their allies how important the Super Heavy Artillery on Railroad was in the modern conflict. The Naval Gun Factory therefore used existing barrels of 50 calibres 14 inches Mk IV/1 naval guns, and designed with the Baldwin Locomotive Works a specific railroad carriage on 12 wheels axis, giving birth to the '14 inches naval gun Mark I on rail carriage'. 11 such weapons were built, 5 of them only being ready soon enough to take part to the fights in France with Navy crews.

This gun was giving to its servants the very unusual comfort to be entirely protected under a shielding, and the train convoy that was hauling it was also integrating a complete small autonomous barrack for the crew, with foldable beds even on the gun wagon ! But because of the emergency design, the gun had a lot of defects : difficult maintenance, need of a specific firing position with a pit, and an incredibly heavy weight not evenly balanced on the wheels axis.

Because of this last issue, the transportation of these guns from their assembly place at the Chantiers de la Loire in Saint Nazaire to the front zone (Camp de Mailly) needed several days at the very low average speed of 8 km/hour), not avoiding anyway heavy damages to the wheels bearings. Numerous railway bridges had to be re-inforced on the route, including the ones of the heavy traffic main lines.

The railway guns were placed in firing position around Rethondes, Verdun and Nancy and stated shooting on the far targets that had been assigned to them. The last shell was fired on November 11, 1918 at 10:57 am, just 3 minutes before the armistice... The guns were then sent back to the Chantiers de la Gironde in Bordeaux in January 1919 to be repaired and disassembled, before they were sent back to the USA.

Technical data :

• Complete description : 14-inch Gun, Naval Railway Mount, Mark I
• Design year : 1917
• Calibre : 355.60 mm
• Weight in firing position : 242676 kg
• Weight for transportation :
• Tube length in calibres : 50.00
• Grooves : 0 unknown
• Projectile weight : 545 kg
• Initial speed : 853 m/s
• Fire rate :
• Range : 38000 m
• Elevation range : 0 / +43 degrees
• Direction range : 5 degrees total range