A 121-MILE GUN
Just as a problem in ordnance, American officers designed a gun 225 feet long which would fire a 400-pound shell of 10-inch caliber. It was estimated that with a charge of 1,440 pounds of powder the shell would leave the muzzle with a velocity of 8,500 feet per second and, if fired at an angle of 55 degrees, would have a range of 121 miles. The shell would rise to a height of 46 miles above the earth and would make the 121 miles in about 4 minutes. The gun was never built, because its military value would in no way be commensurate with its cost of construction and operation. The purpose of the German long-range bombardment was to produce a moral rather than a military effect. The Germans hoped to intimidate the French people by this spectacular performance, and in this they failed completely.