| 翻訳と辞書 |
| Project Vitello ： ウィキペディア英語版 |
Project Vitello
Project Vitello was a military operation that transferred the 9.2-inch Mark X breech-loading gun at Spur Battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar to the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England. Project Vitello I, the first phase, entailed the dismantling of the gun by the Royal Engineers at the artillery battery and transporting it to the Gibraltar dockyard in 1981. It was then shipped to Portsmouth on a Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel. Project Vitello II, the second phase, began with the arrival of the gun in Portsmouth and involved transporting the gun to the Duxford Aerodrome. The Royal Engineers not only reassembled the gun and its mount, but also constructed a base, shell pit, and parapet, with the operation completed in 1982. The Gibraltar Gun was inaugurated that year by Sir John Grandy, Chairman of the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum.
==History==
The 9.2-inch Mark X breech-loading gun ''(pictured above)'' on display at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford Aerodrome in England originated at Spur Battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. By 1914, more than one hundred of the guns had been installed at emplacements in strategic areas across the British Empire. However, by 1981, Gibraltar's 9.2-inch guns were the only remnants of a weapon that had at one time been mounted on numerous artillery batteries. (more 9.2 inch Mk X guns survive at Oliver's Battery, on Rottnest Island, Western Australia. As of 2012, one has been restored, the other is still awaiting restoration.〔Rottnest Island#Military history〕 ) The Imperial War Museum's decision to preserve one of the weapons was based on its symbolism of Britain's links to Gibraltar since the turn of the eighteenth century, as well as its former status as the United Kingdom's most important gun for coastal defence.
Following the explosion of one of the 38-ton guns aboard on 2 January 1879, a Committee on Ordnance was established to evaluate the United Kingdom's artillery and its future. The committee was to consider "the question of breech-loading guns and such other questions as may be brought before it." The British Admiralty wanted a gun similar to one that was manufactured by Friedrich Krupp AG in Essen, Germany. The rifled breech-loading gun that resulted was an improvement over traditional rifled muzzle-loading weapons. The 9.2-inch breech-loading weapon was initially a naval gun, but was selected for use in coastal defence, the purpose of which was protection of naval bases, harbours, and ports, as well as prevention of invasion. In the late nineteenth century, torpedo boats and larger enemy vessels clad in iron posed a major threat to coastal countries, including those of the British Empire. Smaller guns were mounted to handle torpedo boats. However, the 9.2-inch guns were selected to deal with hostile warships and their long-range attacks. While the weapons on warships were more powerful, coastal defence positions had the advantage of firing from a stable base. The 9.2-inch gun retained its importance in British coastal defence for more than fifty years, until the mid-twentieth century. However, in 1956, Coast Defence was eliminated as a separate branch of the military. Although the 9.2-inch guns were still the primary coastal defence weapon, the decision had been made that planes and guided missiles were more effective in addressing invasion of a country or long-range attacks.〔
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
■ウィキペディアで「Project Vitello」の詳細全文を読む
スポンサード リンク
| 翻訳と辞書 : 翻訳のためのインターネットリソース |
Copyright(C) kotoba.ne.jp 1997-2016. All Rights Reserved.
|
|