Monster Mortar

The Monster Mortar was ordered by the Belgian Minister of War Baron Evain. Conceived by the French artillery officer Henri-Joseph Paixhans, the {{convert|24|in}} caliber mortar was cast at the Belgian royal foundry of Cannons in 1832 in Liège, Belgium.

French contemporary sources report that the Monster Mortar had a caliber of 22 inches. Before the adoption of the metric system, several European countries had customary units whose name translates into "inch". The French pouce measured 27.88 mm, at least when applied to describe the calibre of artillery pieces (see also: Units of measurement in France and Mesures usuelles). 22 French inches are equivalent to 24 English inches. Thus the caliber was about 610mm.

In some sources it is stated that the Monster Mortar had a caliber of 36 French inches or 975mm. This is apparently false, with the true caliber being 610mm.Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Vol. 14, Leipzig 1908, p. 160: [http://www.zeno.org/Meyers-1905/A/M%C3%B6rser "Mörser"]: caliber of 61 cm The misunderstanding might stem from the fact that the outer diameter of the barrel was 1 meter, also about 975mm or 36 French inches. Thus it might be that on some sources, the outer barrel diameter of 36 French inches has been mixed with the caliber of 22 French inches (naturally "caliber" means the internal diameter of the barrel aperture).Journal des Sciences Militaires, 2nd series, Vol. 22, Paris 1838: caliber of 22 pouces = 59,6 cm (p. 49); outer diameter of the barrel: 1 m (p. 54)

Next to the Monster Mortar, the largest mortars ever developed were two {{convert|36|in|mm|sigfig=3}} caliber mortars: Mallet's Mortar, designed by Robert Mallet and tested by the Woolwich Arsenal, London, in 1857; and "Little David" developed in the United States for use in World War II. These mortars never saw action.{{cite web| url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?id=46267| title=Largest Mortar| work=Guinness World Records| access-date=2006-04-04 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060210055938/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?id=46267 |archive-date = 2006-02-10}}

The Belgian Revolution that began in August 1830 led to the secession of the southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The Dutch king William I intended to suppress the Belgian Revolution{{sfn|Pirenne|1948|p=32}} by invading Belgium on 2 August 1831. Over the course of the next few days Belgian forces were defeated several times in battle and Dutch troops advanced deep into Belgian territory until, on 8{{nbsp}}August, the Belgian government appealed to France for support. Following the Ten Days' Campaign of the French Armée du Nord under Marshal Étienne Gérard, the Dutch troops started to withdraw. The King of the Netherlands ordered the Dutch General David Hendrik Chassé to hold the Citadel of Antwerp at all costs with 4500 men.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectie.legermuseum.nl/sites/strategion/contents/i004551/arma17%20het%20beleg%20van%20de%20citadel%20van%20antwerpen%20in%201832.pdf|title=Het beleg van de Citadel van Antwerpen in 1832|trans-title=The Siege of the Citadel of Antwerp in 1832|author=Koninklijk Nederlands Legermuseum|authorlink=Legermuseum|language=Dutch|year=2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724160359/http://www.collectie.legermuseum.nl/sites/strategion/contents/i004551/arma17%20het%20beleg%20van%20de%20citadel%20van%20antwerpen%20in%201832.pdf|archive-date=24 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}

File:Wiki Loves Art - Bruxelles - Musée royal de l'armée et de l'histoire militaire - extérieur (19).jpg, Brussels]]

From the citadel, Chassé bombarded the city of Antwerp, setting fire to hundreds of homes and causing many casualties among the civilian population. These events led to the second intervention by the French. On 15{{nbsp}}November 1832, the French Armée du Nord and its siege specialist François Haxo began to lay the Dutch troops under siege, quickly occupying Fort Montebello situated to the east of the citadel and to the south of the city from which they started firing at the citadel.{{cite journal|title=The siege of the citadel of Antwerp. The surrender|journal=The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser|date=21 May 1833|page=3|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2212106#pstart497852}}

The "Monster Mortar" saw action on 21 December and 22 December 1832 but was abandoned in Fort Montebello soon after.{{sfn|Martin de Brettes|Corréard|1856|page=44}} The "Monster Mortar" fired about 15 rounds during 21 and 22 December. The mortar used during the Siege of Antwerp exploded during a test firing on 18 May 1833 in Brasschaat, near Antwerp.{{cite news|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6393888f/f13.image|language= French|journal=Le Voleur illustré: Cabinet de lecture universel| title=Faits curieux, variétés|date=25 June 1833|issn=2022-4966|page=557}} This mortar was apparently later repaired as a photograph of it in display in a museum in Brussels exists. A second monster mortar was manufactured in Liège in 1834.{{cite book|language= French|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5786118s/f208.image|year=1849|chapter=Mortier|page= 3725|title=Dictionnaire de l'armée de terre — Recherches historiques sur l'art et les usages militaires des anciens et des modernes|volume=12|last=Bardin|first=B.}} It is currently (2024) sitting outside Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History.

• List of heavy mortars
• List of the largest cannon by caliber

;Notes

{{reflist|30em}}

;Bibliography

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite journal|title=The Siege of Antwerp in 1832|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQwcAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA365|journal=The United Service Magazine|year=1833|pages=289–392|ref={{harvid|United Service Magazine|1833}}}}
• {{cite book|last1=Martin de Brettes|first1=Jean Baptiste |last2= Corréard|first2=J.|title=Recueil des bouches à feu les plus remarquables depuis l'origine de la poudre à canon jusqu'à nos jours|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYhRAAAAYAAJ|year=1856|language=French|pages=44–45|chapter=Mortier Monstre}}
• {{cite book|last=Pirenne|first=Henri|authorlink=Henri Pirenne|title=Histoire de Belgique|volume=VII: De la Révolution de 1830 à la Guerre de 1914|edition=2nd|publisher=Maurice Lamertin|location=Brussels|year=1948}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|60em}}

• {{cite book|title=The Mechanics' Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette|url=https://archive.org/details/mechanicsmagazi31unkngoog|year=1833|publisher=M. Salmon|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mechanicsmagazi31unkngoog/page/n392 374]–375|chapter=The Monster Mortar of Antwerp}}
• {{cite book|last=Meyer|first=Hermann Julius |title=Meyers Konversations-Lexikon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jk4oAAAAYAAJ|year=1908|publisher=Bibliographisches Institut|chapter=Mörser|volume=18|location=Leipzig|page=160|quote=Der Paixhanssche M. (mortier-monstre, Lüttich) von 1832 wog 155 Ztr. und hatte 60 cm Seelendurchmesser; die Bombe wog 10 3/4 Ztr. einschließlich 1 Ztr. Sprengladung.|language=German}}
• {{cite book|last=van Neck|first=Léon |title=1830 illustré: avant, pendant et après la révolution|url=https://archive.org/stream/illustravantpen00neckgoog#page/n163/mode/2up|year=1905|publisher=O. Lamberty|pages=159|language=French}}
• {{cite book|last=Wille|first=Richard |title=Les canons géants du Moyen Âge et des temps modernes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgRYHQAACAAJ|year=1872|publisher=Ch. Tanera|location=Paris|chapter=Les canons obusier|language=French|pages=37–38}}
• {{cite book|author=Chevalier de Richemont|title=Siège de la citadelle d'Anvers, par l'armée française, sous les ordres du maréchal comte Gérard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkWt6zEhpBoC&pg=PA151|year=1833|page=151|language=French}}
• {{cite book|last=Oppelt|first=Gustave |title=Histoire générale et chronologique de la Belgique, de 1830 à 1860, avec une introduction remontant aux événements de 1787|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivdCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA870|year=1861|publisher=M. Hayez|page=870|language=French}}
• {{cite book|last=Paixhans|first=H. J. |authorlink=Henri-Joseph Paixhans|chapter=Note N sur un mortier extraordinaire |title=Constitution militaire de la France|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ZmDVhIibRvQC|year=1849|publisher=J. Dumaine|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ZmDVhIibRvQC/page/n295 282]|language=French}}
• {{cite book|last=Roche|first=M|title=Journal des sciences militaires|chapter=Notice sur le tir du mortier Paixhans de vingt deux pouces employé au siège d'Anvers |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-txyCQnVJUAC&pg=PA123|year=1833|publisher=R. Chapelot|pages=125|language=French}}
• {{cite book|last=Raffet |first= Auguste |authorlink=Auguste Raffet|title=Dessins faits d'après nature au siège de la citadelle d'Anvers|location=Paris|publisher=Gihaut frères|year=1833|oclc=185393756|language=French}}
• {{cite journal|title=The Military Organization of Belgium |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQwcAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA8|journal=The United Service Magazine|year=1833|pages=8–20}}

{{refend}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

Category:Mortars of Belgium