|
Sheafs |
Now let's turn away from single-gun considerations and turn to battery fire. A sheaf is the planes of fire of a group of weapons. Depending on how the weapons in the group are aimed, the pattern formed by the group may take several forms.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Parallel sheaf occurs when you aim all the weapons in the battery the same direction and angle. Disregarding dispersion, the shells will land in the same pattern as the guns are set up. This is the easiest sheaf to do since all guns use the same firing orders.
Light and medium artillery usually use parallel sheaf. This may also apply to British heavy artillery. [2]
Regular sheaf is when the shells are intended to land in a line with regular lateral spacing. This may, for instance, require the gun in the back of the battery to fire a little higher than the one in the front. This line usually runs perpendicular to the line between the guns and the target.
Open sheaf is a type of regular sheaf where the spacing is chosen so the sheaf has maximum width (given the burst area of each shell) without any gaps in between. This spacing is somewhat smaller than the width of a single shell burst to accomodate a small amount of lateral dispersion. Heavy artillery usually uses open sheaf!
Converged (or point) sheaf occurs when all the guns are corrected to hit the same point. Also known as Precision Fire. Converged fire is called for to destroy a point target, a densely-packed target, or for point interdiction (such as on a bridge or crossroads).
Preplanned barrages, which would be planned well before the start
of an operation, would be more flexible in this respect in that there
is plenty of time to do all the complex computations.
The following interesting table is taken mostly from the US manual, with some of the time numbers being derived from ROF numbers elsewhere. The first table is the statistics for a single battery of size 4 or 6 guns, with open or converged sheaf. Volleys is the number of volleys necessary to suppress troops in the area of impact, while rounds is simply Volleys times Battery Size. "Initial" gives the rate-of-fire during the first four minutes, when the guns are preloaded for the first volley, and time shows how long the guns would have to fire to put the "Rounds" figure in the air. The "Sustained" column shows longer-term fire, the ROF is greatly decreased due to ammo handling and gun cooling considerations.
| Weapon | Battery Size |
Sheaf | Area W×D (yards) |
Volleys | Rounds | Initial | Sustained | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROF | Time | ROF | Time | ||||||
| 75mm Howitzer | 4 | Converged | 50×100 | 5 | 20 | 24 | 0:50 | 10 | 2:00 |
| Open | 120×100 | 12 | 48 | 24 | 2:00 | 10 | 4:48 | ||
| 6 | Converged | 50×100 | 3 | 18 | 36 | 0:30 | 15 | 1:12 | |
| Open | 130×130 | 8 | 48 | 36 | 1:30 | 15 | 3:12 | ||
| 105mm Howitzer | 4 | Converged | 75×100 | 3 | 12 | 16 | 0:45 | 6.6 | 1:49 |
| Open | 150×100 | 6 | 24 | 16 | 1:30 | 6.6 | 3:38 | ||
| 6 | Converged | 75×100 | 2 | 12 | 24 | 0:30 | 10 | 1:12 | |
| Open | 200×130 | 6 | 36 | 24 | 1:30 | 10 | 4:48 | ||
| 155mm Howitzer | 4 | Converged | 100×100 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 1:30 | 2.7 | 4:30 |
| Open | 250×100 | 8 | 32 | 8 | 4:00 | 2.7 | 12:00 | ||
| 6 | Converged | 100×100 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 1:00 | 4 | 3:00 | |
| Open | 300×130 | 6 | 36 | 12 | 3:00 | 4 | 8:00 | ||
| 155mm Gun | 4 | Converged | 100×150 | 5 | 20 | 8 | 2:30 | 4 | 5:00 |
| Open | 250×150 | 11 | 44 | 8 | 5:30 | 4 | 11:00 | ||
| 8" Howitzer | 4 | Converged | 150×100 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 2:00 | 2 | 6:00 |
| Open | 380×100 | 7 | 28 | 6 | 4:40 | 2 | 14:00 | ||
| 8" Gun | 2 | Converged | 120×150 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 4:00 | 1.3 | 9:00 |
| Open | 230×150 | 12 | 24 | 3 | 8:00 | 1.3 | 18:00 | ||
| 240mm Howitzer | 2 | Converged | 130×150 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 4:00 | 1.3 | 9:00 |
| Open | 250×150 | 10 | 20 | 3 | 6:40 | 1.3 | 15:00 | ||
 |
 |
 |
When an entire battalion fires, the batteries can choose to put all their sheafs on the same point, or to spread their sheafs downrange so there is some or zero overlap. The following table shows the statistics for various weapons with three batteries each of four or six guns in several arrangements:
| Weapon | Pieces | Sheaf | Range Spread |
Area | Volleys | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75mm Howitzer | 12 | Converged | 100×150 | 4 | 48 | |
| Open | 0 | 150×200 | 8 | 96 | ||
| ½ | 150×250 | 9 | 108 | |||
| 1 | 150×300 | 12 | 144 | |||
| 18 | Converged | 100×150 | 3 | 54 | ||
| Open | 0 | 150×200 | 6 | 108 | ||
| ½ | 150×250 | 6 | 108 | |||
| 1 | 150×300 | 8 | 144 | |||
| 105mm Howitzer | 12 | Converged | 150×150 | 3 | 36 | |
| Open | 0 | 200×200 | 5 | 60 | ||
| ½ | 200×250 | 6 | 72 | |||
| 1 | 200×350 | 9 | 108 | |||
| 18 | Converged | 150×150 | 2 | 36 | ||
| Open | 0 | 250×200 | 4 | 72 | ||
| ½ | 250×250 | 5 | 90 | |||
| 1 | 250×350 | 7 | 126 | |||
| 155mm Howitzer | 12 | Converged | 160×150 | 2 | 24 | |
| Open | 0 | 300×200 | 5 | 60 | ||
| ½ | 300×250 | 6 | 72 | |||
| 1 | 300×350 | 9 | 108 | |||
| 18 | Converged | 160×150 | 2 | 36 | ||
| Open | 0 | 350×200 | 4 | 72 | ||
| ½ | 350×250 | 5 | 90 | |||
| 1 | 350×350 | 7 | 126 | |||
| 155mm Gun | 12 | Converged | 160×200 | 3 | 36 | |
| Open | 0 | 300×250 | 6 | 72 | ||
| ½ | 300×300 | 8 | 96 | |||
| 1 | 300×400 | 10 | 120 | |||
| 8" Howitzer | 12 | Converged | 200×150 | 2 | 24 | |
| Open | 0 | 400×200 | 5 | 60 | ||
| ½ | 400×250 | 6 | 72 | |||
| 1 | 400×350 | 9 | 108 | |||
If multiple battalions attack a target, the effect and beaten
zone is larger. The smaller areas on the following table are if
careful correction is done:
| Battalions | Weapon | Battery Size | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 105mm Howitzer | 4 | 200×250 to 250×300 |
| 6 | 300×250 to 350×300 | ||
| 2 | 155mm Howitzer | 4 | 250×250 to 300×300 |
| 6 | 350×250 to 400×300 | ||
| 3 | Mixed | 350×300 to 400×400 |
Direct laying is the term for direct fire, when the target can be seen from the piece. Self-observation is used.
When attacking a strongpoint or bunker, pinpoint fire from 2500-4000 yards can be used. Fine control of the fire is obtained by using more trial fires and possible aiming boards to get 1/4 mil deflection.
Fire at an angle greater than the elevation that produces maximum range (say, 45-50º) is high-angle fire.
Mortars effectively always use high-angle fire, and guns cannot be elevated enough for high-angle fire -- only howitzers can do both low and high-angle fire.
HE (fragmentation) shells are improved in effect when the angle of impact is high, because all the side-spray fragments are travelling parallel to the ground in a 360-degree circle, while in low-angle fire half the shrapnel is expended harmlessly in the air. Ricochet fire is not possible. Dispersion is higher than low-angle fire, since the shell is in the air much longer, so unobserved high-angle fire is avoided.
Some weapons have "gaps" for high-angle fire no combination of elevation and charge will cause the round to fall correctly. High-angle fire with delay fuze may be useful in penetrating thick jungle foliage or canopy.
High-angle fire with quick fuse is about twice as effective against personnel standing or walking in the open. [2]
A barrage is a prearranged barrier of fire designated to protect friendly troops and installations by impeding enemy movements across defensive lines or areas.
Each battery is laid on its barrage when not otherwise occupied and fires on barrage signal or call from the supported unit. The most effective barrages are the width of an open sheaf, though wider areas can be covered by shifting the entire battery or by spreading the batter and moving each gun in small increments. Unlike normal fire, barrages can easily be at any angle relative to the line-of-fire.
Artillery is sometimes used to identify targets for ground-attack aircraft, using colored smoke. Coordination must be arranged well in advance of the striking crafts' arrival on the battlefield.
Flash, sound, radar ranging, or direct observation can be used to pinpoint enemy artillery. US Radar was good only against enemy mortars and could only give rough map positions, so they were generally treated as targets of opportunity. Division and corps assets were used more often in the counterbattery role, either as part of a prearranged fire plan or as a heavy concentration of surprise fire on enemy mortars.
A battalion would be used for the initial neutralization, followed by a battery or two just to maintain it. WP and HE, in about a 1:4 ratio, were an effective combination.
TOT fire is a technique when the volleys from several units arrive on the target at the same time, for maximal surprise. Of course, it takes time to calculate the flight time and coordinate all the units, so this type of attack will be longer in setting up.
 |
 Ammunition Types |
 Target Types |
 |