Note the monstrous recoil cylinders, which give it an incredibly aggressive appearance! Now, at first I thought it might have been another type of 400-mm obusier. The carriage looks the same, only the recoil cylinders are different. The most common type (as photographed, and drawn and modelled by Arie D) is here:
However, the barrel of the mysterious monster appears even fatter than the usual 400-mm gun - or is it just perspective?
Then I thought maybe it's the Schneider 520-mm obusier, but, again, it doesn't look like that either:
So what is it? I'm inclined to think that it's another type of 400-mm obusier, but I am, as ever, open to suggestions...
Maybe you could give Jon H some help with his French artillery posts...?
I was thinking about that. I wanted to post about that book anyway, since it is part two of two volumes, and I can't find part one anywhere! To be continued...
Les Materiels de l'Armee Française 1940 Tome 2 draws a blank on this one. As the title suggests it deals with the French Army of 1940, and this type obviously was no longer in use then...
Yes, I know how to suck eggs, but I drew a blank there too. I'll post my question in a separate post to see if anyone can help.
It is my understanding that your photo shows the single US 16 inch RR Howitzer prototype. The "Defeating the Hun" website has some info about it, and I found the photo below in one of my old books:
Excellent detective work, Jon, thanks! Magnificent photo, too. It looks very much like the French 400-mm mount. Maybe I shouldn't be too surprised, the Americans do seem to have used a few French carriages (or at least French designs).
Anyway, I can scratch that off my French railway gun list...