h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Mortar - A847785
Author: Two Bit Trigger Pumping Moron - U35376

Why not?

I just sat down and wrote this over the last thirty minutes. It reminds me of simpler times when all I had to do was hold back the red hordes in Korea and I didn't have to worry about bills.

Mortars are actually kind of fun to use and shoot.

I probably need to add some more historical stuff. Mortars were used as coastal artillery platforms in the 19th century, and I might add a bit about that.

Hi, Two-Bit!

I haven't time to give this a thorough read at the moment, but one thng that struck me is the title - I think you should change it to 'Mortars'. When I saw 'Mortar' used in the singular, I thought it was going to be about the stuff used to stick bricks together
I hope I'll have time to give a proper review at the weekend...

Azara

Hi Two Bit,

Nice entry albeit from an American perceptive. I just had to comment from a British perspective.

“Mortar sections (generally consisting of three guns) are set up with the assistance of surveying equipment. “

In the British Army there are two weapons per section and they are called tubes. Makes sense really as a mortar barrel is simply a smooth bore tube blocked of at one end, clamped to a bi-pod and the blocked in end socketed into a base plate.

Set up in the British Army is done with nothing more complicated than a map an a compass and is just as accurate, the mortar sight itself performing functions similar to a surveyors sight. Takes about five minutes as apposed the half hour it takes the US Army with their surveying equipment. A whole platoon of six tubes can be set up in less than fifteen minutes using this method. Makes a difference when your buddies up front are getting hell waiting for some fire support.

Regards

Stuart
Ex MFC
(Mortar Fire Controller)

Give me info and I'll add it. My writing is biased by the fact that I was mechanized infantry. My expierence is with track mounted (although we did dismount them from time to time) rifled mortars.

I don't recall it taking 30 minutes to set up a section or even an entire platoon.

Why not just call the article 'American Track-Mounted Rifled Mortars?'

Hey, Two-Bit! Good job here. I see some things that would make this article easier to read.

'They are also simple to make easy to use.'
Insert an 'and' between 'make' and 'easy.'

'The most commonly use explosive rounds,'
I'm guessing you mean 'The most common use explosive rounds,'

"The truth is that mortars are noisy as any other explosion that goes off right next to you.'

Should be 'are as noisy'

'The 60mm mortar is a small mortar organic to light infantry companies.'

This is one example of the usage of 'organic' that I'm not understanding.

Best of luck - I look forward to seeing the finished product.

My idea was to have a generic entry on mortars, and then I listed the mortars that the American Army currently use. The 4.2 inch mortar is the only one that I'm aware of that was rifled.

' reign' fire? I think thie id a freudian slip. It should be 'rain' fire.

What does the last sentence mean 2Bit/ Or is it a prompt to put something else in/

Yeah... ME ...

OK, sorry, I served exactly one week at the ''''glorious'''' Brazilian Army... My mother in-law was a lieutenent in the Red-Army or better ...

Cool Entry, are you going to write more (I mean, there were some suggestions up there in the backlog)?

Later,

HELL

I liked it too...

Another small typo in addition to 'reign fire' was 'ammo barer' where you meant 'ammo bearer' I reckon.

Nice entry.

Isn't the potato cannon another form of mortar?

I pulled this from Peer Review. I need to do a few fairly minor things to it. I'm not likely to do much with it until I feel better.

When you say you want some history (post 1), do you want to go back to a cave in 12th Century China, saltpetre and the evolution of the French bombard? That might be a whole new topic for you.

DMT

I was just thinking of different uses of mortatrs throughout history. Some of the things that stand out in my mind is the use of mrtars in the 1800s and their development in the 20th Century.