Landships II

kapudan emir effendi · Corporal

Russo-Japanese War Maxims

Centurion · Legend

Don't have a photo of a Russian Maxim in the R-J war but the wheeled carriage was a standard Maxim product so the enclosed photo complete with Sir Hiram in person should give you a pretty good idea. Bear in mind that the wheeled carriage was only used for the first few months of the war thereafter the Russians used a low tripod mount with an armoured shield.

eugene · Field Marshal

I have some photos I will add it to my scan to do list, please be patient

eddie · Corporal

Hi, there were two types of artillery type carriages introduced before RJ war: "field" and "fortification". I guess, you have seen a picture from Port Arthur, with the "fortification" type carriage. At least one of those is preserved in the Artillery museum in StPetersburg, Russia. Some pictures of it are awailable on the Web, mostly on russian language message boards:

http://svsm.org/gallery/Maxim1900

http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/36/088054-11.html (somewere mid-page)

http://www.fortification.ru/forum/index.php?action=vthread&forum=10&topic=1148 (has a crude drawing as well).

From my part, I ll add some dimensions for it: wheels diameter and width between wheels: 42in, height of MG positionning: 38.5in (Russian term: "line of fire"). Weight without MG: 380lb.

The "field" type carriage was even bigger and heavier and seems was never used.

Rgds, Andrei

Centurion · Legend

I quote from the chapter headed Machine guns in Manchuria (Maxim and Hotchkiss) from The Superiority of Fire, a history of the rifle and machine gun, by Major C H B Pridham published 1945.

"To begin with, the Maxims - as hitherto - were mounted on carriages with high wheels of artillery pattern. To this method of mounting was accounted the exceptionally heavy losses sustained by the Russian machine gun batteries at the Battle of the Yalu River. Later on the Russians substituted a low tripod mounting with a shield, and this gave good results."

Some of the information appears to be drawn from reports by Sir Ian Hamilton who was the British Military Attache with the Japanese army. Other sources include official Russian reports and German correspondents attached to the Russian army.

kapudan emir effendi · Corporal

My great thanks to all who answered. Those links were especially useful.