Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
The real secret weaponry deployed throughout the ages
The Mitrailleuse
The Mitrailleuse, arguably the first ever “secret weapon” was invented in 1851 by the Belgian Army Captain Fafschamps, 10 years before the Gatling Gun would be deployed in the American Civil War.
It saw some developments and in 1866, the Reffye Mitrailleuss was rolled out in great secrecy in the French army and then deployed in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.
However, the fact the gun had been kept so secret, very few of the batteries had proper instruction as most of the commanders had no idea what the guns were, let alone how to use them in conflict.
Perhaps it's because the French lost the war, but the Mitrailleuse is hardly the first thing one thinks of at the phrase "secret weapon". Unlike its successor.
The Tank
Far more famously the tank’s development in WWI as a British Secret Weapon. While designs for the infamous land ships, armoured cars and the early gun tractors all floated around and saw some development, the tank famously remained a closely guarded secret.
Despite initially being developed by the Landships Committee. Factory workers at William Foster Factory started to refer to the prototypes as “tanks”, due to their resemblance to water tanks. The name was swiftly adapted.
This façade was built upon to further confuse the Germans. Some tanks were inscribed with 'With Care to Petrograd' on their way to the training centre at Thetford.
While the first deployment at the Somme met mixed success, it was not til' 1917 at Cambrai that over 400 tanks went 5 miles behind the German trenches.
The Type XXI
However it was the Germans who truly pioneered the idea of a 'secret' weapon as we know today. The Wunderwaffe (“Miracle Weapon”) was used extensively in German propaganda. As the war went on and German fortunes looked increasingly dire, more and more claims were made about the incoming super weapons which would turn the tide of the war.
While the V-weapons are the most famous of German secret weapons, the Type XXI submarine is one of the more striking. It was the first submarine designed to operate primarily submerged, before that most ‘submarines’ were technically submersible boats due to spending most of their time on the surface.
While the Type XXI was a failure in WWII, only 4 were completed, a mere 2 deployed on combat patrol and none saw any conflict. It did lead to developments in UK, US and USSR submarines and was even used in other country’s navies in the following navies.
If the Nazis pioneered the secret weapon as a PR project, it was The Cold War that perfected it. The dawn of the jet led to both the Americans and Russians engaging in subterfuge and technological bluffing to try and out manoeuvre the other.
And as always have a chilled day from the Viking
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