William Norfolk of San Pedro, California is an inventor who has focused his energies on military tasks. And, perhaps, it was not his fault that his ideas were too non-standard and difficult to implement. His first invention was a system for "catching" enemy mines, torpedoes and even entire ships. The other was the Trench Artillery, which resembled the British Cultivator # 6 (underground assault vehicle) invented twenty-five years later.
But today we are talking only about one of the components of the "Trench Artillery", namely the "Enfilading Machine" (Canadian patent CA174919). If we are to make comparisons, as with the British "Cultivator", then the "Enfilading Machine" is undoubtedly the predecessor of the famous "Great Panjandrum".
And, although the principle of the unmanned wheel is common to them, further comparison is not in favor of the "Great Panjandrum" - the "Enfilading Machine" is much more complicated. It's not just a barrel full of explosives on two rocket wheels, but a whole system. It consists of a pair of traction wheels, between which a frame is installed, with a longitudinal wheel for balance. An electric motor for moving the machine forward, provided power to the axle and wheels, respectively.
Drawing * Enfilading Machine * (right side). US patent 1227487 from 1916. Note the circles around the circle - these are barrels for charges.
A pair of concentric circles were installed along the rim of each wheel, each of which consisted of 64 tubular chambers. These 128 chambers were short barrels for charges firing perpendicular to the direction of travel of the wheel. Considering the two sides, we get 256 shots. The ignition was electric and triggered by a timer.
Cross Section * Enfilading Machine *. Rectangular launch chambers are visible for pairs of spherical bombs fired from each side.
But that's not all. The "Enfilading Machine" armament is in the form of spherical exploding bombs mounted in recesses on the outer surface of each wheel, 24 on each side. Each such "shell" could shoot back and explode. This was also controlled by a timer. It turns out that it was possible to set a target, and already there, blow up all the bombs, causing damage to the enemy. Norfolk got such a remote weapon.
The concept of this invention was not fundamentally bad, but the implementation of the idea was completely impracticable. The machine was too complex, carried too many weapons, had too many working parts and mechanisms for disposable weapons. The Enfilading Machine was too narrow and could fall on its side anywhere but a perfectly flat surface.
Promotional video:
* Enfilading Machine * The Norfolk attacks a fragile barbed wire fence. Of course, barbed wire is wound more and more densely, and not on such a fence. Norfolk clearly didn't know something.
However, this mechanism should not be simply written off as insane. Yet for 1915-16 it gave an interesting insight into one of the possible solutions to the problems of trench warfare. And, in a way, this idea is less crazy than some of the official projects. Although, to put it bluntly, no such machine was built: much more reasonable and thoughtful ideas won.