36 ms·

The etymology is indeed 'spike the guns'. Usually spiking was done to prevent the enemy from seizing and using one's own ordnance, rather than an act of sabotag

The etymology is indeed 'spike the guns'. Usually spiking was done to prevent the enemy from seizing and using one's own ordnance, rather than an act of sabotage by the enemy. The 'spike' was a nail driven into the barrel, usually perpendicular to the bore. As a Cold War aside: an AP round from the A-10's GAU-8 cannon could actually spike the barrel of a T-62 tank! But whilst this was demonstrated in controlled environments it wasn't really a practical form of attack...

lifeisstillgood 13y ago
To spike a gun seems to be a rare event. Gun crews could spike a gun to prevent it being turned on their own forces, but it meant they could not reuse it either when the cavalry left (which usually meant your whole army was running away) Cavalry were supposed to carry such equipment but it seems it was rare they did, and rarer they got down off a horse in the middle of a firefight. So it's (from a minor bit of googling) looking like a tactic more honoured in the breach than the observance. Anyone else? An interesting HN-like back and forth on this subject is below: http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=233539 http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=233539 Oh and it's driving a steel wedge into the touch hole so the cannon cannot be fired - not, as seems to be implied on this amazingly tangential thread, driven into ridiculously hardened cannon walls.
- grogenaut 13y ago
  Or you know a bit of thermite on the breech block works well.
  - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
    I'm pretty sure thermite was in enter after cavalry charges stopped being a good idea (well actually as Poland infamously charged Nazi tanks, maybe not)
- arca_vorago 13y ago
  In the modern context it is standard protocol to not leave important equipment in a functioning state. So, lets say you got ambushed and there was no chance of getting a tow truck in time before being overrun, for example, you would toss a thermate incendiary on top of the radios and one on top of the engine, thus denying the enemy the use of the vehicle or the knowledge of the radio mechanisms or encryptions on it.

lifeisstillgood 13y ago

To spike a gun seems to be a rare event. Gun crews could spike a gun to prevent it being turned on their own forces, but it meant they could not reuse it either when the cavalry left (which usually meant your whole army was running away) Cavalry were supposed to carry such equipment but it seems it was rare they did, and rarer they got down off a horse in the middle of a firefight. So it's (from a minor bit of googling) looking like a tactic more honoured in the breach than the observance. Anyone else? An interesting HN-like back and forth on this subject is below: http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=233539 http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=233539 Oh and it's driving a steel wedge into the touch hole so the cannon cannot be fired - not, as seems to be implied on this amazingly tangential thread, driven into ridiculously hardened cannon walls.

grogenaut 13y ago
Or you know a bit of thermite on the breech block works well.
- lifeisstillgood 13y ago
  I'm pretty sure thermite was in enter after cavalry charges stopped being a good idea (well actually as Poland infamously charged Nazi tanks, maybe not)
arca_vorago 13y ago
In the modern context it is standard protocol to not leave important equipment in a functioning state. So, lets say you got ambushed and there was no chance of getting a tow truck in time before being overrun, for example, you would toss a thermate incendiary on top of the radios and one on top of the engine, thus denying the enemy the use of the vehicle or the knowledge of the radio mechanisms or encryptions on it.