Today we will tell you about the largest in the world, which was created during the Second World War - we will talk about the unique super-heavy railway artillery gun of the German army called "Dora".
If you are well acquainted with history, then you probably remember that after the First World German artillery it was almost impossible - the reason for this was the Treaty of Versailles, according to which Germany was forbidden to have a gun whose caliber exceeded 150 mm. The Nazi leaders felt that it was necessary to create a new large-caliber weapons, which would overshadow all that exist in the world - this, among other things, would help raise the prestige of Germany in the eyes of other states.
During his next visit to the Krupp plant in 1936, Hitler, at a meeting with the leadership, demanded the creation of a new super-powerful weapon that could easily destroy the French and Belgian border posts. Its maximum range was to reach about 45 kilometers, and the projectile itself could penetrate a 30-meter layer of soil, 7 m of concrete or 1 m of armor. The project was completed in 1937 and at the same time an order was placed for its manufacture at the Krupp plant. In 1941, the first gun was built, which it was decided to call "Dora" - in honor of the wife of the wife of the chief designer. A few months later, a second gun was created (it was much smaller than the first), the name of which was given in honor of the director of the plant - "Fat Gustav". In total, it took Germany more than 10 million Reichsmarks to create weapons, some of which was used to create a third weapon. It, however, was never completed.
Some characteristics of the Dora: length - 47.3 m, width - 7.1 m, height - 11.6 m, barrel length - 32.5 m, weight - 1350 tons. In order to prepare the weapon for battle, about 250 people and 2500 additional personnel were used, who did this in 54 hours. The weight of one projectile is 4.8 tons (high-explosive) or 7 tons (concrete-piercing), caliber - 807 mm. The number of shots - no more than 14 per day, maximum speed projectile - 720 m / s (concrete-piercing) or 820 m / s (high-explosive), effective range- up to 48 kilometers, depending on the projectile.
In order to deliver the Dora to one place or another, several locomotives were used (for example, it was brought to Sevastopol on five trains in 106 wagons). At the same time, all the necessary personnel barely fit in 43 wagons. Interestingly, in normal times, only a couple of thousand people were enough to serve the Dora, but during the war this figure increased at least twice.
One of the most famous uses of "Dora" - near Sevastopol. The Germans transported the gun to the Crimea. There, a firing position was chosen near the village of Duvankoy. The assembly of the gun and its preparation for firing took the staff about 6 weeks. She fired her first projectile (concrete-piercing) on June 5 in the northern part of Sevastopol. Unfortunately for the Germans, the attack did not have the effect that the Nazis expected - for all the time only one successful hit was recorded, which caused the explosion of one of the ammunition depots. At the same time, the damage from the gun could be colossal, but only if the projectile hit exactly on target, which did not happen. But in order to set an exact target, it was necessary to keep the Dora practically near the city itself, which the Germans could not afford. In total, the shelling lasted 13 days, during which 53 shells were fired. Then the gun was dismantled and transported to Leningrad.
In 1945, American troops, while passing through the forests near the town of Auerbach, stumbled upon the remains of a huge metal structure, which was damaged by an explosion. A little further they found two trunks of incredible size. After questioning the prisoners of war, it turned out that these were the remains of "Dora" and "Gustav". After the investigation was completed, the remains of the guns were sent to be melted down.
The Germans called the female name "Dora" the most giant cannon Second World War. This artillery system with a caliber of 80 centimeters was so huge that it moved only along railway. She traveled half of Europe and left an ambiguous opinion about herself.
Dora was developed in the late 1930s at the Krupp plant in Essen. The main task of the super-powerful gun is the destruction of the forts of the French Maginot Line during the siege. At that time, these were the strongest fortifications that existed in the world.
"Dora" could fire shells weighing 7 tons at a distance of up to 47 kilometers. The fully assembled "Dora" weighed about 1350 tons. The Germans developed it powerful weapon when preparing for the battle for France. But when the fighting began in 1940, the biggest gun of World War II was not yet ready. In any case, the Blitzkrieg tactics allowed the Germans to capture Belgium and France in just 40 days, bypassing the Maginot defensive line. This forced the French to surrender with minimal resistance and the fortifications did not have to be stormed.
"Dora" was deployed later, during the war in the East, in the Soviet Union. It was used during the siege of Sevastopol for shelling coastal batteries who heroically defended the city. The preparation of the gun from the traveling position for firing took a week and a half. In addition to the direct calculation of 500 people, a security battalion, a transport battalion, two trains for the transport of ammunition were involved, anti-aircraft division, as well as its military police and field bakery.
A German gun as high as a four-story house and 42 meters long fired up to 14 times a day concrete-piercing and high-explosive shells. To push out the largest projectile in the world, a charge of 2 tons of explosives was needed.
It is believed that in June 1942, "Dora" fired 48 shots at Sevastopol. But due to the long distance to the target, only a few hits were obtained. In addition, heavy blanks, if they did not hit the concrete armor, went into the ground for 20-30 meters, where their explosion did not cause much damage. The supergun did not show the results that the Germans had hoped for, having “swollen” a lot of money into this ambitious miracle weapon.
When the resource of the barrel came out, the gun was taken to the rear. It was planned to use it under besieged Leningrad after repairs, but this was prevented by the deblockade of the city by our troops. Then the supergun was taken through Poland to Bavaria, where in April 1945 it was blown up so that it would not become a trophy for the Americans.
In the XIX-XX centuries. there were only two weapons, with large caliber(90 cm for both): British mortar Mallet and American Little David. But "Dora" and the same type "Gustav" (who did not take part in the hostilities) were artillery largest caliber who took part in the battles. It is also the largest self-propelled units ever built. Nevertheless, these 800 mm guns went down in history as "a completely useless work of art."
The Third Reich developed many interesting and unusual projects"Wonder Weapon" For example, .
Most advanced self-propelled gun: Self-propelled howitzer PZH 2000
Country: Germany
designed: 1998
Caliber: 155 mm
Weight: 55.73t
Barrel length: 8.06 m
Rate of fire: 10 rds / min
Range: up to 56,000 m
The mysterious letters PZH in the name of a self-propelled howitzer, which is considered today the most advanced mass-produced self-propelled systems, are deciphered simply and in a businesslike way: Panzerhaubitze (armored howitzer).
If you do not take into account exotics like the Paris Cannon or the experimental US-Canadian HARP gun, which threw shells to a height of 180 km, then the PZH 2000 holds the world record for firing range - 56 km. True, this result was achieved during test firing at South Africa, where a special V-LAP projectile was used, using not only the energy of powder gases in the barrel, but also its own jet thrust. AT " ordinary life» firing range German self-propelled guns is within 30-50 km, which approximately corresponds to the parameters of the Soviet heavy 203-mm self-propelled howitzer 2S7 "Pion".
Of course, according to the parameters of the rate of fire, "Peony" up to PZH 2000 as before the Moon - 2.5 rds / min against 10. On the other hand, the "classmate" German howitzer- modern "Msta-S" with 7-8 rounds per minute looks quite good, although it is inferior in firing range.
Tool designed German company Krauss-Maffeu Wegmann in the framework of the so-called Joint Memorandum of Understanding in the field of ballistics concluded between Italy, Great Britain and Germany. The self-propelled gun is equipped with a 155-mm L52 gun manufactured by Rheinmetall Corporation. The 8-meter (52 caliber) barrel is chrome-plated along the entire length and is equipped with a muzzle brake, as well as an ejector. The guidance drive is electric, the loading is automatic, which ensures a high rate of fire. The machine uses a multi-fuel diesel engine MTU-881 with a hydromechanical transmission HSWL. Motor power - 986 hp The PZH2000 has a range of 420 km and can travel at a maximum speed of 60 km/h on roads and 45 km/h on rough terrain.
Luckily, big wars, where, like the PZH 2000, there would be a worthy application, it has not yet happened in the world, however, the experience of the combat use of self-propelled guns as part of international forces peacekeeping in Afghanistan is available. This experience brought with it reasons for criticism - the Dutch did not like that the protection system against radioactive, biological and chemical effects was defenseless against the all-pervading dust. It was also necessary to equip the gun turret with additional armor to protect the crew from mortar attacks.
The heaviest self-propelled gun: self-propelled mortar Karl-Gerat
Country: Germany
start of production: 1940
Caliber: 600/540 mm
Weight: 126 t
Barrel length: 4.2 / 6.24 m
Rate of fire: 1 shot / 10 min
Range: up to 6700 m
A tracked vehicle with an awkwardly large-caliber gun looks like a parody of armored vehicles, but combat use this colossus found itself. The production of six self-propelled 600-mm Karl-type mortars became an important sign militaristic revival Nazi Germany. The Germans were eager for revenge for the First World War and were preparing suitable equipment for future Verdun. Hard nuts, however, had to be cracked at a completely different end of Europe, and two of the "Karls" - "Thor" and "Odin" - were destined to unload in the Crimea to help the Nazis take over Sevastopol. Having fired several dozen concrete-piercing and high-explosive shells at the heroic 30th battery, the mortars disabled its guns. The mortars were indeed self-propelled: they were equipped with caterpillars and a 12-cylinder Daimler-Benz 507 diesel engine with an HP 750 power. However, these giants could move under their own power only at a speed of 5 km / h, and then for short distances. Of course, there was no question of any maneuvering in battle.
The most modern Russian self-propelled gun: "Msta-S"
Country: USSR
adopted: 1989
Caliber: 152 mm
Weight: 43.56t
Barrel length: 7.144 m
Rate of fire: 7-8 rds / min
Range: up to 24,700 m
"Msta-S" - self-propelled howitzer(index 2S19) - the most advanced self-propelled gun in Russia, despite the fact that it entered service in 1989. "Msta-S" is designed to destroy tactical nuclear weapons, artillery and mortar batteries, tanks and other armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons, manpower, air defense and missile defense systems, command posts, as well as to destroy field fortifications and obstructing the maneuvers of enemy reserves in the depths of his defenses. It can fire at observed and unobserved targets from closed positions and direct fire, including work in mountainous conditions. The reloading system allows you to fire at any pointing angles in the direction and elevation of the gun with a maximum rate of fire without returning the gun to the loading line. The mass of the projectile exceeds 42 kg, therefore, to facilitate the work of the loader from the ammo rack, they are fed automatically. The mechanism for supplying charges is a semi-automatic type. The presence of additional conveyors for supplying ammunition from the ground allows you to fire without spending internal ammunition.
The largest naval gun: the main caliber of the battleship "Yamato"
Country: Japan
adopted: 1940
Caliber: 460 mm
Weight: 147.3 t
Barrel length: 21.13 m
Rate of fire: 2 rds / min
Range: 42,000 m
One of the last dreadnoughts in history, the battleship Yamato, armed with nine guns of an unprecedented caliber - 460 mm, could not effectively use its firepower. The main caliber was launched only once - on October 25, 1944 near the island of Samar (Philippines). The damage inflicted on the American fleet was extremely insignificant. The rest of the time, the aircraft carriers simply did not let the battleship close to them at a shot distance and, finally, they destroyed it with carrier-based aircraft on April 7, 1945.
The most mass cannon World War II: 76.2 mm field gun ZIS-3
Country: USSR
designed: 1941
Caliber: 76.2 mm
Weight: 1.2t
Barrel length 3.048 m
Rate of fire: up to 25 rds / min
Range: 13,290 m
Tool designed by V.G. The grabina was distinguished by its simple design, it was not very demanding on the quality of materials and metalworking, that is, it was ideally suited for mass production. The gun was not a masterpiece of mechanics, which, of course, affected the accuracy of shooting, but then quantity was considered more important than quality.
Biggest Mortar: Little David
Country: USA
start of testing: 1944
Caliber: 914 mm
Weight: 36.3t
Barrel length: 6.7 m
Rate of fire: no data
Range: 9700 m
Someone who, and the Americans during the Second World War, were not noticed by the gigantomania of guns, but still one outstanding achievement belongs to them. The giant Little David mortar with a monstrous caliber of 914 mm was the prototype of a heavy siege weapon with which America was going to storm Japanese islands. A shell weighing 1678kg, of course, “would have made a rustle”, but “little David” suffered from the diseases of medieval mortars - it hit close and inaccurately. As a result, something more interesting was found to intimidate the Japanese, but the super mortar did not fight.
Largest railroad implement: Dora
Country: Germany
trials: 1941
Caliber: 807 mm
Weight: 1350 t
Barrel length: 32.48 m
Rate of fire: 14 rounds/day
Range: 39,000 m
"Dora" and "Heavy Gustav" are two supermonsters of the world's artillery of 800 mm caliber, which the Germans prepared to break through the Maginot Line. But, like self-propelled guns "Thor" and "Odin", "Dora" was eventually driven near Sevastopol. The gun was directly served by a calculation of 250 people, ten times more fighters performed auxiliary functions. However, the accuracy of firing 5-7-ton shells was not very high, some of them fell without bursting. The main effect of the shelling of the "Dora" was psychological.
The heaviest Soviet gun of World War II: Howitzer B-4
The 203.4 mm howitzer is probably one of the main contenders for the title of "weapon of Victory". While the Red Army was retreating, there was no need for such a weapon, but as soon as our troops went west, the howitzer was very useful in order to break through the walls of Polish and German cities turned into “festungs”. The gun was nicknamed "Stalin's sledgehammer", although this nickname was given not by the Germans, but by the Finns, who met the B-4 on the Mannerheim Line.
Country: USSR
adopted: 1934
Caliber: 203.4mm
Weight: 17.7t
Barrel length: 5.087 m
Rate of fire: 1 shot / 2 min
Range: 17,890 m
Largest towed weapon: M-Gerat Siege Mortar
Country: Germany
adopted: 1913
Caliber: 420 mm
Weight: 42.6t
Barrel length: 6.72 m
Rate of fire: 1 shot / 8 min
Range: 12,300 m
« Big Berta» has become a successful compromise between power and mobility. This is exactly what the designers of the Krupp company sought, inspired by the successes of the Japanese, who stormed Port Arthur with the help of large-caliber naval guns. Unlike its predecessor, the Gamma-GerKt mortar, which fired from a concrete cradle, the Big Bertha did not require a special installation, but was towed to a combat position by a tractor. Its 820-kg shells successfully crushed the concrete walls of the Liege forts, but in Verdun, where reinforced concrete was used in the fortifications, they were not so effective.
Most long-range gun: Kaiser Wilhelm Geschotz
Country: Germany
adopted: 1918
Caliber: 211–238 mm
Weight: 232 t
Barrel length: 28 m
Rate of fire: 6–7 rounds/day
Range: 130,000 m
The barrel of this gun, also known as the "Paris Cannon", "Colossal" or "Kaiser Wilhelm Gun", was a set of pipes inserted into the drilled mouth of a naval gun. This "lash", so as not to dangle too much when fired, was strengthened with a stretch, like the one used to support crane arrows. And all the same, after the shot, the barrel was shaken by vibrations that did not die out for a long time. Nevertheless, in March 1918, the gun managed to stun the inhabitants of Paris, who thought that the front was far away. 120-kg shells flying 130 km killed more than 250 Parisians in a month and a half of shelling.
Greetings readers of the site. Today we will talk to you about military equipment, namely the largest guns in history.
Civil War in the United States contributed to the emergence of new types of weapons. And so, in 1863, this smooth-bore gun-Columbiad appeared. Its weight reached 22.6 tons. Caliber - 381 mm.
Saint-Chamon - French large-caliber ( 400 mm listen)) a railway gun built in 1915.
2A3 "Condenser" - Soviet self-propelled artillery mount capable of firing both conventional and nuclear projectiles caliber 406 mm. Was created during cold war» in 1955 as a response to the new American doctrine of massive use nuclear weapons. A total of 4 copies were built.
2B2 "Oka" - Soviet self-propelled 420 mm a mortar mount built in 1957. Its 20-meter barrel made it possible to fire 750 kg of shells at a distance of up to 45 km. Due to the complexity of loading, it had a relatively low rate of fire - one shot in 10.5 minutes.
Big Bertha
Big Berta - German mortar, intended for the destruction of strong fortifications. It was developed in 1904 and built at the Krupp factories in 1914. Its caliber was 420 mm, the weight of the shells reached 820 kg, and the firing range - 15 km. A total of four such guns were built.
The Perm Tsar Cannon is a cast iron combat cannon, which is the largest in the world. It was made in 1868. Its caliber is 508 mm. Firing range up to 1.2 kilometers.
Charles
Karl is a heavy self-propelled German mortar of the Second World War period. One of the most powerful self-propelled guns of that time. It was used during the assault on fortresses and heavily fortified enemy positions. A total of 7 copies were built. Her caliber was 600 mm.
Dora
Dora is a super-heavy railway artillery gun designed in the late 1930s by the Krupp company (Germany). It was intended to defeat the Maginot fortifications and forts on the border of Belgium and Germany. It was named after the wife of the chief designer. Her caliber is 800 mm.
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Most big guns in history - from the "Basilica" of a Hungarian engineer with the coolest surname Urban (or is that a name?) To Krupp's "Dora" with a barrel length of 32.5 m!
1. Basilica
She is an Ottoman cannon. It was cast in 1453 by the Hungarian engineer Urban by order Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. In that memorable year, the Turks besieged the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, and still could not get inside the impregnable city.
For three months, Urban patiently cast his offspring from bronze and finally presented the resulting monster to the Sultan. A 32-ton giant with a length of 10 m and a trunk diameter of 90 cm could launch a 550-kilogram core for about 2 km.
To transport the "Basilica" from place to place, 60 bulls were harnessed to it. In general, 700 people were supposed to serve the sultan cannon, including 50 carpenters and 200 workers who made special wooden bridges for moving and installing the gun. It took an hour to recharge with the new core alone!
The life of the "Basilica" was short, but bright. On the second day of firing at Constantinople, the barrel cracked. But the deed was already done. By this time, the gun had managed to make accurate shot and punch a hole in the defensive wall. The Turks entered the capital of Byzantium.
After another month and a half, the cannon fired its last shot and finally broke apart. (In the picture you see the Dardanelles cannon, an analogue of the Basilica, cast in 1464.) Its creator was already dead by this time. Historians disagree on how he died. According to one version, Urban was killed by a fragment of an exploding siege gun (smaller, but again cast by him). According to another version, after the end of the siege, Sultan Mehmed executed the master, having learned that Urban offered his help to the Byzantines. The current international situation tells us to lean towards the second version, which once again proves the treacherous nature of the Turks.
2. Tsar Cannon
Well, where without her! Every resident of Russia over seven years old roughly knows what this thing is. Therefore, we restrict ourselves to only the briefest information.
The Tsar Cannon was cast in bronze by the cannon and bell maker Andrei Chokhov in 1586. Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, the third son of Ivan the Terrible, then sat on the throne.
The length of the cannon is 5.34 m, the diameter of the barrel is 120 cm, and the mass is 39 tons. We are all used to seeing this cannon lying on a beautiful, ornamented carriage, with cannonballs resting nearby. However, the carriage and cores were made only in 1835. In addition, the Tsar Cannon cannot and could not shoot such nuclei.
Until the current nickname was assigned to the gun, it was called the "Russian Shotgun". And this is closer to the truth, since the gun was supposed to shoot with buckshot (“shot” - stone cannonballs, with a total weight of up to 800 kg). Should, but never fired.
Although, according to the legend, the cannon nevertheless made one volley, firing the ashes of False Dmitry, but this does not correspond to the facts. When the Tsar Cannon was sent for restoration in the eighties, the experts who studied it came to the conclusion that the gun had never been completed. There was no ignition hole in the cannon, which for five centuries no one had bothered to drill.
However, this did not stop the cannon from showing off in the heart of the capital and demonstrating to foreign ambassadors the power of Russian weapons with its impressive appearance.
3. "Big Bertha"
The legendary mortar, produced in 1914 at the factories of the old foundry of the Krupp dynasty, received its nickname in honor of Bertha Krupp, who at that time was the sole owner of the concern. Judging by the surviving photographs, Bertha was indeed a rather large woman.
A 420mm mortar could fire one shot every 8 minutes and send a 900kg projectile 14km away. The land mine exploded, leaving behind a funnel with a diameter of 10 m and a depth of 4 m. The scattered fragments killed at a distance of up to 2 km. The walls of the French and Belgian garrisons were not prepared for this. Allied forces fighting on the Western Front dubbed Bertha "the killer of forts." It took the Germans no more than two days to take another fortress.
In total, during the years of the First World War, twelve Berts were produced; to date, not a single one has survived. Those that did not explode themselves were destroyed during the fighting. The mortar, captured at the end of the war, lasted the longest American army and exhibited until 1944 in the military museum of the city of Aberdeen (Maryland), until it was sent for remelting.
4. Paris Cannon
On March 21, 1918, there was an explosion in Paris. Behind him is another, third, fourth. Explosions were heard at fifteen-minute intervals, and in just a day they sounded 21 ... The Parisians were in a panic. At the same time, the sky above the city remained deserted: no enemy planes, no zeppelins.
By evening, after examining the fragments, it became clear that these were not air bombs, but artillery shells. Did the Germans get to the very walls of Paris, or even settled somewhere inside the city?
Only a few days later, the French aviator Didier Dora, making a flight, discovered the place from which they fired at Paris. The gun was hiding 120 kilometers from the city. The Kaiser Wilhelm Trumpet, an ultra-long-range weapon, another fiend of the Krupp concern, fired at Paris.
The barrel of the 210mm gun was 28m long (plus a 6m extension). The colossal gun, weighing 256 tons, was placed on a special railway platform. The firing range of a 120-kilogram projectile was 130 km, and the height of the trajectory reached 45 km. It was precisely because the projectile moved in the stratosphere and experienced less air resistance that a unique range was achieved. The projectile reached the target in three minutes.
The cannon, seen by a big-eyed pilot, was hiding in the forest. Around it were several batteries of small-caliber guns, which created a noise background that prevented the exact location of the Kaiser Pipe from being established.
For all its external horror, the weapon was rather stupid. The 138-ton barrel sagged from own weight and needed support with additional cables. And once every three days, the barrel had to be completely changed at all, since it could not withstand more than 65 shots, volleys grinded it too quickly. Therefore, for the next new barrel there was a special set of numbered shells - each next one is slightly thicker (that is, slightly larger in caliber) than the previous one. All this affected the accuracy of shooting.
In total, about 360 shots were fired in Paris. In the process, 250 people were killed. Most of the Parisians (60) died when they hit (naturally, by accident) the church of Saint-Gervais during the service. And although there were not so many dead, all of Paris was frightened and overwhelmed by the power of German weapons.
When the situation at the front changed, the cannon was immediately evacuated back to Germany and destroyed so that the Entente troops would not get its secret.
5. "Dora"
And again the Germans, and again the firm "Krupp". In 1936, Adolf Hitler urged the concern to build a gun that would be capable of destroying the French Maginot Line (a system of 39 defensive fortifications, 75 bunkers and other dugouts, built on the border with Germany). A year later, the Fuhrer's special order was completed and approved. The project was immediately put into production. And in 1941, the supergun saw the light of day.
The Dora, named after the wife of the chief designer, was able to penetrate 1 m of armor, 7 m of concrete and 30 m of ordinary hard ground. The range of the gun was estimated at 35-45 km.
"Dora" even today is terrifying with its size: barrel length - 32.5 m, weight - 400 tons, height - 11.6 m, each shell weighed 7088 kg. The gun was located on two railway transporters, and full weight the entire system reached 1350 tons.
Terrifying "Dora", of course, was terrifying, but then it turned out that there was nowhere to use it. The Maginot Line has been taken for a year now, the Belgian forts have fallen. It was not even possible to transport a cannon to strengthen Gibraltar: the railway bridges of Spain would not have sustained its weight. But in February 1942, it was decided to deliver the Dora to the Crimea and start shelling Sevastopol.
The operation, fortunately, turned out to be a breeze. Despite tremendous efforts fascist army, the effect was almost zero. More than 4,000 people were busy serving the Dora. A special kilometer-long railway line was even carried out for the gun. Complex camouflage and defense of the position was carried out with the help of fighters, a smoke-camouflage division, two infantry companies and special teams field gendarmerie.
Model "Dora"
In the period from 5 to 26 June, 53 shells were fired at Sevastopol. Only five hit the target, and even those did not achieve the desired effect. The operation was curtailed, and "Dora" was sent to Leningrad. But more during the whole war, she never fired a single shot.
In April 1945, in the forest near the city of Auerbach, American troops discovered the wreckage of the Dora. The gun was destroyed by the Germans themselves so that it would not go to the advancing Red Army.
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