The 520-mm Schneider gun, M 18, was a heavy siege howitzer. It had been designed and produced by the French firm Schneider-Creuzot at the end of the First World War, with a total of only four pieces. During the German invasion of France, in WW2, the Wehrmacht captured and seized these guns, calling it the 52-cm Mörser, which would be used in the siege of Leningrad, on the Eastern Front.
The 52 cm Mörser fired 1,370-kg high-explosive shells to a maximum distance of 17.5 km. It also fired 1,654-kg armor-piercing shells, which were used to attack and destroy concrete bunkers. The whole artillery piece was mounted on a railed platform. Despite its destructive power, the French Army did not have time to set it up and use it against the German Army; the Blitzkrieg had caught them by surprise.
Specifications
Type: heavy howitzer
Weight: 265 tons
Barrel Length: 8.35 m
Platform Length: 30 m
Recoil: hydro-pneumatic + steel wheels on rails.
Elevation: +20° to +75°
Below, the 520mm Schneider gun in 1943, on the Eastern Front.
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