The Obice da 210/22 modello 35 was a 210mm howitzer, which was used by the Italian Army during World War II. It was an excellent design and a well-made artillery piece. However the Italian armament industry could not produce it in large numbers. Although the prototype was made and exhibited in 1935, the howitzer was accepted for service three years later, in 1938.
The Obice da 210/22 was a modern design. It employed a split-trail carriage, with two road wheels on each side. When the howitzer was set up for action, these wheels were raised off the ground and the artillery piece weight was sustained by a firing platform under the main axle. Thus, the weapon could have a traverse of 360 degrees after the stakes that anchored the trail spades to the ground were raised.
The Italians could not keep up production of the Obice da 210/22 and, by 1942, only 20 had been made and delivered to the Italian Army. The problem was that the manufacturer Ansaldo had sold two batches of the howitzer to the Hungarian Army, which fielded the weapon on the Eastern Front. After the fall of Benito Mussolini, the Germans seized all the all pieces and designated it 21-cm Haubitze 520(i), which would cause many Allied casualties when the Anglo-Americans began the Italian Campaign in 1943.
Specifications
Type: heavy howitzer
Caliber: 210-mm (8.26 inches)
Weight: 24 tons (traveling); 16 tons when set up for action.
Barrel Length: 5 m (L/23.8)
Carriage: split-trail
Recoil: hydro-pneumatic
Elevation: 0 to +70 degrees.
Traverse: 360 degrees (on platform).
Maximum Range:15.4 km (16,850 yards)
Muzzle Velocity: 560 m/s
Below, the Obice da 210/22 in a factory yard.
Picture of the heavy howitzer with the wheels raised off and resting on platform.
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