The schwerer Gustav was an 80 cm (800-mm) railway siege gun, which was in service with the Wehrmacht during World War II. It had been designed and built by Krupp in the 1930s to attack and destroy the fortresses of the French Maginot Line in the event of war. However, when WW2 broke out, it was not used during the German Invasion of France (1940) as it would be fielded in the Crimean peninsula during the Battle of Sevastopol (Nov. 1941 - Jul. 1942) instead. During the Crimean campaign, it destroyed enemy command posts, gun turrets, and munition depots hidden deep underground, under a thick concrete roof.
The 80-cm schwerer Gustav gun was the largest artillery piece which had ever been deployed and used in anger. The British Mallet's mortar was heavier but it had never been utilized in combat. The gun barrel of the schwerer Gustav was rifled and it was 32.5 m (106 feet +) in length. It fired 7.1-ton, armor-piercing shells to the maximum distance of 47 km. Krup built only two 80-cm railway guns, the other one being called Dora, which was also fielded and used in combat on the Eastern Front. In order to transport them, special railroad tracks were made with reinforced steel and sturdy thick ties to be able to withstand the extraordinary heavy weight. To load the heavy shells into the gun breech, cranes were employed.
Specifications
Type: railway gun
Caliber: 80-cm = 800-mm
Weight: 1,350 tons = 1,350,000 kg
Shell: 7.1 ton (Armor-Piercing, High Explosive)
Barrel Length: 32.5 m (106 feet, 8 inches)
Breech Type: horizontal-sliding wedge.
Elevation: 0 to +48 degrees.
Traverse: 5 degrees
Muzzle Velocity: 820 m/s (2,700 ft/s)
Maximum Range: 47 km, or 39 km, depending on ammunition type.
Below, the 80 cm schwerer Gustav on a railroad track heading for Sevastopol.
Dora siege gun ready to fire
The scherer Gustav in action in WW2 (footage). In this historical video, you can see two guns: the first one is the 60-cm Thor (Karl Morser), and the second one is the 80 cm railway gun.
0 Comments