24 cm Mörser M 98

The 24 cm Mörser M 98 was a heavy howitzer in service with the Austro-Hungarian Army between 1900 and 1918. It was used intensely during World War I in northern Italy and on the Eastern Front. It was fielded to attack and destroy fortifications and command posts. It was developed and built by the Czech manufacturer Skoda and it was based the German Krupp 24-cm Haubitze M1890. Although it was a powerful weapon, it was limited by its short range. Thus, it would be replaced by the 30.5 cm Morser M16, which also featured interrupted screw type breech and a hydro-spring recoil system.

The 24 cm Mörser M 98 was the first artillery piece with a modern recoil system to see service and combat action in the Austro-Hungarian Army. It could be disassembled into four loads to be transported by truck. On the front line, it was mounted on a fixed steel platform, which could be raised and lowered. It fired 133-kg (293-lb) shells up to 6.5 km away. It was used to attack bunkers and command posts during a siege. Since it had the elevation of a howitzer, it was also used against troops in the trenches of World War I. However, the first time the 24 cm Mörser M 98 was used in anger was during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa by the British Army, which had acquired the weapon in 1900 and rechristened it: the ''BL 9.5-inch Howitzer Mk I.''

Specifications

Type: Heavy howitzer

Caliber: 240-mm

Shell: 133-kg (293-pounds) HE

Weight: 9,300 kg (20,500 pounds)

Barrel Length: 2.18 m (7 feet, 2 inches) L/9

Breech Type: interrupted screw

Recoil: hydro-spring

Elevation: +45 to +65 degrees

Transverse: 16 degrees

Muzzle Velocity: 278 m/s (912 ft/s)

Maximum Range: 6,500 m (7,100 yards).

Crew: 6

Above, the crew and two officers standing beside the 24-cm Morser on the Eastern Front in 1917, the year Russia withdrew from World War I due to the Bolshevik Revolution.

The feared Morser from Skoda mounted on its fixed steel platform in northern Italy.