During World War II, the Nazis tried to create a new destructive weapon against which the USSR and the Allies could not oppose anything. One of these developments is the huge Gustav and Dora guns. These superguns were used in the course of hostilities, and if not for some problems, they could have led the Third Reich to victory.
The Dora railroad artillery system. | Photo: ru.wikipedia.org.
The Fat Gustav cannon was named after Gustav Krupp, head of the German industrial concern Friedrich Krupp AG. It was the largest cannon in the world ever used in combat. They began to design it back in 1934, and Hitler planned that the weapon would be ready for the outbreak of war with France.
A shell of the German artillery system "Gustav". | Photo: thevintagenews.com.
Huge concrete-piercing blanks for the German Dora artillery system, shot during tests in Germany. | Photo: thevintagenews.com.
As further confirmed, the huge shells of the "Gustav" pierced up to 7 meters of reinforced concrete or armored steel 1 meter thick. It was this super-large caliber cannon that was needed to destroy the fortifications of the Maginot Line.
The production of guns was deployed at the Krupp military plant in Essen in 1937. Besides "Gustav", "Dora" was also under construction, named after the wife of the chief designer. The supergun cost Germany 7 million Reichsmarks, while the Krupp concern made the Gustav completely free of charge as its contribution to the war.
The barrel of a German gun with a caliber of 80 centimeters. | Photo: xdigest.ru.
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German supergun of the Third Reich. | Photo: xdigest.ru.
For a long time, the guns were tested, and at the beginning of 1941 they were officially adopted by the Wehrmacht. To participate in the 1940 campaign, "Gustav" did not have to, as France successfully resisted for only a month and a half.
"Gustav" and "Dora" were the same type of artillery mounts with a caliber of 80 centimeters. Chief Engineer Eric Miller designed a 47 m long and 7 m wide platform carriage, weighing 1,350 tons, transported by rail. This turned out to be the only way to make the weapon mobile.
A shell of the German artillery system "Gustav".
The shells for the super-weapon are still amazing. So, the concrete-piercing machine weighs 7 tons and is filled with 250 kilograms of explosives. A high-explosive ammunition is a little lighter, but already carries 700 kg of charge.
The shells flew out of a steel barrel 32 meters long, which was guided horizontally by moving the entire gun mount along a curved arc of the railroad. A crew of 250 was required to service the Gustav. Another 2,500 soldiers provided the laying of the railway track, air defense, ground guards.
Shot of a German super-heavy gun.
The destroyed gun turret of the 35th battery of Sevastopol, June 1942.
"Gustav" was used during the siege of Sevastopol in 1942. The Wehrmacht soldiers were preparing firing positions throughout May, and in June 48 shells were fired at the fortifications of Soviet soldiers. German artillerymen knocked out several forts.
After the fall of Sevastopol, the "Gustav" was transported near Leningrad, and the "Dora" arrived near Stalingrad. During the retreat of the Wehrmacht, the superguns were diverted to Poland to suppress the Warsaw Uprising, and then to Germany.
The gun carriage is a special railway platform.
At the end of the war, both guns were destroyed, and the remains of another, third gun of the series were found at the Essen plant. It was built on the same gun carriage, but to increase its range, the barrel was designed longer (48 meters) with a smaller caliber (52 centimeters).
In general, Hitler's superguns proved to be extremely expensive weapons that are very difficult to use, and the results obtained can hardly be called modest. Nevertheless, in Germany, they believed that such weapons could bring victory.
