21 cm mortar
| 21 cm mortar | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| Military designation: | 21 cm mortar |
| Manufacturer country: |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
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| Developer / Manufacturer: | Friedrich Krupp AG |
| Weapon Category: | mortar |
| Technical specifications | |
| Pipe length: | 2.53 m |
| Caliber : |
211 mm |
| Caliber length : | L / 12 |
| Elevation range: | + 6 ° to + 70 ° angular degrees |
| Side straightening area: | 4 ° |
| Furnishing | |
| Closure Type : | Krupp's Leitwell closure |
| Charging principle: | manually |
| Ammunition supply: | manually |
The 21 cm mortar (the name "21 cm mortar 10" is common, but was never officially used) was a mobile, heavy mortar (referred to as a howitzer in other armies of the time) of the foot artillery of the German Army , which was used in the First World War came into use. Due to its design, it was primarily intended for road transport. The gun was intended as a replacement for the outdated 21 cm mortar 99 , which was equipped without a reverse brake and only performed poorly.
history
As successor models, Krupp and Rheinmetall initially presented specimens with a barrel return brake, the 21 cm experimental mortar L / 10 (Krupp) and the 21 cm experimental mortar L / 12 (Rheinmetall), but both had a maximum firing range of just 7,000 m considered insufficient. Eight copies were tested in two units and at least one of them was also used during the World War. This mortar (# 4) is on display today in Red Cliffs, Victoria . Due to the insufficient range of fire, the guns in series production had to be improved.
In 1907 the Artillery Examination Commission laid down the requirements for a 21 cm mortar, which should have a maximum firing range of over 9,000 meters. Then Rheinmetall constructed the 21 cm L / 15 experimental mortar, while Krupp built his model, the shorter 21 cm L / 12 experimental mortar. The latter won the tender, and it was a rather clumsy-looking weapon, with the tube only being slightly longer than the return system above the tube. A small protective shield provided was more likely to protect the crew from their own muzzle pressure than from enemy action, but it was often not used. (This protective shield is almost never seen on contemporary photos.) In February 1910, the gun was approved by a Supreme Cabinet Ordre . This was followed by the immediate introduction to foot artillery. In July 1914 there were 256 mortars in stock, 224 of which were in the foot artillery and reserve foot artillery regiments. The remaining 32 copies were placed in various fortresses . During the war, the organization was changed: the guns were grouped into battalions of two batteries with two mortars each. At the end of October 1918, 73 battalions with a total of 219 of these guns were still in use. However, the replacement by the long mortar 21 cm had already started in 1916 , of which more than twice as many were used.
technology
The transport was carried out in two loads, the weight of the tube wagon was 4065 kg, the carriage alone weighed 4465 kg, plus the ammunition wagon. Six draft horses had to be harnessed to each load and the ammunition wagon. Since each battery had four mortars, 72 heavy draft horses were required here alone. In addition, there were the draft horses for the belted wagon, baggage and catering wagons, which were driven in four horses, and the lighter riding horses for the officers and functionaries.
The mortar was also intended as a siege gun, for which a concrete-breaking grenade was available. As a special feature, the carriage had two ground spurs, one in the rear third of the carriage tail and another at the end.
A horizontal Krupp guide wave seal served as a closure , grenade and propellant charge were loaded separately. The gun had a hydraulic recoil brake in the gun carriage, it was a one-piece box Holm - mount . So-called wheel belts could be attached for use in the field .
Existing copies
12 of these guns are still in place. One each is located in:
- Childers (Queensland), Australia
- Victoria Barracks, Melbourne (Australia)
- Canadian War Museum , Ottawa (Canada)
- Plaines d'Abrahams, Quebec (Canada)
- Citadel Spandau (Germany)
- Imperial War Museum Duxford (Great Britain)
- Bovington Tank Museum (UK)
- Enniskillen Castle (Great Britain)
- Miller Park Bloomington (Illinois) (USA)
- Oregon Military Museum Clackamas OR (USA)
- Hickory (North Carolina) (USA)
- Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell MT (USA)
21 cm experimental mortar No. 4
21 cm mortar, July 1915
21 cm mortar with protective shield
Wheel belt on the specimen in the Canadian War Museum
Different names
In contemporary German literature and sources, only the term “21 cm mortar” is used, while otherwise “21 cm mortar 10” is common. This may well be a similar process to the French Renault FT tank , commonly known as the “Renault FT 17”, although this is definitely wrong. Perhaps somebody added the year of introduction (10 or 16) to avoid confusion with the successor model, the “Long Mortar 21 cm”, which was then generally adopted.
Footnotes
- ↑ so the official name: DVE No. 201, annex to the drill regulations for foot artillery from February 18, 1911, p. 31 ff.
- ↑ cannot be found in any contemporary German source
- ↑ http://canonspgmww1guns.canalblog.com/archives/2011/01/13/20119317.html
- ↑ This is probably where the misnomer "Mörser 10" is often used.
- ↑ Functioner is a term from the military - it describes those who exercise a function - i.e. the harness master, the weapons and equipment supervisor, the company troop leader ...
literature
- François Guy, “ Le mortar de caliber 21 cm ”, Tank Zone , edition 11/2010, June – July, pp. 46–53, Hachette Histoire et Collections
- Ian Hogg, Twentieth-Century Artillery . New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000, ISBN 0-7607-1994-2
- Herbert Jäger, German Artillery of World War One . Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001, ISBN 1-86126-403-8
Web links
- Photo gallery in the Museum in Childers ( Memento from March 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Video clips on YouTube
- List and pictures of WW1 surviving 21cm morsers 10
- Spandau Citadel Museum
- German artillery 1914-1918
- Waffen-Arsenal-Band-162-German-21-cm-Morser-1911-1945
- German National Library
- Guns used before Verdun
- Technology and the state