21 cm mortar 18
| 21 cm mortar 18 | |
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| General Information | |
| Military designation: | 21 cm mortar 18 |
| Manufacturer country: | German Empire |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Croup |
| Development year: | 1933 |
| Production time: | 1939 to 1942 |
| Weapon Category: | mortar |
| Technical specifications | |
| Pipe length: | 6.07 m |
| Caliber : |
210 mm |
| Caliber length : | L / 31 |
| Weight ready for use: | 16,700 kg |
| Cadence : | 1 shot / min |
| Elevation range: | 0 ° to +70 degrees |
| Side straightening area: | Turntable 360 °, mount 16 ° |
| Furnishing | |
| Bullet weight: | 121 kg (HE grenade) |
The 21 cm mortar 18 was a mortar used by the German Wehrmacht during World War II .
Development and production
The gun was developed by Krupp in Essen from 1933 and put into service in 1939.
description
The 8 inch mortar 18 was unconventional. The appearance and structure were more reminiscent of a howitzer than a classic mortar. The mortar had a double barrel return mechanism, both the gun barrel and the upper mount had separate return mechanisms. Thus, all recoil energy was absorbed and there was practically no movement of the mount relative to the ground. This increased the accuracy. The gun, which was mounted on the base plate by means of three intermediate pieces provided with rollers, could also be pivoted much more effectively around the pivot in the center, which could be done by a single operator. After the 17 cm cannon 18 was introduced into the army artillery in 1941 , which shared the carriage with the mortar, its ammunition turned out to be only slightly less effective than that of the mortar, with a range of about 29.6 km in comparison 16.7 km at the mortar. Thus, from around 1942, the cannon was given priority and the production of the mortar was stopped. Due to the high weight of 22,700 kg in the driving position, the gun was transported in two partial loads and brought into the firing position (weight then 16,700 kg) via a system of winches and ramps. Over short distances it was possible to move the gun in the firing position as a total load with a heavy half-track vehicle .
ammunition
In addition to normal high-explosive ammunition, there was the possibility of firing concrete-breaking grenades. The fragmentation effect of the HE grenade was 10 meters forward and 40 meters to the sides. Direct hits could penetrate six meters of earth cover, one meter of masonry or one meter of concrete ceiling.
commitment
The 21 cm mortar 18 was used in the heavy mortar departments to create a focus. These had three batteries each with three mortars in their rows. As an emergency solution in 1941, some tubes of the 15 cm cannon 16 were placed in the mount of the 21 cm mortar 18 and led into the mortar carriage under the designation 15 cm cannon 16 .
The south tower of the coastal battery Maxim Gorki I in the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula was destroyed in the Battle of Sevastopol 1941–1942 by a direct hit from a 21 cm mortar.
Loading a 21 cm mortar 18
21 cm mortar 18 in the firing position
Firing a 21 cm mortar 18
literature
- Ian Hogg : 20th Century Artillery. Gondromverlag, Bindlach 2001, ISBN 3-8112-1878-6 .
- Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain: Encyclopedia of German Weapons 1939-1945. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-613-02481-0 .
- Chris Bishop (Ed.): Weapons of the Second World War, Weltbild, ISBN 3-8289-5385-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Fleischer: Field fortifications of the German army 1939–1935. Dörfler Verlag, ISBN 3-89555-212-7 .
- ↑ Leo Niehorster : GERMAN WORLD WAR II ORGANIZATIONAL SERIES, Volume 5 / II, HIGHER HEADQUARTERS AND MECHANIZED GHQ UNITS (July 4, 1943). P. 43 , accessed on December 29, 2019 (English).