21 cm mortar 69
| 21 cm mortar 69 | |
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| General Information | |
| Military designation: | Mortar 69 |
| Manufacturer country: | German Empire |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Skoda |
| Development year: | 1944 |
| Production time: | November 1944 to March 1945 |
| Number of pieces: | 171 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Pipe length: | 3 m |
| Caliber : |
210 mm |
| Cadence : | 1 shot / min |
| Elevation range: | 40-70 degrees of angle |
| Side straightening area: | 60 ° |
The 21 cm mortar 69 was a heavy grenade launcher of the German Wehrmacht , which was developed towards the end of the Second World War as part of an armaments emergency program.
history
development
The weapon was based on a prototype that Skoda-Werke had developed as a 22 cm sGrW , but which was changed to the 21 cm caliber in order to be able to use existing ammunition stocks. The background was the failure of raw material supplies and production capacities for the manufacture of heavy artillery pieces due to war events and the attempt to compensate for these bottlenecks with a simple construction.
According to General Walter Buhle , Adolf Hitler ordered the introduction of the weapon without consulting the Heereswaffenamt. According to Buhle, the tests were fraught with numerous problems and, according to his statement, the weapon was handed over to the front-line units without sufficient testing.
technology
The wheels of the mortar were raised in the firing position in brackets that were movably mounted on a semicircular rail, while the rear part was connected to a base plate by a ball joint. So the entire weapon could be swiveled around 60 degrees. The elevation range was between 40 and 70 degrees. The firing range was up to 6400 meters, the muzzle velocity was 243.6 m / s.
Ammunition:
- The 5021 grenade was 1.19 m long and weighed 85 kg. The grenade was mostly made of concrete , which, mixed with steel scrap, acted as a splinter .
- Throwing grenade 5004
- Litter grenade 5031
Organization and commitment
The weapons were to be used in the newly established People's Artillery Corps, each with 27 launchers. For example, over two tons of projectile mass should be fired in one volley. The first nine launchers were delivered to the People's Artillery Corps 410, where they were to be integrated into a heavy grenade launcher division.
literature
- Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain: Weapons of the Third Reich. An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. Doubleday, New York 1979, ISBN 0-385-15090-3 .
- Wolfgang Fleischer : German mine and grenade launchers 1914–1945. Waffen-Arsenal Volume 150, ISBN 3-7909-0526-7 .
- Wolfgang Fleischer, Richard Eiermann: The last year of the German Army. Podzun-Pallas, 1997, ISBN 3-7909-0594-1 .