305 mm howitzer M-1915

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305 mm howitzer M-1915


General Information
Military designation: 305 mm howitzer M1915
Manufacturer country: Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire Russia

Soviet UnionSoviet Union Soviet Union

Developer / Manufacturer: Obukhov factory
Development year: 1914
Start of production: 1915
Number of pieces: 42
Technical specifications
Caliber :

305 mm

Caliber length : 20th
Weight ready for use: 63,900 kg
Cadence : 0.3 rounds / min

The 305-mm howitzer M1915 ( russ . 305-мм гаубица образца 1915 года , GAU index 52-G-724) was a heavy Russian or Soviet howitzer .

history

The howitzer was originally developed as a coastal gun on behalf of the Russian Navy Ministry in the Obukhov factory (Russian Обуховский завод) in Saint Petersburg, but after a finished construction was then introduced to the Russian army as a heavy high-angle fire gun. After successful tests, the Artillery Headquarters decided in July 1915 to put the 305 mm howitzer into service. The first order for eight howitzers for 271,500 rubles each followed on August 13. The second order, dated November 2, consisted of four howitzers and the third, dated January 26, 1916, comprised 36 howitzers. By November 1, 1917, 42 of these howitzers had been put into service. In addition, the head office for artillery ordered nine English Vickers howitzer 305 mm BL-12 and 7200 shells in 1914 . These were delivered between 1915 and 1916.

commitment

The howitzers were used during the First World War (1914–1918).

At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa , the attack by the German Wehrmacht on the Soviet Union, the Red Army had 34 305 mm howitzers. Of these, 30 were in the Oryol Military District and one in the Moscow Military District, and another three howitzers were on test sites. The Soviet Navy also had its own 305 mm howitzers; four of them formed battery No. 911 on Russky Island . In February 1942 they were handed over to the Far Eastern Front and formed the 295th independent division in the fortified area of Iman . During the war years of 1942 and 1943, they were used very rarely, among others near Leningrad and Smolensk .

Their use increased from 1944, when the Soviet Union's ability to carry out offensive operations increased. The howitzers worked against fortifications in East Prussia , including during the Battle of Koenigsberg , where the 329th independent detachment alone fired 714 shells from April 3rd to 7th. They were also used successfully against Finnish bunkers in June 1944 ; around 500 shells were fired. The howitzers were also used in the Battle of Berlin .

During Operation August Storm in Manchuria in August / September 1945 , the 295th independent detachment shelled Japanese troops of the Kwantung Army . From August 8th to 19th, 866 shells were fired.

The M1915 305 mm howitzer remained in service until the late 1950s.

Preserved copies

305 mm M1915 Howitzer in the St. Petersburg Military History Museum .

The last completely preserved specimen is in the Artillery Museum in Saint Petersburg. This howitzer belonged to the 328th independent division. This howitzer fired 125 shots from July 25, 1944 to April 9, 1945. It has been in the museum since 1957. A howitzer tube is also exhibited in the Museum of the Polish Army in Warsaw .

description

Lineup

The M1915 was not partially loadable and could only be moved to the firing position by rail . This was usually 200 to 300 m away from the railway tracks and was connected to them by a narrow-gauge field railway built especially for this purpose . The bedding consisted of a two meter deep pit . Six layers of square wooden beams , each 23 cm thick, were laid in this pit , so that a foundation with a length of 7.75 m and a width of 6.4 m and a weight of 11.5 t was created. A steel foundation frame with a weight of 5242 kg was mounted on the wooden foundation . The carriage (19,656 kg) was placed on top by means of four lifting devices . Finally the gun barrel was installed.

ammunition

Especially for the 305-mm howitzer has been explosive shell F-724 (russ.Ф-724) (GAU Index 53-F-724) having a length of 4.75 caliber calibers and 376.7 kg Total weight (of which 78.6 kg of explosives ). There was also a cast iron version of the F-724. All other 305 mm shells could also be used as ammunition, including those of the English Vickers howitzer BL-12, the Russian 305 mm L / 52 cannon M1907 (with half the propellant charge ), as well as French and Japanese 305- mm shells. This compatibility was advantageous for the Soviet Union, as the BL-12 howitzers were barely used in World War I and large quantities of ammunition were available. The high-explosive grenade was used with preference during the Second World War with the 305 mm howitzer M1915.

The F-724 grenade was originally called the "bomb" and was designated the 920-pound TNT steel explosive bomb L 4.75 , the cast iron version - 920-pound TNT cast iron bomb L 3.5 . There existed also facilitated 810-pound TNT-steel high-explosive bomb with a wide range, has been built in small quantities (with pound Russian pounds is meant (~ 0.4095 kg)).

Technical specifications

Tube of the 305 mm howitzer M1915 in the Museum of the Polish Army
parameter value
caliber 304.8 mm
Weight in firing position (with wooden foundation) 64,783 kg
Closure weight 672 kg
Caliber length 20 caliber
Length of the drawn pipe part 4.693 m
Range (with F-724) 13,486 m
Muzzle velocity (with F-724) 442 m / s
Cadence (shot / minute) 0.3
Max. Height adjustment range 60 °
Straightening area side 60 °
transport railroad
team 25th

literature

  • The 2nd Heavy Marine Artillery Division in 1916 . In: Military history magazine «Citadel» . No. 1 , 2000, pp. 69 - 79 ( yandex.ru ).
  • Yevgeny Sakharovich Barsukov: Russian artillery in World War I. Volume 1 . Publishing house of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, Moscow 1938 ( lib.ru ).
  • Alexej Alexejewitsch Manikowski: Military supplies for the Russian army during the world war . State Military Literature Publishing House, Moscow 1930 ( grwar.ru ).

Web links

Commons : M1915 305mm Howitzer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ IV. СНАБЖЕНИЕ ОРУДИЯМИ. In: grwar.ru. Retrieved October 1, 2018 (Russian).
  2. ↑ 331 отдельный артиллерийский дивизион особой мощности. In: scucin-avia.narod.ru. Retrieved October 1, 2018 (Russian).
  3. ↑ О.Ащеулов. Артиллерия Красной армии против укреплений Кёнигсберга. Журнал «Родина», №6,2011 год. С.50–51 (O.Aschtscheulow: Artillery of the Red Army against fortifications of Königsberg. “Rodina” magazine from June 2011, pp.50–51.)
  4. ↑ 322 отдельный артиллерийский дивизион особой мощности. In: scucin-avia.narod.ru. Retrieved October 1, 2018 (Russian).
  5. ↑ ЦАМО, Фонд 295 ОАД, оп. 433566с, д.1. Исторический формуляр 295 Отдельного Артиллерийского Гаубичного дивизиона большой мощности. Л.3. (Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense, Fond 295 OAD / 433566c, Document No. 1: Historical Form of the 295th Independent Artillery Division of Large Firepower)
  6. ↑ A. Ivanov: Артиллерия СССР во Второй мировой войне (Artillery of the USSR in World War II). Verlag OLMA, 2003, ISBN 978-5-7654-2731-6 , p. 30 [1]
  7. ↑ Catalogs of the Artillery History Museum. Catalog of the material part of the Russian artillery. Leningrad 1961, p. 252.
  8. ↑ Москва: Руководство службы при 305-мм гаубице образца 1915 г. Артилл. управл. РККА, 1930. ( Moscow. Instructions for the 305 mm howitzer M1915. Red Army Artillery Publishing House, 1930.) Drawing 92 and 93.
  9. ↑ «Техника и вооружение», №3,1997. А. Широкорад. Отечественная береговая артиллерия. Гаубицы в береговой обороне. The military magazine «Technik und Armung». No. 3 for 1997. A.Sirokorad. Native coastal artillery. Howitzers in coastal defense. On-line
  10. ↑ A. Ivanov: Артиллерия СССР во Второй мировой войне (Artillery of the USSR in World War II). Verlag OLMA, 2003, ISBN 978-5-7654-2731-6 , pp. 29–30 [2]
  11. ↑ Москва: Руководство службы при 305-мм гаубице образца 1915 г. Артилл. управл. РККА, 1930. ( Moscow. Instructions for the 305 mm howitzer M1915. Publishing house of the Artillery Administration of the Red Army, 1930.) Table technical data, p. 149.
  12. ^ Franz Kosar: Artillery in the 20th century. Bernard and Graefe Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-7637-6249-3 , part 3, p. 246.