203mm Howitzer M1931 (B-4)

203mm howitzer M1931 of the Open Air Museum of the Second World War in Minsk

Soviet battery of heavy howitzers type M1931 ( 3rd Belarusian Front , summer 1944)

The 203-mm howitzer M1931 (B-4) ( Russian 203-мм гаубица обр. 1931 г. (Б-4) ) was a howitzer of the caliber 203.2 mm from Soviet production. It was the biggest guns that of the artillery of the Red Army during the Second World War was used in large numbers. The howitzer was designed from 1926 to 1931 and entered service with the Red Army in 1933. A total of 871 copies were made. 203 mm howitzer M1931 was the designation of the Red Army, B-4 was another equivalent designation of the manufacturer, the Bolshevik factory .

history

In January 1926, the design office, headed by FF Lender, was commissioned to design a howitzer with a 203 mm caliber and a long range. After Lender's death, the design was given to the “Bolshevik” factory for further development. The design office of the Artillery Command of the Red Army took over the design contract in March 1927, together with a project for a 122 mm cannon. In January 1928, the construction of the howitzer was completed. This was designed in two versions, each equipped with and without a muzzle brake. The Red Army preferred the version without a muzzle brake. The first prototype of the howitzer was manufactured in the "Bolshevik" plant in the first half of 1931 and presented in July / August 1931. After long target practice and operational planning, the howitzer was renamed the 203 mm Howitzer mod. Admitted to the Red Army in 1931. A total of 871 weapons of this type were manufactured in two batches in the 1930s and 1940s.

The M1931 was mounted either on a wheel or on a chain carriage. The chain mount had the advantage that the heavy gun could be transported through snow and mud more easily. A motorization of the gun was not planned. The return pipe and loading mechanism were conventional. Two spreader bars secured the stand when firing. The barrel and mount were changed during the war. This is how the two versions B-4 of the first batch and the modified variant B-4M were created.

Since the weapon was designed before the development of the Blitzkrieg tactics, it only partially met the requirements of the German-Soviet War due to its lack of motorization and thus limited mobility . The military leadership recognized as early as the 1930s that the lack of motorization of the gun significantly reduced its combat value. Attempts to integrate the gun into a combat vehicle with the designation SU-14, however, failed due to technical problems.

The German Wehrmacht captured some of the weapons during their advance and used them as the 20.3 cm howitzer 503/3 (r) (wheel mount), 503/4 (r) (Protz mount) and 503/5 (r) (full- track drive ) a.

The M1931 was used as the heaviest artillery in the Soviet Army at division and corps level until the 1950s .

Technical specifications

203 mm howitzer M1931
General properties
classification	heaviest howitzer
Chief designer	Nikolai Nikititsch Magdesiev
Name of the manufacturer	B-4 (Russian Б-4)
Manufacturer	Sawod "Bolshevik" (Bolshevik-Werke, "Завод Большевик")
length	9365 mm
width	2490 mm
height	about 2300 mm
Weight in firing position	17,700 kg
Weight in driving position	19,000 kg
team	15 men (gun leader, two gunner, twelve loaders and ammunition shooters)
Years of construction	1932–1937 (?)
number of pieces	871
pipe
caliber	203.4 mm
Pipe length	5087 mm (L / 25)
Tube length (drawn barrel)	3981 mm (L / 19.6)
Height of the line of fire	1920 mm
Fire dates
Elevation range	0 ° to + 60 °
Viewing area	8 °
Maximum range	18,025 m
Maximum muzzle velocity	607 m / s
fire rate	0.5-1 rounds / min
agility
Ground clearance	? mm
Towed top speed	5-15 km / h

literature

• Author collective: Оружие Победы. ( The weapons of victory. ) Изд. "Машиностроение" (Maschinenbauverlag), Moscow 1985 ( chapter on Soviet artillery ).
• А.Б. Широкорад: Энциклопедия отечественной артиллерии. (AB Shirokorad: Encyclopedia of the Artillery of the Fatherland. ) Harvest-Verlag, Minsk 2000, ISBN 985-433-703-0 (Russian).
• Ian Hogg: 20th Century Artillery. Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 2001, ISBN 3-8112-1878-6 .
• Alexander Lüdeke : Weapons Technology in the Second World War. Parragon Verlag, Cologne, ISBN 978-1-4054-8584-5 .

Web links

Commons : 203mm Howitzer M1931 (B-4)  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

1. ↑ AB Shirokorad : Encyclopedia of the Artillery of the Fatherland.
2. ↑ И.В. Бах, И.И. Вернидуб, Л.И. Демкина, Л.Н. Кошкин, С.П. Непобедимый, В.Н. Новиков, А.Э. Нудельман, М.З. Олевский, В.М. Сабельников, В. А. Тюрин, Е.Н. Царевский, П.В. Шевалдин