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During the Second World War, the Nazis, as we know, every now and then "practiced" in the development and creation of the most heinous and long-term (as they himself seemed) of armaments: the biggest gun, the biggest tank, the biggest train, plane, and then, finally, the biggest mortar. And it is about these 600-mm monsters now and will be discussed.
All during the war, the Nazis were able to create six super-heavy self-propelled mortars, by which (including) they hoped to crush the Soviet Union and the coalition. Each mortar was named in honor of the god of Norse mythology, "Baldur", "Wotan", "Thor", "One", "Loki" and "Qiu". It was just another weapon, which was called "Fenrir", but in contrast to the six above-mentioned it was experimental.
Background, characteristics, features
The first mortar was created before the attack of Nazi Germany to France in 1937. The terms of reference for the designers of the monstrous gun was required to create a tool that could break through fortifications with thick concrete walls up to 9 meters. It is not hard to guess Hitler was going to crush the network of fortifications called "Maginot Line."
The first sample weighed 54.4 tons. Tests have revealed many deficiencies in the 600 mm cannon. Firstly, the gun was too heavy for that time, which had a negative effect on the issue of transportation. Secondly, beat mortar just a kilometer. Chetyrohtonny projectile, as it turned out, to obey the laws of physics, not inflamed ambitions of the Nazis. According to the results of tests mortar finalized. Total weight reduced, the gun placed on a self-propelled carriage, and, most importantly, cut nearly twice the weight of the ammunition.
Until the German designers nobody created guns of this magnitude. It was truly a horrible technique! Just think about these numbers: gun carriage had to withstand a load of 700 tons of return. The installation of a drive movement petrol or diesel engine, and the one hour setting "eats" 175 gallons of gasoline and 120 liters of diesel fuel. Tanks at the same time have been calculated for 1200 liters. This was enough to travel 42 km on petrol and about 60 km when driving on diesel.
It is not difficult to guess what went mortar is not very fast. Depending on the transmission speed and soil ranged from 6 to 10 km \ h. At the same time, there was a strict ban on the movement of the soft soil. It sank instantly mortars and lost tracks.
Having dealt with all of this, the logical question is how such a monster is fired? Here mortar acted on the principle of "rare, but neatly" or rather "a very rare, but very killer." Cannon made an average of 1 shot 10 minutes. Polzovali mortar shells of three types: high-explosive weighing up to 1.25 tons, lightweight concrete-weight of 1.7 tonnes and heavy concrete-weight of 2.17 tons. A feature of concrete-piercing shells were that they were flying at a very, very steep path to the second step of the way, broken up only by gravity.
Delivery of ammunition to such a mass of mortar conventional trucks could not. Therefore they have adapted as a truck Medium Tank Pz. Kpwf. IV Ausf. E. At cars rented the tower and replace it with a cargo tray 4 mortirnyh ammunition. Each gun was supposed to such two-tank truck. The mechanism of lowering / lifting mortar worked on the main engine. Overall calculation gun was from 21 human: commander 18 gunners and 2 drivers.
Moreover, each battery mortars (of which there were only 2) assumed motorcycle 14 (2 wheelchair), off-road vehicles 6, 5 cars, two communication vehicle, with a trailer 8, 8 heavy half-track tractors, 4 already mentioned machines loading. All in a battery at the same time consisted of 160 soldiers and officers.
A military secret
It is not difficult to guess that in the Reich supermortiry was a military secret. For example, in the handbook "The German armed forces" edition of 1941, these monsters are called "product 040 with a heavy concrete-grenade." Only 9 September 1942 the German magazine «Die Wehrmacht» was first able to publish two photos of "Thor" and some drawings supermortir. By the way, after the nickname of "Thor" came to mean all 60-cm mortars. In the Soviet Union the same, a similar technique was designated in 1944 as the SU-600.
Baptism of fire, back and forth, efficiency tools
Although Hitler wanted to use mortars to destroy the "Maginot Line", all seven of them were ready only by August 1941 (although ready 4 guns still managed to shoot the first day of the war). By the invasion of France implements late for 2 years, and therefore have a baptism of fire took place on the Eastern Front in the battles with the Red Army. The first four mortars used by another "Molotov Line" to destroy Soviet bunkers. Pitched mortars on two batteries. First of 4 guns supported Army Group "South". Second battery, which includes "Thor" and "One" were sent by the Nazis to strengthen the Army Group "Center". Mortars yet applied to the siege of Brest Fortress.
The first fight was to take part two mortars, but one flew caterpillar on discharge, so that about the battle out of the question. Only to shoot mortar 4 projectile hurled toward the Soviet positions. Immediately thereafter, 2 mortars sent from the front back to Germany. German High Command indicated that such a problem as long as they do not need equipment for the war with the Soviet Union.
Mortars "Thor" and "One" made the first volleys of June 22. "Thor" let the projectile 3. "One" -four. Both mortars were silent after the trunks stuck in the defective ammunition. On neutralization took a whole day. The next day, "One" started up 7 rounds, and "Thor" was silent due to breakage. On the morning of June 24, "Thor" has started 11 projectiles, "One" - 6.
During the shelling of the Brest Fortress Army Command demanded that the gunners a report on the effectiveness of fire units. Gunners claimed that the shooting was deadly effective. However, when the Nazis still took Brest finally, it became clear that none of the shells fired could not get on the fortifications of the Brest Fortress, two shell and did not explode, but they are left in the ground 15 meters wide funnel and a depth of 3 meters, and raised a cloud of dust and smoke height of about 170 meters.
Later, mortars managed to visit another at Sevastopol, where they released 122 rounds, 40% of which did not explode or split up into large pieces instead of an explosion. To the disgust of the Nazis Sevastopol strengthen not suffered such devastation, which they had hoped. The few projectiles that could hit the wall bunkers, often left in the best small cracks.
The effectiveness of mortars was so doubtful that the Soviet command to the end refused to believe that the Germans used so lame weapon. "Reach out" to his superiors soldiers and intelligence officers could only after the found fragments of such ammunition. Despite the massive shelling with mortars giant German gunners were unable to completely incapacitate even a fortified Sevastopol battery. only one tower was destroyed during the bombardment, but overall strengthening resisted.
Subsequently tools used for the suppression of the uprising in Warsaw. Several of them were sent to a second front for the defense of Normandy from the coalition. Subsequently, several mortars were captured and destroyed by the allies, others were destroyed or taken as booty by the Red Army. The fate of seven mortars, experimental weapons "Fenrir" - unknown.
Continuing the theme of unhealthy fantasies Nazi design engineers and their commanders tell, about the terrible, and not less than useless in a real fight «Ratte» - a giant tank of the Third Reich, which was to change the course of historyBut eventually remained on the drawing board.
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A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/191217/44116