What is the largest caliber? Ten of the largest and most famous artillery pieces in history
It is not for nothing that artillery is called the “god of war.” Since its appearance on the battlefield, it has become one of the main and most important strike forces ground forces.
Tsar Cannon
The “Tsar Cannon” is decorated with intricate patterns and has several inscriptions engraved on it. Experts are confident that the gun was fired at least once, but historical evidence for this has not been found. Today the Tsar Cannon is included in the Guinness Book of Records and is one of the main Moscow attractions.
Self-propelled mortar "Karl"
This is German self-propelled gun period of the Second World War. "Karl" had a caliber of 600 mm and a weight of 126 tons. A total of seven copies of this weapon, which would be more correctly called a self-propelled mortar, were built. The Germans built them to destroy enemy fortresses or other heavily fortified positions. Initially, these guns were developed for the assault on the French Maginot Line, but due to the transience of the campaign they were never used. For the first time, mortars were used on the Eastern Front; the Nazis used them during the storming of the Brest Fortress, and then during the siege of Sevastopol. At the end of the war, one of the mortars was captured by the Red Army, and today anyone can see this self-propelled gun in the armored museum in Kubinka, near Moscow.
"Crazy Greta"
“Mad Greta” is one of the few large-caliber medieval forged guns that have survived to this day. The cannon fired stone cannonballs; its barrel consisted of 32 forged steel strips, fastened with numerous hoops. The dimensions of the Greta are truly impressive: its barrel length is 5 meters, its weight is 16 tons, and its caliber is 660 mm.
Howitzer "Saint-Chamond"
This cannon was so large that it had to be mounted on a railway platform. The total weight of the structure was 137 tons, the gun could send projectiles weighing 641 kg over a distance of 17 km. True, in order to equip a position for Saint-Chamond, the French were forced to lay railway tracks.
Faule Mette
Unfortunately, none of these guns have survived to this day, so the characteristics of the gun can only be restored from the descriptions of its contemporaries. “Lazy Metta” was made in the German city of Braunschweig at the beginning of the 15th century. Master Henning Bussenschutte is considered its creator. The gun had impressive dimensions: weight about 8.7 tons, caliber from 67 to 80 cm, the mass of one stone core reached 430 kg. For each shot, it was necessary to put about 30 kg of gunpowder into the cannon.
"Big Bertha"
Famous German large-caliber gun period of the First World War. The gun was developed at the beginning of the last century and manufactured at the Krupp factories in 1914. “Big Bertha” had a caliber of 420 mm, its projectile weighed 900 kg, and the firing range was 14 km. The weapon was intended to destroy particularly strong enemy fortifications. The gun was manufactured in two versions: semi-stationary and mobile. The weight of the mobile modification was 42 tons; the Germans used steam tractors to transport it. When it exploded, the shell formed a crater with a diameter of more than ten meters; the gun’s rate of fire was one shot every eight minutes.
Mortar "Oka"
Soviet self-propelled large-caliber mortar "Oka", developed in the mid-50s. At that time the USSR already had nuclear bomb, but had difficulties with the means of its delivery. Therefore, Soviet strategists decided to create a mortar capable of firing nuclear charges. Its caliber was 420 mm, the total weight of the vehicle was 55 tons, and the firing range could reach 50 km. The Oka mortar had such monstrous recoil that its production was abandoned. A total of four self-propelled mortars were manufactured.
Little David
“Little David” was intended to destroy particularly powerful enemy fortifications and was developed for the Pacific theater of military operations. But, in the end, this gun never left the test site. The barrel was installed in a special metal box dug into the ground. “David” fired special cone-shaped projectiles, the weight of which reached 1678 kg. After their explosion, a crater with a diameter of 12 meters and a depth of 4 meters remained.
"Dora"
This gun was created by Krupp engineers in the mid-30s. It had a caliber of 807 mm, was installed on a railway platform and could fire at a distance of 48 km. In total, the Germans managed to produce two “Doras”, one of them was used during the siege of Sevastopol, and possibly during the suppression of the uprising in Warsaw. The total weight of one gun was 1350 tons. The gun could fire one shot in 30-40 minutes. It should be noted that combat effectiveness This monster is doubted by many experts and military historians.
Basilica or Ottoman cannon
It was made in the middle of the 15th century by the Hungarian master Urban specially commissioned by Sultan Mehmed II. This artillery piece had colossal size: its length was approximately 12 meters, diameter - 75-90 cm, total weight– about 32 tons. The bombard was cast from bronze and required 30 bulls to move it. In addition, the “crew” of the gun included another 50 carpenters, whose task was to make a special platform, as well as up to 200 workers who moved the gun. The Basilica's firing range was 2 km.
Artillery is one of the three oldest branches of the military, the main impact force ground forces of modern armed forces and it is not for nothing that I call artillerymen “gods of war.” In our review of the 10 most formidable artillery pieces ever created by man.
1. Atomic cannon 2B1 "Oka"
The Soviet atomic cannon 2B1 "Oka" was created in 1957. The chief designer of the project was B.I. Shavyrin. The gun fired mines different types for 25-50 km, depending on the type of charge. Average weight the mine fired was 67 kg. Gun caliber 450 mm.
2. Coastal gun 100-Ton Gun
The British 100-Ton Gun was used between 1877 and 1906. The caliber of the gun was 450 mm. The weight of the installation was 103 tons. It was intended to hit floating targets.
3. Railway howitzer BL 18
The BL 18 railway howitzer was built in Great Britain at the very end of the First World War. Its caliber was 457.2 mm. It was assumed that with the help of this weapon it would be possible to fire at the occupied territory of France.4. Ship gun 40cm/45 Type 94
The Japanese 40cm/45 Type 94 naval gun appeared before the start of World War II. It is noteworthy that the actual caliber of the gun was 460 mm, and not 400 mm, as was indicated in all technical documentation. The gun could hit targets at a distance of up to 42 km.
5. Mons Meg
The Scottish siege gun Mons Meg had a caliber of 520 mm. This weapon was used from 1449 to 1680. The cannon fired stone, metal and stone-metal shells. This giant was intended to destroy fortress walls.
6. Karl-Gerät
If there was one thing the Germans excelled at, it was destruction. The Karl-Gerät super heavy mortar, better known as the "Thor", was used several times by the Wehrmacht in battles on eastern front during the Second World War. Ultimately, the 600 mm gun proved terribly impractical.
7. Schwerer Gustav & Dora
Another example of the creativity of Nazi military engineers. The Schwerer Gustav & Dora guns, each with a caliber of 800 mm, were so huge that they required two adjacent railroad tracks for installation.
8. Tsar Cannon
In the caliber race, the Russians beat the Germans in absentia. The well-known Tsar cannon has a caliber of 890 mm. The cannon was cast in 1586 and since then has always stood in Moscow. The weapon was never used in real combat, but it was created to the fullest extent of technology.
9. Little David gun
The 914mm Little David gun is a prime example of classic American defensive paranoia. It was created during the Second World War. It was planned that such guns would be installed on fortifications on west coast in case of invasion by the Japanese Empire.
10. Mallet's Mortar
The British Mallet's Mortar gun was created in 1857 and had a caliber of 914 mm. The cannon is a mortar that was supposed to be used to destroy enemy fortifications. The engineers did not specify how exactly it was planned to move the 43 tons.
11. M65 Atomic Cannon
The M65 Atomic Cannon atomic cannon is not at all a record holder in caliber, because in its case it is only 280 mm. However, this example of American weapons creativity remains one of the most powerful artillery installations in the world. The cannon was supposed to fire 15-ton nuclear charges at a distance of 40 km. Unfortunately for her, rocketry changed the approach to artillery once and for all in the second half of the 20th century.
Today combat vehicles demonstrate the highest technological level and have turned into real death machines that can be called the most effective weapons of today.
IN different times V different countries The designers began to experience an attack of gigantomania. Gigantomania manifested itself in various directions, including artillery. For example, in 1586 in Russia the Tsar Cannon was cast in bronze. Its dimensions were impressive: barrel length - 5340 mm, weight - 39.31 tons, caliber - 890 mm. In 1857, the Robert Mallett mortar was built in Great Britain. Its caliber was 914 millimeters and its weight was 42.67 tons. During World War II, Germany built the Dora, a 1,350-ton monster with a caliber of 807 mm. Other countries also created large-caliber guns, but not so large.
American designers were not noticed in the Second World War in gun giantomania, however, they too turned out to be, as they say, “not without sin.” The Americans created the giant Little David mortar, the caliber of which was 914 mm. “Little David” was the prototype of a heavy siege weapon with which the American military was going to storm the Japanese islands. During World War II, at the Aberdeen Proving Ground for testing the shooting of armor-piercing, concrete-piercing and high-explosive aviation bombs used large-caliber naval artillery gun barrels that had been removed from service. The test air bombs were launched using a relatively small powder charge and were launched at distances of several hundred yards. This system was used because during a normal airdrop, much often depended on the crew's ability to strictly comply with the test conditions and weather conditions. Attempts to use the bored barrels of 234 mm British and 305 mm American howitzers for such tests did not meet the growing calibers of aerial bombs.
In this regard, it was decided to design and build a special device that threw aircraft bombs called Bomb Testing Device T1. After construction, this device proved itself quite well and the idea arose of using it as an artillery weapon. During the invasion of Japan, the American army was expected to face heavily defended fortifications—and similar weapons would be ideal for destroying bunker fortifications. In March 1944, the modernization project was set in motion. In October of the same year, the gun received the status of a mortar and the name Little David. After this, test firing of artillery shells began.
The “Little David” mortar had a rifled barrel 7.12 m long (7.79 caliber) with right-hand rifling (rifling steepness 1/30). The length of the barrel, taking into account the vertical guidance mechanism mounted on its breech, was 8530 mm, weight - 40 tons. The firing range of a 1690 kg (explosive mass is 726.5 kg) projectile is 8680 m. The mass of the full charge was 160 kg (caps of 18 and 62 kg). starting speed projectile - 381 m/s. A box-shaped installation (dimensions 5500x3360x3000 mm) with rotating and lifting mechanisms was buried in the ground. Installation and removal of the artillery unit was carried out using six hydraulic jacks. Vertical pointing angles - +45. +65°, horizontal - 13° in both directions. The hydraulic recoil brake was concentric, there was no knurl, and a pump was used to return the barrel to its original position after each shot. The total weight of the assembled gun was 82.8 tons. Loading - from the muzzle, separate cap. The projectile at zero elevation angle was fed using a crane, after which it advanced a certain distance, after which the barrel rose, and further loading was carried out under the influence of gravity. An igniter primer was inserted into a socket made in the breech of the barrel. The Little David shell crater was 12 meters in diameter and 4 meters deep.
For transportation, specially modified M26 tank tractors were used: one tractor with a two-axle trailer transported the mortar, the other transported the installation. This made the mortar much more mobile than railway guns. The artillery crew's equipment, in addition to tractors, included a bulldozer, a bucket excavator and a crane, which were used to install the mortar at the firing position. It took approximately 12 hours to install the mortar in position. For comparison: the German 810/813-mm Dora gun, disassembled, was transported on 25 railway platforms, and it took about 3 weeks to bring it into combat readiness.
In March 1944, they began to remake the “device” into military weapon. Was developed high explosive shell with finished protrusions. Testing began at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Of course, a projectile weighing 1678 kilograms would have made a noise, but the Little David had all the “diseases” inherent in medieval mortars - it hit inaccurately and not far. In the end, something else was found to frighten the Japanese (Little Boy - atomic bomb, dropped on Hiroshima), but the supermortar never took part in the fighting. After the abandonment of the operation to land Americans on the Japanese Islands, they wanted to transfer the mortar to the Coastal Artillery, but poor accuracy of fire prevented its use there.
The project was suspended, and at the end of 1946 it was completely closed.
Currently, the mortar and shell are stored in the museum of the Aberdeen Proving Ground, where they were taken for testing.
Specifications: Country of origin: USA. Testing began in 1944. Caliber - 914 mm. Barrel length - 6700 mm. Weight - 36.3 tons. Range - 8687 meters (9500 yards).
|slideshow-40880 // The largest caliber gun in the world|
Military history has a huge number of memorable facts, which include the creation of weapons, which to this day amaze with the scope of engineering thought and its size. Over the entire existence of artillery, several artillery pieces of impressive dimensions were created. Of these, the most outstanding in size can be noted:
- Little David;
- Tsar Cannon;
- Dora;
- Charles;
- Big Bertha;
- 2B2 Oka;
- Saint-Chamond;
- Rodman;
- Capacitor.
Little David
"Little David", made by the Americans at the end of World War II, is an experimental model of a 914 mm mortar. Even in our time, it is the largest cannon in the world, a record holder among large-caliber ones.
Tsar Cannon
“Tsar Cannon”, created by master Andrei Chokhov in 1586, is cast in bronze and has large caliber 890 mm.
In fact, the cannon never fired, even despite the legends that say it was shot with the ashes of False Dmitry. As a detailed study of the gun shows, it was not completed, and the ignition hole was never drilled. The cannonballs from which the pedestal for the Tsar Cannon is made today were not actually intended to be fired from it. The cannon was supposed to fire “shots”, which were stone cannonballs with a total weight of up to 800 kilograms. That is why its early name sounds like “Russian Shotgun”.
Dora
The brainchild of the German plant "Krupp" of the late thirties of the last century, named after the wife of the chief designer, is called "Dora" and is a super-heavy railway artillery gun from the Second World War. This is the largest cannon of the German army.
Its caliber is 800 mm, and its large-caliber charge was impressive in the destruction after the shot. However, it did not differ in shooting accuracy, and it was not possible to fire many shots, because the costs of its use were not justified.
Charles
In the Second world war The German heavy self-propelled mortar "Karl" was destined to distinguish itself with its outstanding power, the large caliber of which was its main value, and was 600 mm.
Tsar Cannon (Perm)
The Perm Tsar Cannon, made of cast iron, has a caliber of 508 mm and, unlike its namesake, is still a military weapon.
The manufacture of the cannon dates back to 1868, and the order for it was issued to the Motovilikha Iron Cannon Plant by the Ministry of the Navy.
Big Bertha
The Big Bertha mortar, with a caliber of 420 mm and a firing range of 14 kilometers, is remembered as the largest artillery piece of the First World War.
It is famous for breaking through even two-meter concrete floors, and fifteen thousand fragments from its fragmentation shells could fly up to two kilometers. In total, no more than nine examples were built of the “fort killers,” as the “Big Bertha” was also called. Having a fairly large caliber, the gun was capable of firing with a frequency of one shot every eight minutes, and to soften the recoil, an anchor attached to the frame, which was buried in the ground, was used.
Oka
The Soviet-developed 2B2 “Oka”, with a 420mm caliber, could fire one shot with a range of twenty-five kilometers in five minutes. The active-reactive mine flew twice as far and weighed 670 kg. The shooting was carried out using nuclear charges.
However, as practice has shown, the possibility of long-term operation was complicated by too strong recoil. This was the reason for the refusal to put the gun into mass production, and only one “Oka” remained in the metal version. This is despite the fact that only four copies were produced.
Saint-Chamond
In May 1915, the front saw eight French railway guns from the Schneider-Creusot company.
Their creation was the responsibility of a special commission formed by the French government in 1914, from which large arms concerns received an offer to develop large-caliber guns for railway transporters. Particularly powerful 400 mm cannons, produced by the Saint-Chamon company, took part in hostilities a little later than their predecessors from Schneider-Creusot.
Rodman
In the nineteenth century, new types of weapons began to appear in the form of armored trains and armored ships. To combat them, in 1863, the Rodman Columbiad gun was manufactured, weighing 22.6 tons. The barrel caliber was 381 mm. The name of the gun was taken in honor of an early example of a similar type.
Capacitor
The parade, which took place on Red Square in 1957, is notable for the fact that the Condenser self-propelled artillery unit (SAU 2A3) marched in the column of troops.
Its considerable caliber (406 mm) and impressive dimensions made a splash at the parade. Experts from other countries began to suspect that in fact the equipment shown at the parade was purely of a sham nature and was intended to intimidate, but in reality it was real combat installation, which was also shot at the training ground.
With the discovery of gunpowder, artillery began to flourish in the world. The walls of cities became thicker and stronger, and accordingly, ordinary trebuchets, catapults and small-caliber ones could no longer effectively penetrate them. As a result, the size of artillery installations began to seriously increase in order to be able to combat enemy defenses. This is how the largest cannon in the world appeared. Very few such weapons were created, so they are a kind of symbol of the power of the state that created them.
5. 2B1 "Oka"
Development of this self-propelled gun began on November 18, 1955, due to a resolution of the Council of Ministers. The main idea was to create a mobile unit capable of firing tactical nuclear warheads, since at that time the USSR had such weapons that strategists could not determine the method of delivering them to the final enemy. This self-propelled mortar had the following characteristics:
A total of four prototypes were produced, and all of them even took part in the parade on Red Square. The chassis was created based on heavy tank T-10 (IS-8). Subsequently, during field tests, the main drawback of the Oka was revealed, namely, the huge recoil, due to which the gun rolled back five meters after firing, which turned out to be unacceptable. Due to the fact that loading took place from the breech of the gun, the rate of fire was increased to 1 shot per 5 minutes.
However, even such characteristics did not satisfy the commission, and it was decided to abandon the project. At that time, mobile tactical weapons were already considered more promising. missile systems, like 2K6 “Luna” and the like, whose total power easily covered the potential of 2B1 “Oka”.
This mortar, created at the end of the Second World War, was a kind of experiment and was intended for shelling the most seriously fortified areas of the enemy’s defense. And although “little David” had a much more modest appearance, compared to monsters like “Dora” or “Karl”, its caliber was much more impressive, as were other characteristics, among them:
The mortar was supposed to be used during the US invasion of the Japanese Islands, since American strategists expected to see extremely serious defenses there, consisting of well-fortified bunkers and pillboxes. To hit such targets, a special projectile was even developed, which “little David” was supposed to fire. After the detonation of the ammunition, a crater with a diameter of more than 12 meters and a depth of more than 4 meters remained. Despite all its power, the mortar never left its test site, eventually turning into a museum exhibit; in addition, it was possible to save one shell from its ammunition load.
The Tsar Cannon is a monument to Russian foundry art and artillery. It was cast in bronze in 1586 by master Andrei Chokhov, who worked at the Cannon Yard. The Tsar Cannon has the following characteristics:
The Tsar Cannon itself is covered with various inscriptions relating to the greatness of the Russian Tsar, as well as containing the name of the master who cast it. Historians are confident that the gun was fired at least once, but no documents have yet been found that shed light on this point. Now the gun is one of the main attractions of Moscow.
Dora is one of the unique super-heavy artillery pieces that have only been produced in modern times. Built by Krupp in the late 1930s. The very idea of such a weapon was proposed by Adolf Hitler during a visit to one of the concern’s factories in 1936. Dora's main task was the complete destruction of the Maginot Line and some Belgian border forts. Soon a technical specification for the designers was drawn up, and work began to boil. In general, the following characteristics of this weapon can be distinguished:
It is known that Dora was used during the siege of Sevastopol. More than 50 shells were fired at the city, each weighing 7 tons. This caused quite serious destruction to the city, but most military experts are inclined to believe that such artillery systems are stillborn.
A giant bombard, which the Hungarian engineer Urban managed to cast in just a few months, around the 15th century. The Basilica was built for the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II and was intended to bombard the walls of Constantinople, which was still in the hands of the Byzantines. The bombard had a huge number of shortcomings, but its strength was enough for the Turks to be able to punch a large hole in the city wall with one shot and win the battle. However, just two months after the shot, the Basilica collapsed from its own recoil. Accurate technical characteristics and no images have survived, but something is still known:
Considering the conditions under which the Basilica was created, we can say that this is the cannon in the world. The weight of the projectile of this bombard could reach 700 kilograms, which is quite serious for that time. Overall, this is one of the most terrible weapons, which, although it had its shortcomings, still completed its task.