"Dora" and "Gustav" are giant weapons. Ghost gun: Soviet intelligence did not fully believe in the existence of this gun
Super heavy artillery piece The railway-mounted Dora was developed in the late 30s of the last century by the German company Krupp. This weapon was designed to destroy fortifications on the borders of Germany with Belgium and France (Maginot Line). In 1942, "Dora" was used to storm Sevastopol, and in 1944 to suppress the uprising in Warsaw.
The development of German artillery after World War I was limited by the Treaty of Versailles. According to the provisions of this treaty, Germany was prohibited from having any anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, as well as guns whose caliber exceeded 150 mm. Thus, the creation of large-caliber and powerful artillery was a matter of honor and prestige, the leaders of Nazi Germany believed.
Based on this, in 1936, when Hitler visited one of the Krupp factories, he categorically demanded that the company's management design a super-powerful weapon that would be capable of destroying the French Maginot Line and Belgian border forts, for example, Eben-Emal. According to the requirements of the Wehrmacht, a cannon shell must be able to penetrate 7 m thick concrete, 1 m thick armor, hard ground 30 meters, the maximum range of the gun should be 25-45 km. and have a vertical guidance angle of +65 degrees.
The group of designers of the Krupp concern, which began creating a new super-powerful gun according to the proposed tactical and technical requirements, was headed by Professor E. Muller, who had extensive experience in this issue. The development of the project was completed in 1937, and in the same year the Krupp concern was given an order for production new gun caliber 800mm. Construction of the first gun was completed in 1941. The gun, in honor of E. Muller’s wife, was given the name “Dora”. The second gun, which was named “ Fat Gustav", was built in mid-1941. In addition, a third 520 mm caliber gun was designed. and a trunk length of 48 meters. It was called "Long Gustav". But this weapon was not completed.
In 1941, 120 km. west of Berlin, at the Rügenwalde-Hillersleben training ground, guns were tested. Adolf Hitler himself, his comrade-in-arms Albert Speer, as well as other high army officials were present at the tests. Hitler was pleased with the test results.
Although the guns did not have some mechanisms, they met the requirements that were specified in the technical specifications. All tests were completed by the end of the 42nd year. The gun was delivered to the troops. By this time, the company's factories had produced over 100 800 mm caliber shells.
Some design features of the gun.
The locking of the barrel bolt, as well as the delivery of projectiles, were carried out by hydraulic mechanisms. The gun was equipped with two lifts: for cartridges and for shells. The first part of the barrel was with a conical thread, the second with a cylindrical thread.
The gun was mounted on a 40-axle conveyor, which was located on a double railway track. The distance between the tracks was 6 meters. In addition, another railway track was laid on the sides of the gun for installation cranes. Gross weight guns was 1350 tons. To fire, the gun needed an area up to 5 km long. The time spent preparing the gun for firing consisted of choosing a position (could reach 6 weeks) and assembling the gun itself (about 3 days).
Transportation of implements and maintenance personnel.
The gun was transported by rail. So, “Dora” was delivered to Sevastopol by 5 trains in 106 cars:
1st train: service (672nd artillery division, about 500 people), 43 cars;
2nd train, auxiliary equipment and assembly crane, 16 cars;
3rd train: cannon parts and workshop, 17 cars;
4th train: loading mechanisms and barrel, 20 cars;
5th train: ammunition, 10 cars.
Combat use.
In World War II, Dora took part only twice.
The first time the gun was used was to capture Sevastopol in 1942. During this campaign, only one case was recorded of a successful hit by a Dora shell, which caused an explosion of an ammunition depot located at a depth of 27 meters. The remaining Dora shots penetrated the ground to a depth of 12 meters. After the explosion of the shell, a drop-shaped shape with a diameter of about 3 meters was formed in the ground, which did not cause much harm to the defenders of the city. In Sevastopol, the gun fired 48 shells.
After Sevastopol, "Dora" was sent to Leningrad, and from there to Essen for repairs.
The second time Dora was used was in 1944 to suppress the Warsaw Uprising. In total, the gun fired more than 30 shells into Warsaw.
The end of Dora and Gustav.
On April 22, 1945, the advanced units of the Allied army were 36 km away. from the city of Auerbach (Bavaria) they discovered the remains of the Dora and Gustav guns blown up by the Germans. Subsequently, everything that was left of these giants of the 2nd World War was sent for melting down.
The idea of creating a super-powerful cannon belongs to Hitler. Having visited the Krupp factories in 1936, the Fuhrer ordered construction work to begin artillery system, capable of breaking through multi-meter concrete shelters of the French Maginot Line and Belgian fortifications. The calculations of Krupp’s specialists came down to ton-meters: a seven-meter concrete wall of the shelter could only be penetrated by a seven-ton shell from an 800-mm gun.
The artillery system, which has no analogues, was created by a design team led by Professor Eric Mulle. Mullet's wife's name was Dora. The superweapon received the same name. This artillery system was supposed to fire from a distance of 35-45 kilometers, but for this, the Dora had to have a super-long barrel and a mass of at least 400 tons. They worked on “Dora” for more than four years, spending an astronomical sum at that time of 10,000,000 Reichsmarks. The fortifications that Hitler spoke about when ordering the creation of a supercannon were already taken by the Germans at that time, without waiting for Dora.
The length of the Dora barrel exceeded 32 meters, and the weight of the gun itself, without the railway platform on which it was installed, was 400 tons. Its concrete-piercing projectile weighed 7 tons, and its high-explosive projectile weighed 4.8 tons. After fifteen shots, the barrel was already beginning to wear out, although it was originally designed for a hundred. “Dora” in the complex was a rather bulky and clumsy structure - being mounted on a special 80-wheeled railway conveyor, the complex artillery system moved simultaneously along two parallel tracks. In total, the system was served by about 3 thousand people. The Dora took more than a month to prepare for firing.
The Dora and Gustav guns are giant guns.
The Dora super-heavy railway-mounted artillery gun was developed in the late 1930s by the German company Krupp. This weapon was intended to destroy fortifications on the borders of Germany with Belgium and France (Maginot Line). In 1942, "Dora" was used to storm Sevastopol, and in 1944 to suppress the uprising in Warsaw.
The development of German artillery after World War I was limited by the Treaty of Versailles. According to the provisions of this treaty, Germany was prohibited from having any anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, as well as guns whose caliber exceeded 150 mm. Thus, the creation of large-caliber and powerful artillery was a matter of honor and prestige, the leaders of Nazi Germany believed.
Based on this, in 1936, when Hitler visited one of the Krupp factories, he categorically demanded that the company's management design a super-powerful weapon that would be capable of destroying the French Maginot Line and Belgian border forts, for example, Eben-Emal. According to the requirements of the Wehrmacht, a cannon shell must be capable of penetrating 7 m thick concrete, 1 m thick armor, 30 meters hard ground, and the maximum range of the gun should be 25-45 km. and have a vertical guidance angle of +65 degrees.
The group of designers of the Krupp concern, which began creating a new super-powerful gun according to the proposed tactical and technical requirements, was headed by Professor E. Muller, who had extensive experience in this matter. The development of the project was completed in 1937, and in the same year the Krupp concern was given an order for the production of a new 800mm caliber gun. Construction of the first gun was completed in 1941. The gun, in honor of E. Muller’s wife, was given the name “Dora”. The second gun, which was named “Fat Gustav” in honor of the management of the company Gustav von Bohlen and Halbach Krupp, was built in mid-1941. In addition, a third 520 mm caliber gun was designed. and a trunk length of 48 meters. It was called "Long Gustav". But this weapon was not completed.
In 1941, 120 km. west of Berlin, at the Rügenwalde-Hillersleben training ground, guns were tested. Adolf Hitler himself, his comrade-in-arms Albert Speer, as well as other high army officials were present at the tests. Hitler was pleased with the test results.
Although the guns did not have some mechanisms, they met the requirements that were specified in the technical specifications. All tests were completed by the end of the 42nd year. The gun was delivered to the troops. By the same time, the company's factories had produced over 100 800mm caliber shells.
The locking of the barrel bolt, as well as the delivery of projectiles, were carried out by hydraulic mechanisms. The gun was equipped with two lifts: for cartridges and for shells. The first part of the barrel was with a conical thread, the second with a cylindrical thread.
The gun was mounted on a 40-axle conveyor, which was located on a double railway track. The distance between the tracks was 6 meters. In addition, another railway track was laid on the sides of the gun for installation cranes. The total weight of the gun was 1350 tons. To fire, the gun needed an area up to 5 km long. The time spent preparing the gun for firing consisted of choosing a position (could reach 6 weeks) and assembling the gun itself (about 3 days).
Transportation of implements and maintenance personnel.
The gun was transported by rail. So, “Dora” was delivered to Sevastopol by 5 trains in 106 cars:
1st train: service (672nd artillery division, about 500 people), 43 cars;
2nd train, auxiliary equipment and erection crane, 16 cars;
3rd train: cannon parts and workshop, 17 cars;
4th train: loading mechanisms and barrel, 20 cars;
5th train: ammunition, 10 cars.
Combat use.
In World War II, Dora took part only twice.
The first time the gun was used was to capture Sevastopol in 1942. During this campaign, only one case was recorded of a successful hit by a Dora shell, which caused an explosion of an ammunition depot located at a depth of 27 meters. The remaining Dora shots penetrated the ground to a depth of 12 meters. After the explosion of the shell, a drop-shaped shape with a diameter of about 3 meters was formed in the ground, which did not cause much harm to the defenders of the city. In Sevastopol, the gun fired 48 shells.
After Sevastopol, "Dora" was sent to Leningrad, and from there to Essen for repairs.
The second time Dora was used was in 1944 to suppress the Warsaw Uprising. In total, the gun fired more than 30 shells into Warsaw.
The end of Dora and Gustav.
On April 22, 1945, the advanced units of the Allied army were 36 km away. from the city of Auerbach (Bavaria) they discovered the remains of the Dora and Gustav guns blown up by the Germans. Subsequently, everything that was left of these giants of the 2nd World War was sent for melting down.
The Dora super-heavy railway-mounted artillery gun was developed in the late 1930s by the German company Krupp. This weapon was intended to destroy fortifications on the borders of Germany with Belgium and France (Maginot Line). In 1942, "Dora" was used to storm Sevastopol, and in 1944 to suppress the uprising in Warsaw.
The development of German artillery after World War I was limited by the Treaty of Versailles. According to the provisions of this treaty, Germany was prohibited from having any anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, as well as guns whose caliber exceeded 150 mm. Thus, the creation of large-caliber and powerful artillery was a matter of honor and prestige, the leaders of Nazi Germany believed.
Based on this, in 1936, when Hitler visited one of the Krupp factories, he categorically demanded that the company's management design a super-powerful weapon that would be capable of destroying the French Maginot Line and Belgian border forts, for example, Eben-Emal. According to the requirements of the Wehrmacht, a cannon shell must be capable of penetrating 7 m thick concrete, 1 m thick armor, 30 m hard ground, and the maximum range of the gun should be 25-45 km. and have a vertical guidance angle of +65 degrees.
The group of designers of the Krupp concern, which began creating a new super-powerful gun according to the proposed tactical and technical requirements, was headed by Professor E. Muller, who had extensive experience in this matter. The development of the project was completed in 1937, and in the same year the Krupp concern was given an order for the production of a new 800mm caliber gun. Construction of the first gun was completed in 1941. The gun, in honor of E. Muller’s wife, was given the name “Dora”. The second gun, which was named “Fat Gustav” in honor of the management of the company Gustav von Bohlen and Halbach Krupp, was built in mid-1941. In addition, a third 520 mm caliber gun was designed. and a trunk length of 48 meters. It was called "Long Gustav". But this weapon was not completed.
In 1941, 120 km. west of Berlin, at the Rügenwalde-Hillersleben training ground, guns were tested. The tests were attended by Adolf Hitler himself, his comrade-in-arms Albert Speer, as well as other high army officials. Hitler was pleased with the test results.
Although the guns did not have some mechanisms, they met the requirements that were specified in the technical specifications. All tests were completed by the end of the 42nd year. The gun was delivered to the troops. By this time, the company's factories had produced over 100 800 mm caliber shells.
Some design features of the gun.
The locking of the barrel bolt, as well as the delivery of projectiles, were carried out by hydraulic mechanisms. The gun was equipped with two lifts: for cartridges and for shells. The first part of the barrel was with a conical thread, the second with a cylindrical thread.
The gun was mounted on a 40-axle conveyor, which was located on a double railway track. The distance between the tracks was 6 meters. In addition, another railway track was laid on the sides of the gun for installation cranes. The total weight of the gun was 1350 tons. To fire, the gun needed an area up to 5 km long. The time spent preparing the gun for firing consisted of choosing a position (could reach 6 weeks) and assembling the gun itself (about 3 days).
Transportation of implements and maintenance personnel.
The gun was transported by rail. So, “Dora” was delivered to Sevastopol by 5 trains in 106 cars:
1st train: service (672nd artillery division, about 500 people), 43 cars;
2nd train, auxiliary equipment and erection crane, 16 cars;
3rd train: cannon parts and workshop, 17 cars;
4th train: loading mechanisms and barrel, 20 cars;
5th train: ammunition, 10 cars.
Combat use.
In World War II, Dora took part only twice.
The first time the gun was used was to capture Sevastopol in 1942. During this campaign, only one case was recorded of a successful hit by a Dora shell, which caused an explosion of an ammunition depot located at a depth of 27 meters. The remaining Dora shots penetrated the ground to a depth of 12 meters. After the explosion of the shell, a drop-shaped shape with a diameter of about 3 meters was formed in the ground, which did not cause much harm to the defenders of the city. In Sevastopol, the gun fired 48 shells.
After Sevastopol, "Dora" was sent to Leningrad, and from there to Essen for repairs.
The second time Dora was used was in 1944 to suppress the Warsaw Uprising. In total, the gun fired more than 30 shells into Warsaw.
The end of Dora and Gustav.
On April 22, 1945, the advanced units of the Allied army were 36 km away. from the city of Auerbach (Bavaria) they discovered the remains of the Dora and Gustav guns blown up by the Germans. Subsequently, everything that was left of these giants of the 2nd World War was sent for melting down.
Remains of the Dora and Gustav guns blown up by the Germans
Hitler instructed the management of the Krupp concern to develop a heavy-duty long-range weapon capable of penetrating concrete fortifications up to seven meters thick and one meter of armor. The implementation of this project was the super-powerful Dora cannon, named after the wife of its chief designer, Erich Muller.
The first samples of super-heavy guns
By the time the Fuhrer came up with such an ambitious idea, German industry already had experience in producing artillery monsters. At the end of the First World War, Paris was bombarded by a battery consisting of three heavy guns"Colossal" system. The barrels of these monsters had a caliber of two hundred and seven millimeters and sent their projectiles over a distance of over one hundred kilometers, which was considered a record at that time.
However, calculating the damage caused to the French capital by this battery showed that its real effectiveness was insignificant. With an exceptional range, the accuracy of the guns was extremely low, and they could not fire at specific objects, but only at huge areas.
Only a small part of the shells hit residential buildings or other structures. The guns were mounted on railway platforms and required at least eighty men to operate each one. Taking into account, moreover, their high cost, it turned out that the costs of them largely exceeded the damage that they were capable of inflicting on the enemy.
The shame of the Treaty of Versailles
At the end of the war, conditions Treaty of Versailles, among other restrictions, introduced a ban for Germany on the production of guns whose caliber exceeded one hundred and fifty millimeters. It is for this reason that for the leadership of the Third Reich it was a matter of prestige, trampling on the articles of a treaty that was humiliating for them, to create a cannon capable of surprising the world. As a result, “Dora” appeared - an instrument of retribution for injured national pride.
Creating an Artillery Monster
The work on creating the project and producing this monster took five years. Super heavy railway gun"Dora" with her own technical parameters surpassed imagination and common sense. Despite the fact that a projectile fired from it with a caliber of eight hundred and thirteen millimeters flew only fifty kilometers, it was capable of penetrating seven meters of reinforced concrete, a meter of armor and thirty-meter thick earthen fortifications.
Problems associated with using the implement
However, these undoubtedly high figures lost their meaning if we take into account that the gun, with extremely low fire accuracy, required truly large-scale maintenance and operating costs. It is known, for example, that the position occupied by the Dora railway gun was at least four and a half kilometers. The entire installation was delivered disassembled, and its installation took up to one and a half months, which required two 110-ton cranes.
Such a gun consisted of five hundred people, but in addition to this, a guard battalion and a transport battalion were assigned to them. Two trains and another energy train were used to transport ammunition. In general, the personnel required to service one such gun was one and a half thousand people. To feed such a number of people, they even had their own field bakery. From all this it is clear that “Dora” is a weapon that requires incredible costs for its operation.
First attempt to use the weapon
For the first time, the Germans tried to use their new creation against the British to destroy what they had built in Gibraltar. But immediately a problem arose with transportation across Spain. In a country that has not yet recovered from civil war, there were no lifting bridges and roads necessary to transport such a monster. In addition, dictator Franco did his best to prevent this, not wanting to drag the country into a military clash with the Western allies at that moment.
Transfer of guns to the eastern front
In view of these circumstances, the Dora super-heavy gun was sent to the eastern front. In February 1942, it arrived in Crimea, where it was placed at the disposal of the army, which unsuccessfully tried to storm Sevastopol. Here is 813 mm siege cannon"Dora" was used to suppress the Soviet coastal batteries, equipped with 305 mm guns.
An inordinately large staff servicing the installation here at eastern front, it was necessary to increase additional security forces, since from the first days of arrival on the peninsula the cannon and its crew were attacked by partisans. As is known, railway artillery is very vulnerable to air strikes, so to cover the guns from air raids it was necessary to additionally use anti-aircraft division. It was also joined by a chemical unit, whose task was to create smoke screens.
Preparing a combat position to begin shelling
The location for installing the gun was chosen with special care. It was identified during an air overflight of the territory by the commander of the heavy gun formation, General Zuckerort. He chose one of the mountains, in which a wide cut was made to equip a combat position. In order to ensure technical control The Krupp company sent its specialists to the combat area to develop and manufacture the gun.
The design features of the gun made it possible to move the barrel only in a vertical position, so to change the direction of fire (horizontally), the Dora gun was placed on a special platform, which moved along the arc of steeply curved railway tracks. To move it, two powerful diesel locomotives were used.
Work on installing the artillery mount and preparing it for firing was completed by the beginning of June 1942. To intensify the fire strike on the fortifications of Sevastopol, the Germans used, in addition to the Dora, two more self-propelled units"Charles". The caliber of their barrels was 60 cm. They were also powerful and destructive weapons.
Memories of event participants
Eyewitness accounts remain memorable day June 5, 1942. They talk about how two powerful locomotives rolled this monster weighing 1,350 tons along a rail arc. It had to be installed to the nearest centimeter, which was done by a team of machinists. For the first shot, a projectile weighing 7 tons was placed in the charging part of the gun.
A balloon rose into the air, the task of the crew was to adjust the fire. When the preparations were completed, the entire crew of the gun was taken to shelters located at a distance of several hundred meters. From the same eyewitnesses it is known that the recoil from the shot was so strong that the rails on which the platform stood went five centimeters into the ground.
A useless piece of military art
Military historians disagree on the number of shots fired German gun"Dora" in Sevastopol. Based on the data of the Soviet command, there were forty-eight of them. This matches technical resource a trunk that cannot withstand more of them (then it needs to be replaced). German sources claim that the cannon fired at least eighty shots, after which, during the next raid by Soviet bombers, the power train was disabled.
In general, the Wehrmacht command was forced to admit that Hitler’s vaunted Dora gun did not live up to the hopes placed on it. Despite all the costs incurred, the effectiveness of the fire was minimal. Only one successful hit was recorded at an ammunition depot, located at a distance of twenty-seven kilometers. The remaining multi-ton shells fell without any benefit, leaving behind deep craters in the ground.
No damage was caused to the defensive structures, since they could only be destroyed as a result of direct hits. There is a statement about this gun from the chief of staff ground forces Wehrmacht, Colonel General He said that the most big gun"Dora" is just a useless piece of art. It is difficult to add anything to the judgment of this military specialist.
The Fuhrer's anger and new plans
Such disappointing results shown by the Dora gun during combat operations aroused the Fuhrer’s anger. He was committed to this project high hopes. According to his calculations, the weapon, despite the prohibitively high costs associated with its production, should have been delivered to mass production and thus introduce significant change into the balance of power on the fronts. In addition, the serial production of a weapon of this scale was supposed to indicate the industrial potential of Germany.
After the failure in Crimea, Krupp designers tried to improve their brainchild. It should have been a completely different heavy artillery installation"Dora". The gun was supposed to be made ultra-long-range, and it was supposed to be used on Western Front. It was planned to make fundamental changes to its design, allowing, according to the authors’ plans, to fire three-stage rockets. But such plans, fortunately, were not destined to come true.
During the war, in addition to the Dora cannon, the Germans produced another super-heavy weapon with a caliber of eighty centimeters. It was named after the head of the Krupp company, Gustav Krupp von Bollen - “Fat Gustav”. This gun, which cost Germany ten million marks, turned out to be as unusable as the Dora. The weapon had almost the same numerous disadvantages and very limited advantages. At the end of the war, both installations were blown up by the Germans.
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