Heavy and Super-Heavy Artillery

UpdatedJune 22, 2006
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  Br-2 gun 203mm how. 203mm how. B-4 how. Mod. 1931 234mm how.
Modification Mod. 1935 Mod. 1916 Mod. 1929 B-4MM B-4BM -
Caliber, mm 152.4 203.2 203.2 203.2 234
Battle weight/Transportation weight, kg 18200/19500 8192/9726 7452*7 15800/16830 17700/19000 13580/14710
Barrel length, calibers 47.2 16 20.2 22 25 14.54

Shell weight, kg

48.77 90.7*5 100*5 100/146*9 131*5
Range, m 25070 9600 14000 16000 9500
Muzzle velocity, m/sec 880 396 430 573/607*9 360
Rate of Fire, rounds/min 0.5 2 3 0.5 2
Max. Elevation angle, deg 60 50 42.5 60 55
Arc of fire, deg. 8 8 6 8 6
Transport Mech.*1 Mech. Mech.*1 Mech/SP*10 Mech./horses*13
Max. transp. speed, km/h 15/5*2 6-8 6-10 12-15*11 6-8
Loading, type ? separate separate separate separate
Guncrew 15 7 7 15 15
In Troops on June, 22'41 28 ?*6 ?*8 727*12 4*14
Concrete piercing* 9000/1200 ? ? ?/1000 ?
Years of production/receiving 1936-1940 -/1916? 1931-33 1932-1941 -/1917
Numbers produced/received 50*3 -/72 16 994 4

* - Piercing of concrete flag. Distance, m/flag thickness, mm

*1 - Two carts;

*2 - In non-assembled/assembled state;

*3 - Including B-30 guns. Six 152mm B-30 guns also were made (based on B-10 prototype gun and B-4 howitzer's gun-carriage). Mostly were used for equipment of a separate artillery regiment (24 guns) and two separate batteries (2 guns in each). They were used as coastal guns in Arkhangelsky Military District.

In [1] the next figures are given: 16 152mm guns (B-30 & Br-2) were produced before 1937, 7 Br-2 guns in 1937, 27 Br-2 guns in 1939/40. However in [2] the total amount of 152mm guns Mod. 1935 is 52 guns (all in inland military districts).

On May 1, 1945 there were still 28 such guns in RKKA[1].

*4 - Armor-piercing: 9,000m - concrete plate 1,200 mm.

*5 - High explosive shell;

*6 - 8" Mk VI Vickers howitzer. On Nov. 11'36 there were 50 such howitzers. Were used at least until 1943. No any data in [2] for this type.

*7 - Transportation weight: 4574+2878 kg (gun-carriage+barrel);

*8 - Was designed as modification of Schneider 203mm howitzer mod. 1913. 16 howitzers were built in 1931-1933. No data for those in [2]. According to [1] those howitzers were still assigned to RKKA.

*9 - high-explosive/concrete-piercing;

*10 - SP - self-propelled;

*11 - 12-15 km/h (highway, unpaved road), 8 km/h (rough terrain);

*12 - At the beginning of the War all howitzers were transferred into Supreme Command-in-Chief Reserve Howitzer Super-Heavy Artillery Regiments. Each regiment consisted of 4 battalions (3 batteries in each). Each battery had 2 howitzers. 1 howitzer was equal to platoon. Sum total in regiment - 24 howitzers. On June 22, 1941 Supreme Command-in-Chief Reserve had 33 regiments equipped with B-4 (792 by staff, 727 actually). On May 1, 1945 there were 760 howitzers in 30 brigades and separate artillery regiments.

In [2] book we can see the number of those howitzers to be 886. Among them 517 in western military districts.

A few dozens of B-4s were captured by Germans in 1941 (Including 27 howitzers of the 529th Howitzer Artillery regiment in Dubno in June 1941). They called them 20,3 cm H.503/1(r), 20,3 cm H.503/2(r). On Mar 1944 there were 3 such guns on the Eastern Front.

*13 - 3 carts;

*14 - 4 such howitzers were brought to Russia from Britain in 1917. On Nov. 1'36 one of them needed repair and never was used. they were known to be employed in the Winter War. No data in [2] for those.

 

  Br-17 gun 280mm mortar Br-5 mortar 305mm how. Br-18 how.
Modification Mod. 1939 Mod. 1915 Mod. 1939 Mod. 1915  
Caliber, mm 210 279.4 279.4 304.8 304.8
Battle weight/Transportation weight, kg 44000/59600 16100/- 18400/19700 64783/- 43000/58070
Barrel length, calibers 49.6 12 17 20 22

Shell weight, kg

135/154*1 212.9*4 200/246*7 376.7*11 330/465*1
Range, m 30360 10920 10950 13486 16580
Muzzle velocity, m/sec 800/750*1 414 420 442 530/410*1
Rate of Fire, rounds/min 0.5 1-2 0.5 0.33 0.4
Max. Elevation angle, deg 50 60 60 60 80
Arc of fire, deg. 90 18 8 60 90
Transport Mech. Mech./horses*5 Mech./SP*8 Railway*12 Mech.
Max. transp. speed, km/h ? 6-8 12-15*9 - 30
Loading, type ? separate separate separate powder bag
Guncrew 20 15 15 25 26
In Troops on June, 22'41 9*2 25*6 47*10 34*13 ?*14
Concrete piercing*

?/2500/90°

?/2000/60°

? ? ? See*15
Years of production/receiving 1940-41 -/1912 1936-1941 1915-17 1939
Numbers produced/received 9 ? 47 50 3

* - Piercing of concrete flag by concrete-piercing shell. Distance, m/flag thickness, mm /Angle, deg.

 

*1 - high-explosive/concrete-piercing;

*2 -At 1941 they were used for equipment of a separate Peculiar-Heavy battalion (3 batteries). Due to absence of shells and gunnery tables seemed to be not used until 1944. On May 1 1945 there were four Peculiar-Heavy Gun Artillery Regiments equipped with 6 152mm Br-2 guns+2 210mm Br-17 each.

In [2] the number of Br-17 on June 22'41 is only 1 gun.

*3 -

*4 - High explosive shell;

*5 - 4 carts;

*6 - Was designed by Schneider for Russia in 1910. Was also called Mod.1912, Mod.1914. Were used for equipment of separate peculiar-heavy artillery battalions until the end of the War.

In [2] only 17 such morars were mentioned. All in western military districts.

*7 - high-explosive/armour-piercing;

*8 - SP - self-propelled;

*9 - 12-15 km/h (highway/unpaved road), 8 km/h (rough terrain);

*10 - On May 1, 1945 RKKA had 48 mortars (including 1 B-33 280mm one). All mortars were concentrated in eight separate artillery peculiar-heavy battalions (6 mortars in each).

Following to [2] RKKA had 55 such mortars on June 22'41 including 39 ones in western military districts;

*11 - high-explosive shell;

*12 - non-assembled state.

*13 - Were used for equipment of five separate Peculiar-Heavy Artillery battalions (3 batteries in each, 2 guns in each battery). Were used in Karelia and Koenigsberg assault.

In [2] 33 305mm howitzers of different types (Br-18, Mod. 1914/15, Mod. 1939) are mentioned.

*14 - 3 howitzers produced. No data about their usage. Seems to be only experimental ones.

*15 - concrete-piercing: by concrete-piercing shell (60 deg. angle) - 2m, two hits - 3m.


Captured guns: Several dozens of German 210mm 21cm M18 mortars were captured. They were used in Artillery of Supreme Command-in-Chief Reserve. There were 16 such mortars in RKKA on May, 01.1945 (including 2 ones, which had been bought in 1940). [3]


Literature
  1. A.Ivanov "Artillerija SSSR v period vtoroy mirovoy vojny" SPb, "Neva", 2003
  2. Boyevoi i Chislennyi sostav Vooruzhennykh sil SSSR v period Velikoy Otechestvennoy Vojny. Statisticheskiy Sbornik No. 1, Moscow, 1994
  3. A. Shirokorad. "Bog voiny tretjego reikha", M. Tranzitkniga, 2003.

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