Mortar "Oka"
In fifth position on the list of the world's largest guns is another domestic development of the Soviet era - the Oka mortar. In the middle of the last century, the USSR already had nuclear weapons, but experienced some problems with delivering them to the target location. Therefore, Soviet designers were given the task of creating a mortar that could fire nuclear warheads.
As a result, they got a kind of monster with a caliber of 420 mm and a weight of almost 60 tons. The mortar's firing range varied within 50 kilometers, which, in principle, was sufficient for mobile tank equipment of those times.
Despite the theoretical success of the enterprise, mass production of Oka was abandoned. The reason for this was the monstrous recoil of the gun, which negated all mobility: for a normal shot it was necessary to properly dig in the mortar and build supports, and this required too much time.
Bombing of the monastery
British attack on the Solovetsky Monastery. Popular picture. 1868
Unknown artist. White Sea. Attack of Novitsk by frigate Miranda and corvette Brisk. August 1854
In the middle of the 19th century, the romance of sailing ships armed with cannons (familiar to us from books about pirates) disappeared forever. Steamships began to reign on the seas. They were also armed. During the Crimean War, it was the steamships that fired at the Solovetsky Monastery. Yes, yes, it was Solovetsky, and precisely during the Crimean War. It turns out that this campaign had another one - a northern front. The British, who trodden the path to Arkhangelsk under Ivan the Terrible, always remembered our northern coast (during the Civil War they also attacked from that side).
The Solovetsky Monastery was bombarded by two English ships - the Miranda and the Brisk. On July 6 and 7, 1854, they fired about 1,800 bombs and cannonballs, but did little damage to minor buildings and did not injure anyone. The monastery walls of the 16th century turned out to be built to last. But the coastal battery, consisting of monks and disabled people, knocked out the Miranda. The defense was led by the brave Archimandrite Alexander (Pavlovich), a former regimental priest. The naive engraving depicting this event is made in popular print style - the people here are disproportionate, and the puffs of smoke seem to be cut out of paper. The color French lithograph depicting the attack of the same ships on the settlement of Novitsk is much more realistic - but not as charming.
Ultra-long range or ultra-altitude?
Already in the mid-1930s, ultra-long-range guns had a serious competitor in the form of missiles. A number of experts admitted that talk about rockets being developed to transport mail or interplanetary communications is in fact just a cover for military work, the results of which could “fundamentally change the methods of combat operations.” French engineer L. Damblian, for example, proposed a design for a ballistic missile with an inclined launch from an artillery gun and a flight range of up to 140 km. In Germany, since 1936, work had already been carried out on a ballistic missile with a flight range of up to 275 km. Since 1937, at the Peenemünde test center, the A4 rocket, which became better known to the world under the name “V-2,” was perfected.
On the other hand, enthusiasts of interplanetary communications did not abandon the “artillery” ideas of Jules Verne. In the 1920s, German scientists M. Vallier and G. Oberth proposed firing a projectile towards the Moon, building for this purpose a giant cannon with a barrel length of 900 m on the top of a mountain near the equator. Another pioneer of astronautics proposed his own version of the “space gun” in 1928 G. von Pirke. In both cases, of course, things didn’t go beyond sketches and calculations.
There was another tempting direction for achieving super-ranges and super-heights - replacing the energy of powder gases with electromagnetic energy. But the implementation difficulties turned out to be much greater than the expected benefits. The “magnetic-fugal” gun of the Russian engineers Podolsky and Yampolsky with a theoretical flight range of up to 300 km (proposed back in 1915), the solenoid guns of the French Fachon and Viglione, and the “electric guns” of Maleval did not go beyond the drawings. The idea of electromagnetic guns is still alive today, but even the most promising railgun designs still remain just experimental laboratory installations. The fate of research instruments was also reserved for “super-high-speed” light-gas guns (their initial projectile speed reaches 5 km/s instead of the usual 1.5 for “powder” guns).
Nineteenth century, Iron
Jean-François Thomas de Thomon. Project of a monument made from captured guns (fragment). 1812–1813. Watercolor. GE
Alexey Olenin. Three projects for a monument built from firearms captured from the enemy in 1812. Between 1812–1814 Watercolor. GARF
Column of Glory, St. Petersburg. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
After the Patriotic War of 1812, on Russian lands there was an overabundance of not only frozen Frenchmen in footwear and women's sheepskin coats, but also French cannons. Some were captured from them on the battlefield, others were found abandoned along the route of their winter retreat. Today, inside the Moscow Kremlin alone there are 754 trophy guns (initially there were 875).
After the victory, the idea was in the air to weld them into a giant triumphal column. This project was supported by Emperor Alexander I, and then Nicholas I, but apparently not very actively. Drawings of variants of the monument made by Alexei Olenin, Andrei Voronikhin, Jean Francois Thomas de Thomon and other famous artists and architects have been preserved.
The idea was returned to in 1886: from 886 guns captured during the assault on Plevna, the Column of Glory was erected in St. Petersburg. True, in honor of another war - the Russian-Turkish 1877-1878. In the 1930s it was melted down, but in 2005 it was recreated. And the Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg is surrounded by a fence in memory of another Russian-Turkish war, which took place in 1828–1829. Instead of pillars, the grille, designed by architect Stasov, has 102 Turkish cannons captured in Izmail, Varna and other cities.
"Big Bertha"
Another weapon of German designers, but from the beginning of the last century, when the First World War was raging. The gun was developed at the already mentioned Krupp plant in 1914. The gun received a main combat caliber of 420 mm, and each individual projectile weighed almost one ton. Having a firing range of 14 kilometers, such indicators were quite acceptable.
"Big Bertha" was designed to destroy particularly strong enemy fortifications. Initially, the gun was stationary, but after some time it was modified and made possible to use on a mobile platform. The first option weighed about 50 tons, and the second about 40. To transport the guns, steam tractors were used, which with great difficulty, but coped with their task.
At the landing site of the projectile, a deep depression with a diameter of up to 15 meters was formed, depending on the ammunition chosen. The gun's rate of fire was surprisingly high - one shot in eight minutes. The cannon was a real disaster and a headache for the allies. The machine not only inspired fear, but also demolished even the strongest walls and fortifications.
But despite its destructive power, "Big Bertha" was vulnerable to enemy artillery. The latter was more mobile and quicker of fire. During the assault on the Osowiec fortress, in eastern Poland, the Germans, although they pretty much battered the fort, lost two of their guns. While the Russian soldiers repelled the onslaught with great success, damaging only one standard artillery unit (the naval "Kane").
The longest-range gun in the world
As the editors of the Popular Mechanics portal reports with reference to Defense News, the head of the US Army program for the development of long-range weapons, Colonel John Rafferty, reports that the technology by which the gun will be manufactured is truly innovative. However, a number of experts are still not sure about the economic feasibility of such a project.
The United States Army is set to test a key technical component at the Dahlgren Naval Support Facility in Virginia "very soon." For obvious reasons, the tactical and technical characteristics of the new weapon are not disclosed to us. Moreover, what is noteworthy is that at the moment the longest-range guns in service with the US Army are capable of hitting a target located at a distance of up to 265 nautical miles. However, apparently, we are talking about a cannon that fires rocket-propelled ammunition. The military already had similar developments, but it never got to the point of testing prototypes.
Conventional artillery pieces operate by using an artillery shell propelled by a gunpowder charge. When firing a cannon, burning powder gases create enormous pressure. The pressure itself grows and, reaching a “critical point,” throws the cartridge out of the gun. Here everything should be somewhat different. The new "Big Gun" will fire rocket-propelled projectiles (RAP).
The prototype of one of the most famous big guns in the USA. Photo from 1990
Can a long-range cannon be used for naval needs? Quite possible. Now the US Army is in full swing testing railgun guns (or railguns). But no matter how powerful they are, their charges are unlikely to be able to cover a distance of 1800-1900 kilometers. Another argument in favor of the feasibility of this project is the cost of charges for railguns. Each of them costs 400 to 500 thousand US dollars to produce, which is significantly more expensive than even “ordinary” rocket-propelled projectiles. What do you think about such a powerful gun?
The United States Army hopes to have a prototype gun ready by 2023. Until this point, all key elements of the gun will be tested. In particular, the projectile launch system, as well as systems for adjusting the accuracy of the gun at such long distances, are of greatest interest at the moment. Whether the projectiles will be guided is currently unknown.
Railgun: escape velocity for a projectile
Despite the fact that the Malka is one of the most powerful guns in the world, artillery technology does not stand still. Soon, a weapon operating on fundamentally new physical principles may appear in the world. The publication “War and Fatherland” once spoke in detail about this device. We are talking about the announced American invention, the railgun. According to the influential American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, this weapon, which is an electromagnetic gun, is capable of sending a projectile at the first and second cosmic velocities. Such technical characteristics are certainly impressive. The only alarming fact is that there is a lot of talk about this weapon, although it is only at the development stage. So, it is not clear when it will appear in the Pentagon’s arsenal. At the same time, Russia recently successfully tested a gun similar in operating principle in Shatura at the Laboratory of Pulsed Energy Effects on Matter. The gun showed the ability to impart a projectile speed reaching 11 km/s. At the same time, Russian researchers emphasize that their weapon was not created for killing their own kind, but for space research. It should be noted that in the modern world, artillery pieces are used mainly for tactical purposes. When it is necessary to hit an enemy at a long distance, rocket technology is used. The golden age of artillery, when engineers competed to create guns capable of sending shells over enormous distances, occurred during the First and Second World Wars. At that time, truly unique types of artillery were created. Moreover, the Germans have succeeded more than others in this matter.
"Malka": blossoming "Peony"
At the end of 2022, in Russia, according to RIA Novosti, the modernization of one of the most powerful guns in the world today, the Peony, was successfully completed. After a number of innovations, the weapon received a new name - “Malka”. According to the management of Uraltransmash, serial production of these artillery systems will begin in the country next year. The official name of the gun is SAU2 S7 M “Malka”. Moreover, despite the fact that the gun is considered new, its first development entered service back in 1975, and in 1983 the gun underwent its first modernization. Since then, the 203 mm gun has been constantly improved, trying not to lose the title of one of the most powerful in the world. "Malka" is designed to destroy potential enemy targets located at the tactical depth of defense behind the front line. This weapon is capable of firing both high-explosive fragmentation and active-rocket projectiles. But the main feature of the gun is the ability to fire concrete-piercing, chemical and nuclear charges. This makes the Malka a formidable and indispensable type of weapon in the modern theater of military operations.
"Little David"
This gun from the United States is a legacy of World War II and is considered the world's largest cannon in terms of caliber diameter. “Little David” was developed as a tool for eliminating particularly powerful enemy structures on the Pacific coast.
But the gun was not destined to leave the training ground where it was successfully tested, so the gun inspired fear and respect only in photographs of the foreign press.
Before firing, the barrel was mounted on a special metal frame, which was buried a quarter into the ground. The cannon fired non-standard cone-shaped projectiles, the weight of which could reach one and a half tons. At the site of the explosion of such ammunition there was a deep depression 4 meters deep and 10-15 meters in circumference.
Iron casting
Tsar Cannon, Moscow. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Tsar Cannon, Moscow. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Tsar Cannon, Moscow. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The giant Tsar Cannon, cast in 1586 by Andrei Chokhov, has become one of the symbols of Russia. There is even a cruel joke about this, they say, it’s not for nothing that “this country” has such symbols - a bell that has never rung and a cannon that has never fired. Jokers do not know that back in 1980, specialists from the Academy. Dzerzhinsky, having examined the cannon channel, concluded that it had definitely been fired at least once.
But this weapon is also an outstanding monument of art. For example, on its barrel you can see a portrait relief of Fyodor I Ioannovich on horseback. This, apart from the chronicles, is one of the first equestrian images of the Russian monarch (previously there was Ivan the Terrible on the icon “Blessed is the army of the Heavenly King”). But the gun carriage is a work of the 19th century; his pseudo-Russian pattern is a figment of the imagination of Alexander Bryullov (brother of the famous Karl). Alexander went down in history as a secular portrait painter, watercolor painter and academician of architecture, so it is especially interesting to look at his work in cast iron.
"Big Bertha": Queen of the First World War
The Germans became famous for the creation of giant artillery pieces during the First World War. In 1914, at the factories of the Krupp family, in honor of one of the representatives of the family of German arms magnates, a huge mortar was produced. The gun had a caliber of 420 mm and could fire a projectile weighing 900 kg at a distance of 14 kilometers every eight minutes. When it exploded, a crater with a diameter of 10 meters and a depth of up to 4 meters was formed. The gun itself looked quite impressive. At the same time, Bertha Krupp, after whom this weapon was named, was also a woman of very impressive size. But she not only was not offended by such a name, but was also proud that her name personified the most powerful artillery weapon of those years. In battle, “Big Bertha” proved herself to be the best. Its use on the Western Front allowed the Germans to easily take fortresses and destroy Allied fortifications and forts. However, it was not only the “Big Bertha” that became famous for the range and power of its shells during the First World War. A German cannon with the long and mysterious name “Kaiser Wilhelm Trumpet,” also produced at the Krupp factories, also caused significant damage to Paris. The gun could hit a range of 130 kilometers, a record for those years, with a projectile weight of 120 kg. Parisians were stunned when 21 artillery shells fell on the French capital on March 21, 1918, despite the fact that there were no enemy troops near the city. The unique gun had a caliber of 210 mm with a barrel length of 28 meters with an additional six-meter extension. Externally, the gun looked like a huge metal monster, weighed 256 tons and was placed on a special railway platform. The flight altitude of the projectile reached 45 km, becoming a complete surprise for the enemy. True, the Germans were unable to use the Kaiser Wilhelm Trumpet to the maximum extent possible. The fact is that the gun barrel could only withstand 65 shots, after which it had to be replaced, which was extremely expensive and irrational.
Drawings in chronicles
Battle of Vorskla. Miniature of the Front Chronicle. 16th century
Manuscript of the Facial Chronicle (replica). Museum-reserve "Alexandrovskaya Sloboda". Photo by Sofia Bagdasarova
Tokhtamysh at the walls of Moscow. Miniature of the Front Chronicle. 16th century
It is believed that the Russians first used artillery in 1382 during the invasion of Moscow by Khan Tokhtamysh. Then the Muscovites defended themselves with cannons previously taken from Volga Bulgaria - “some are mattresses, and other cannons are great in the forest.” This, however, did not save the city - the khan took it by deception.
These first Russian cannons can be seen in the miniature dedicated to the siege of the Front Chronicle, a manuscript created in the 1560s and 70s for Ivan the Terrible. The ten-volume manuscript contains almost 16 thousand miniatures. They were painted by several different artists. The difference in style is clearly visible if you compare the image of Tokhtamysh with the scene of the Battle of Vorskla (in 1399, the Horde defeated the Lithuanian prince Vitovt and his Russian allies there). As we can see, artillery was also used here - although the cannons are not immediately noticeable, being drawn in the same medieval Old Russian style.
Idea-fix
However, the idea of an ultra-long-range gun fell into fertile soil. Already in 1918, the French built the so-called “response cannon” of the same caliber - 210 mm with a barrel length of 110 calibers. Its projectile weighing 108 kg with an initial speed of 1,450 m/s was supposed to fly 115 km. The installation was mounted on a 24-axle railway conveyor with the ability to fire directly from the track. This was the heyday of railway artillery, the only one capable of quickly maneuvering guns of high and special power (then vehicles and the roads along which they moved could not even compete with railway communications)... The French, however, did not take into account the fact that the “response gun” Not a single bridge can withstand it.
Meanwhile, the Italian at the end of 1918 designed a 200-mm cannon with an initial projectile speed of about 1,500 m/s and a firing range of 140 km. The British, in turn, hoped to hit targets on the continent from their island. To do this, they developed a 203-mm cannon with an initial velocity of 109-kg projectile of 1,500 m/s and a range of up to 110-120 km, but did not implement the project.
Already in the early 1920s, French and German experts substantiated the need to have a gun of about 200 mm caliber with a firing range of up to 200 km. Such a gun was supposed to fire at strategically important and preferably (due to the dispersion of hits) area targets. These could be enemy concentration areas, administrative and industrial centers, ports, and railway junctions. Opponents of superguns reasonably noted that bomber aircraft could easily solve the same problems. To which supporters of ultra-long-range artillery responded that guns, unlike aviation, can hit targets around the clock and in any weather. In addition, with the advent of military aviation, air defense systems were born, and neither fighters nor anti-aircraft guns could interfere with the ultra-long-range cannon. The advent of long-range, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and the development of ballistic calculation methods gave hope for increasing the accuracy of ultra-long-range shooting, due to more accurate information about the coordinates of the target and the ability to adjust shooting. Since the number and rate of fire of such guns were small, there was no talk of “massive” shelling. The most important factor in this case was considered to be the psychological factor, the ability to keep the enemy on edge with the threat of surprise attacks.
Methods for increasing the firing range are well known - increasing the initial velocity of the projectile, selecting the elevation angle, improving the aerodynamic shape of the projectile. To increase speed, the propellant powder charge was increased: for ultra-long-range shooting, it had to be 1.5-2 times heavier than the projectile. So that the powder gases can do more work, the barrel is lengthened. And to increase the average pressure in the barrel bore, which determines the speed of the projectile, progressively burning powders were used (in them, as the grain burns out, the surface engulfed in flame increases, which increases the rate of formation of powder gases). Changing the shape of the projectile - lengthening the head part, narrowing the tail - was intended to improve its streamlining with air flow. But at the same time, the useful volume and power of the projectile decreased. In addition, speed losses due to air resistance can be reduced by increasing the lateral load, that is, the ratio of the mass of the projectile to the area of its largest cross-section. In other words, the projectile in this case must be lengthened. At the same time, it was necessary to guarantee its stability in flight by ensuring a high rotation speed. There were other specific problems. In particular, in long-range guns, conventional copper leading belts of projectiles often could not withstand very high pressure and could not “guide” the projectile correctly along the rifling of the barrel. We remembered the polygonal (in the shape of an oblong prism twisted with a screw) shells that Whitworth experimented with in the 1860s. After World War I, the prominent French artilleryman Charbonnier transformed this idea into projectiles with ready-made projections (“rifled”), the shape of which followed the rifling of the bore. Experiments with polygonal and “rifled” projectiles have begun in a number of countries. The projectile could be lengthened to 6-10 calibers, and since the energy consumption for forcing and friction was less than with leading belts, it was possible to obtain longer ranges even with heavier projectiles. In the second half of the 1930s, it was considered quite probable “that in the near future guns with a caliber of 500-600 mm, firing at a distance of 120-150 km, will appear.” At the same time, towed guns with a firing range of up to 30 km and railway guns with a range of up to 60 km were simply considered “long-range”.
Miniature artillery systems: from funny guns to rocket artillery systems
Almost every regional museum of local history in Russia and Ukraine displays small cannons. Many people think that these are miniature replicas of guns or children's toys. And this is quite expected: after all, most of these artillery systems displayed, even on carriages, are at most waist-deep, and in some cases, even knee-deep for an adult. In fact, such guns and military weapons and toys are “amusing guns.” The fact is that in Tsarist Russia, many rich landowners had miniature guns on their estates. They were used for decorative purposes, for launching fireworks, and also for teaching military affairs to noble children. It should be noted that among these “toys” there were no models; they could all shoot cannonballs or buckshot. At the same time, the destructive power of the cannonball was at least 640 meters or 300 fathoms.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, such guns were actively used during military operations. For example, in the 17th century, Poles and Crimean Tatars suffered significant losses from such artillery systems during battles with the Cossacks.
Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks on horseback and sea campaigns often used falconets and cannons of 0.5-3 pound caliber, as well as light mortars of 4 to 12 pound caliber. Such artillery was loaded on horses and carried by hand during the battle. Also, such guns were easily mounted on canoes (usually on vetlyugas). During the defense, light small-caliber guns were mounted on carts forming a camp. When firing from falconets and cannons, cannonballs and buckshot were used, and mortars used explosive grenades.
Falconet - translated from French and English is translated as a young falcon, falcon. This is what artillery guns with a caliber of 45-100 mm were called in the old days. In the XVI-XVIII centuries. they were in service in the armies and navies of various countries of the world (“Chernyshkov Cossack Museum”)
The use of such weapons by the Cossacks on campaigns gave them a significant advantage over the enemy. For example, superior forces of the Polish cavalry surround a Cossack detachment. In direct confrontation, the outcome of the battle would have been predetermined: the Cossacks would not have emerged victorious. But the Cossacks were quite maneuverable - they quickly rebuilt their ranks and surrounded the detachment with carts. The winged hussars attack, but are met with a barrage of fire from small artillery and arquebuses. In the 17th century, the Poles had practically no light artillery, and it was quite difficult to bring up heavy guns of large and medium calibers in a maneuver warfare. In clashes with the Tatars, the Cossacks had a significant advantage - the enemy did not have light artillery at all.
In the 18th century, mini-guns were used quite rarely in the Russian army: in huntsman regiments, in the mountains, etc. However, even during this period, interesting examples of small-caliber artillery were created, although they were not portable. This includes the 44-barreled 3-pound (76 mm) mortar battery of the A.K. Nartov system. This weapon was manufactured at the St. Petersburg Arsenal in 1754. The battery system consisted of bronze 76-mm mortars, each 23 centimeters long. The mortars, mounted on a horizontal wooden circle (diameter 185 cm), were divided into 8 sections of 6 or 5 mortars each and connected by a common powder shelf. The trunk part of the carriage was equipped with a screw lifting mechanism to impart an elevation angle. Such batteries have not received mass distribution.
3-inch (76 mm) 44-barrel mortar battery of the A. K. Nartov system
Another similar system is the 25-barrel 1/5-pounder (58 mm caliber) mortar battery of the Captain Chelokaev system. The system was manufactured in 1756. The Chelokaev system battery consists of a rotating wooden drum with five rows of forged iron barrels attached to it, five barrels in each row. In the breech, the barrels in each row were connected by a common powder shelf with a lid to produce salvo fire.
1/5-pound (58 mm) 25-barrel mortar battery of the captain S. Chelokaev system, made in 1756 (Artillery Museum, St. Petersburg)
In addition to these clearly experimental weapons, some branches of the military were armed with hand mortars - weapons for throwing hand grenades over long ranges. It was impossible to use these weapons like a regular gun, that is, resting the butt on the shoulder, due to the high recoil. In this regard, the mortar was rested on the ground or on the saddle. These included: hand grenadier mortar (caliber 66 mm, weight 4.5 kg, length 795 mm), hand dragoon mortar (caliber 72 mm, weight 4.4 kg, length 843 mm), hand bombardier mortar (caliber 43 mm, weight 3.8 kg, length 568 mm).
German hand-held mortars of the 16th-18th centuries on display at the Bavarian National Museum, Munich. Below you can see a cavalry carbine with a mortar welded to the barrel
Emperor Paul I abolished not only toy guns, but also regimental artillery. In this regard, in the Russian cavalry and infantry divisions until 1915, the only weapons remained sabers, pistols and guns. During combat operations, an artillery brigade was assigned to the division, the commander of which became subordinate to the division commander. A similar scheme worked well during the Napoleonic wars, when battles took place mainly on large plains.
In the period from 1800 to 1915, all Russian field guns had the same weight and dimensions: mass in firing position about 1000 kg, wheel diameter 1200-1400 millimeters. Russian generals did not even want to hear about other artillery systems.
But during the First World War, all opposing sides quickly realized that leading dense columns of troops in an open field was the same as simply shooting them. The infantry began to hide in trenches, and rough terrain was chosen for the attack. But, alas, the losses in manpower from enemy machine guns were colossal, and it was very difficult, and in some cases impossible, to suppress machine gun firing points using the guns of a seconded artillery brigade. Small guns were required, which had to be in the trenches next to the infantry, and during the offensive they could be easily carried or rolled by hand by a crew of 3-4 people. Such guns were intended to destroy enemy machine guns and manpower.
The 37 mm Rosenberg gun became the first domestic specially designed battalion gun. M. F. Rosenberg, being a member of the artillery committee, was able to convince Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, the chief of artillery, to give him the task of designing this system. Having gone to his estate, Rosenberg prepared a project for a 37-mm cannon within a month and a half.
37 mm Rosenberg gun
The barrel used was a 37-mm standard barrel, which was used for zeroing in coastal guns. The barrel consisted of a barrel tube, a copper muzzle ring, a steel trunnion ring and a copper knurl, which was screwed onto the barrel. The valve is two-stroke piston. The machine was single-beam, wooden, rigid (there was no recoil device). The recoil energy was partially extinguished using special rubber buffers. The lifting mechanism had a screw that was attached to the breech boss and screwed into the right side of the slide. There was no turning mechanism - the trunk of the machine moved to turn it. The machine was equipped with a 6- or 8-mm shield. At the same time, the 8-mm shield easily withstood a bullet fired at point-blank range from a Mosin rifle.
The system could easily be disassembled into two parts weighing 106.5 and 73.5 kg within a minute. On the battlefield, the gun was transported by three crews manually. For ease of movement of the units, a small roller was attached under the trunk beam. In winter, the system was installed on skis. During a campaign, a gun could be transported in several ways: - in a shaft harness, when two shafts are attached directly to the carriage; - on a special front end (quite often made on our own, for example, a boiler was removed from a camp kitchen); - on a cart. As a rule, infantry units were allocated 3 paired carts of the 1884 model for two guns. Two wagons carried a gun and 180 rounds of ammunition, and a third wagon carried 360 rounds of ammunition. All cartridges were placed in boxes.
A prototype of the Rosenberg gun was tested in 1915 and put into service under the designation “37-mm gun of the 1915 model”. This name has taken root both in official papers and in units.
The first Rosenberg guns appeared at the front in the spring of 1916. Soon, there was a catastrophic shortage of old guns, and the Obukhov plant was ordered by the GAU order dated March 22, 1916, to produce 400 guns for Rosenberg’s 37-mm guns. By the end of 1919, only 342 barrels from this order were shipped, the remaining 58 were 15% ready.
By the beginning of 1917, 137 Rosenberg guns were sent to the front. It was planned to send another 150 guns in the first half of the year. According to the plans of the Russian command, each infantry regiment was to have 4 trench guns. Accordingly, 687 regiments should have had 2,748 guns; in addition, 144 guns per month were required to replenish the loss on a monthly basis.
Alas, these plans were not implemented due to the collapse of the army that began in February 1917 and the collapse of the military industry, which followed with some delay. Despite this, the guns continued to be in service, but were slightly modified. Since the wooden carriage quickly failed, military engineer Durlyakhov created an iron machine for the Rosenberg cannon in 1925. As of November 1, 1936, the Red Army had 162 Rosenberg guns.
In September 1922, the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army issued an order to develop battalion artillery systems: 76-mm mortars, 65-mm howitzers and 45-mm cannons. These guns became the first artillery systems that were created under Soviet rule.
For battalion artillery, the choice of calibers was not accidental. It was decided to abandon the 37-mm guns, since the fragmentation projectile of this caliber had a weak effect. At the same time, in the warehouses of the Red Army there were huge quantities of 47-mm shells from Hotchkiss naval guns. While grinding down the old leading belts, the caliber of the projectile was reduced to 45 millimeters. This is where the 45 mm caliber came from, which was not available in either the Navy or the Army until 1917.
In the period from 1924 to 1927, several dozen prototypes of miniature guns with quite high destructive power were manufactured. Among these guns, the most powerful was the 65-mm howitzer of the military technician Durlyakhov. Its mass was 204 kilograms, its firing range was 2500 meters.
Durlyakhov’s main rival in the “competition” was Franz Lander, who presented a whole collection of systems for testing: a 60-mm howitzer and a 45-mm cannon of low and high power. An interesting fact is that Lander's systems had the same mechanisms that were used in large guns, that is, they were equipped with recoil devices, lifting and turning mechanisms, etc. Their main advantage was that fire could be fired not only from metal rollers, but also from traveling wheels. The systems on the rollers had a shield, but with traveling wheels, installing a shield was impossible. The systems were made both non-demountable and collapsible, while the latter were divided into 8, which made it possible to carry them on human packs.
An equally interesting development of that time is the 45-mm cannon of the A.A. Sokolov system. The barrel for the low-power prototype was manufactured in 1925, and the carriage in 1926. The system was completed at the end of 1927 and immediately transferred to factory testing. The barrel of the 45-mm Sokolov cannon was fastened with a casing. Vertical wedge shutter, semi-automatic. The recoil brake is hydraulic, the knurl is spring-loaded. A large horizontal guidance angle (up to 48 degrees) was provided by sliding frames. Sector type lifting mechanism. In fact, it was the first domestic artillery system with sliding frames.
45 mm gun mod. 1930 Sokolov system
The system was intended for shooting from wheels. There was no suspension. The gun on the battlefield was easily rolled by three crew numbers. In addition, the system could be disassembled into seven parts and transported in human packs.
All battalion artillery systems of 45-65 millimeter caliber fired armor-piercing or fragmentation shells, as well as buckshot. In addition, a series of “muzzle” mines were manufactured: - for 45 mm guns - 150 pieces (weight 8 kilograms); for 60-mm howitzers - 50 pieces. However, the Main Artillery Directorate refused to accept over-caliber mines for service. It should be noted that during the Great Patriotic War, the Germans quite widely used over-caliber shells on the eastern front, both anti-tank shells from 37-mm guns and heavy high-explosive shells from 75- and 150-mm infantry guns.
Of all these artillery systems, only the 45-mm Lander low-power gun was adopted. It was produced under the designation “45-mm battalion howitzer model 1929.” However, only 100 of them were made.
The reason for the cessation of the development of mini-guns and howitzers was the adoption in 1930 of a 37-mm anti-tank gun purchased from. This weapon had a fairly modern design for its time. The gun had sliding frames, unsprung wheels, and wooden wheels. It was equipped with a horizontal wedge valve with 1/4 automatic operation, a spring knurling device and a hydraulic recoil brake. The knurling springs were placed on the compressor cylinder. After the shot, the recoil devices rolled back along with the barrel. The fire could be fired using a simple sighting tube with a field of view of 12 degrees. The gun was put into production at Kalinin Plant No. 8 near Moscow, where it was given the factory index 1-K. The guns were made semi-handicraft, with parts being adjusted by hand. In 1931, the plant presented the customer with 255 guns, but none were delivered due to poor build quality. In 1932, the plant delivered 404 guns, the next year - 105. In 1932, the production of these guns was stopped (in 1933, guns from the previous year's stock were handed over). The reason was the adoption of a 45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1932 model (19-K) of greater power, which was a development of the 1-K.
Not the least role in curtailing the program for creating mini-guns was played by the passion of the leadership of the Red Army, primarily Tukhachevsky M.N., for recoilless guns.
In 1926-1930, in addition to mini-guns, six prototypes of 76 mm caliber mini-mortars were produced. These guns were distinguished by high mobility, achieved primarily due to their low mass (from 63 to 105 kilograms). The firing range was 2-3 thousand meters.
Several very original solutions were used in the design of mortars. For example, the ammunition load of three samples of mortars from the NTK AU design bureau included shells with ready-made protrusions. Sample No. 3 had a gas-dynamic ignition scheme, in which the charge burned in a separate chamber, which was connected to the barrel bore by a special nozzle. The GShT mortar (developed by Glukharev, Shchelkov, Tagunov) was the first in Russia to use a gas-dynamic crane.
Unfortunately, these mortars were literally devoured by the mortar designers, headed by N.A. Dorovlev. The mortarmen almost completely copied the French Stokes-Brandt mortar of 81 mm caliber and did everything to ensure that systems that were capable of competing with mortars were not adopted.
Despite the fact that the firing accuracy of the 76-mm mortar was significantly higher than that of the 82-mm mortars of the early 1930s, work on the creation of mortars was stopped. It is curious that on August 10, 1937, one of the prominent mortarmen Shavyrin B.I. received an author's certificate for a mortar equipped with a remote valve for releasing part of the gases into the atmosphere. The main switchboard mortar was long forgotten in our country, and there was no mention of mortars and guns with a gas valve, which were mass-produced in Poland, Czechoslovakia and France.
In the Soviet Union, in the second half of the 1930s, two original 76-mm mini-howitzers were created: 35 K, designed by V.N. Sidorenko. and F-23 designed by Grabin V.G.
35 To the design of Sidorenko V.N.
The collapsible barrel of the 35 K howitzer consisted of a pipe, a lining and a breech. The breech was screwed onto the pipe without the use of a special tool. The piston valve is eccentric. The steepness of the rifling is constant. Lifting mechanism with one sector. The rotation was carried out when the machine moved along the axis. Hydraulic spindle type recoil brake. Spring knurl. The carriage is single-beam, box-shaped, disassembled into trunk and frontal parts. The trunk part was removed when firing from the trench. The 35 K howitzer used the sight from the 76 mm cannon of the 1909 model, with some modifications that made it possible to fire at angles up to +80 degrees. The shield is folding and removable. The combat axis is cranked. By rotating the axis, the height of the firing line could change from 570 to 750 millimeters. The front of the system is shaft-shaped. Disc wheels with weight tires. The 76-mm howitzer 35 K could be disassembled into 9 parts (each weighing 35-38 kg), which made it possible to transport the disassembled gun on both four horse and nine human packs (excluding ammunition). In addition, the howitzer could be transported on wheels by 4 crew members or in a shaft harness with one horse.
The barrel of the F-23 howitzer is a monoblock. There was no muzzle brake. The design used a piston bolt from a 76-mm regimental gun of the 1927 model. The main feature of the design of the Grabin howitzer was that the axis of the trunnions did not run through the central part of the cradle, but its rear end. The wheels were in the combat position at the rear. During the transition to the stowed position, the cradle with the barrel turned back almost 180 degrees relative to the axis of the trunnions.
76-mm F-23 battalion gun firing at a high elevation angle. The second version of the F-23 was developed at the same time, and during testing on the 34th shot, the recoil devices and lifting mechanism failed
Need I say that the mortar lobby did everything to disrupt the adoption of the F-23 and 35 K? For example, in September 1936, during the second field test of the 76-mm 35 K howitzer, the front link broke during firing because the bolts that held the shield bracket and the front part were missing. Someone probably took these bolts out or “forgot” to install them. In February 1937, the third test took place. Once again, someone “forgot” to pour liquid into the compressor cylinder. This “forgetfulness” led to the fact that due to the strong impact of the barrel during shooting, the frontal part of the machine was deformed. On April 7, 1938, the indignant Sidorenko V.N. wrote a letter to the artillery department, which said: “Plant No. 7 is not interested in finishing the 35 K - this threatens the plant with gross arbitrariness... Your 35 K department is in charge of a department that is a staunch supporter of mortars, and therefore an opponent of mortars.”
Unfortunately, at that time the artillery department did not want to listen to either Sidorenko or Grabin, and work on both systems was stopped. And only in 1937, the NKVD summarized the complaints of Sidorenko and some other designers, and then the leadership of the Main Artillery Directorate, as they say, “roared to the fanfare.”
The new leadership of the GAU in December 1937 decided to again raise the issue of 76-mm mortars. A military engineer of the third rank of the artillery department, Sinolitsyn, wrote in conclusion that the sad end of the story with battalion mortars of 76 mm caliber “is a direct act of sabotage... In my opinion, work on light mortars must be resumed immediately, and all mortars manufactured earlier are scattered across the training grounds and factories, find them."
“Toy guns” were used en masse and quite successfully by our opponents - the Japanese and Germans.
For example, in 1934, the Japanese army entered service with a 70-mm howitzer gun mod. 92. Her weight was 200 kilograms. The carriage had sliding cranked frames, thanks to which the howitzer had two positions: high +83 with an elevation angle of a degree and low - 51 degrees. The horizontal guidance angle (40 degrees) made it possible to effectively destroy light tanks.
Type 92 without shield at the Fort Sill Museum, Oklahoma
In the 70-mm howitzer, the Japanese made unitary loading, but the cartridges were made either detachable or with a free-fitting projectile. In both cases, before firing, the crew could change the size of the charge by screwing off the bottom of the cartridge case or removing the projectile from the cartridge case.
A 70-mm high-explosive fragmentation projectile weighing 3.83 kilograms was equipped with 600 grams of explosive, that is, its amount was equal to the amount in the Soviet 76-mm high-explosive fragmentation grenade OF-350, which was used for regimental and divisional guns. The firing range of the Japanese 70 mm howitzer gun was 40-2800 meters.
According to Soviet classified reports, the Japanese 70mm gun-howitzer performed well during fighting on rough terrain in China, as well as on the Khalkhin Gol River. The shells of this gun hit dozens of BR and T-26 tanks.
The main means of supporting the German infantry during the war was the light 7.5 cm infantry gun. The mass of the system was only 400 kilograms. The weapon's cumulative projectile was capable of burning through armor up to 80 millimeters thick. Separate-case loading and an elevation angle of up to 75 degrees made it possible to use this weapon as a mortar, but at the same time it provided much better accuracy. Unfortunately, there were no such weapons in the USSR.
7.5 cm le.IG.18 in a combat position
In the Soviet Union, in the pre-war years, several types of company miniature anti-tank guns were developed - the 20-mm INZ-10 cannon of the Vladimirov S.V. system. and Biga M.N., 20-mm TsKBSV-51 cannon of the S.A. Korovin system, 25-mm cannon of Mikhno and Tsirulnikov (43 K), 37-mm cannon of Shpitalny and some others.
For various reasons, none of these weapons were ever put into service. Among the reasons was the GAU's insufficient attention to company anti-tank guns. With the outbreak of hostilities, the fronts literally shouted about the need for company anti-tank guns.
And here is Sidorenko A.M., Samusenko M.F. and Zhukov I.I. - three teachers of the Artillery Academy, which was evacuated to Samarkand, - within a few days they designed the original LPP-25 anti-tank gun of 25 mm caliber. The gun had a wedge breech with a semi-automatic oscillating type. The weapon had a front “hoof opener” and self-closing openers of the frames. This increased stability when firing and ensured the convenience and safety of the gunner when working from his knees. Features of the LPP-25 include a cranked rotating axis for raising the gun to the stowed position during transportation behind the tractor. Quick preparation of the gun for battle was ensured by a simple pin mounting in a traveling manner. Soft suspension was provided by springs and pneumatic wheels from the M-72 motorcycle. The transfer of the gun into a firing position and its carrying by a crew of 3 people ensured the presence of two carriages. For guidance, a rifle optical sight or a “Duckling” type sight could be used.
Prokhorovka, our warriors and the “thing” they exterminated with the help of LPP-25
By combining some elements of guns that were already in service, the designers created a unique system, which was lighter in weight than the standard 45-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1937 by 2.3 times (240 kg versus 560 kg). Armor penetration at a distance of 100 meters was 1.3 times higher, and at a distance of 500 meters - 1.2 times higher. And this is when using a conventional armor-piercing tracer projectile of a 25-mm anti-aircraft gun mod. 1940, and in the case of using a sub-caliber projectile with a tungsten core, this figure increased by another 1.5 times. Thus, this weapon was capable of penetrating the frontal armor of all German tanks that were used at the end of 1942 on the eastern front at a distance of up to 300 meters.
The gun's combat rate of fire was 20-25 rounds per minute. Thanks to the suspension, the gun could be transported along the highway at a speed of 60 km/h. The height of the line of fire was 300 mm. The high mobility of the system made it possible to use it not only in infantry units, but also in airborne units.
The system successfully passed factory tests in January 1943. But soon work on the cannon was stopped. The only example of the LPP-25 cannon that has survived to this day is on display at the Peter the Great Academy Museum.
It is possible that work on the LPP-25 was stopped due to the start of development of a special airborne gun, the ChK-M1, 37 mm caliber. This gun was designed under the leadership of Charnko and Komaritsky at OKBL-46 in 1943.
The Model 1944 37mm Airborne Gun is an anti-tank light artillery system with reduced recoil. The internal structure of the barrel, as well as the ballistics of the gun, were taken from a 1939 model automatic anti-aircraft gun. The barrel consists of a pipe, a breech and a muzzle brake. A powerful single-chamber muzzle brake significantly reduced recoil energy. The recoil devices mounted inside the casing are built according to an original design - a hybrid of a double recoil system and a recoilless rifle design. There was no recoil brake. A 4.5-mm shield cover, attached to the casing, protected the crew from bullets, the shock wave of a close explosion, and small fragments. Vertical guidance is carried out by a lifting mechanism, horizontal guidance by the gunner's shoulder. The machine is two-wheeled. There were sliding beds with permanent and driving coulters. The wheel travel is sprung. The height of the fire line was 280 millimeters. Weight in combat position is about 215 kilograms. Rate of fire - from 15 to 25 rounds per minute. At a distance of 300 meters, the cannon penetrated armor 72 mm thick, and at a distance of 500 meters - 65 mm.
37-mm experimental Cheka gun in Izhevsk
During military tests, the wheel travel and shield were separated from the 37-mm cannon, after which it was installed on a tubular welded frame, from which it could be fired from GAZ-64 and Willys vehicles. In 1944, even a Harley Davidson motorcycle was adapted for shooting. Each gun was equipped with two motorcycles. One served to accommodate the gun, gunner, loader and driver, the second - the commander, carrier and driver. Shooting could be carried out on the move from a motorcycle mount while driving on a flat road at speeds of up to 10 kilometers per hour.
During flight tests, the guns were dropped in the A-7, BDP-2 and G-11 gliders. Each of them was loaded with one cannon, ammunition and 4 crew members. The Li-2 plane was loaded with a cannon, ammunition and crew for parachuting. Release conditions: speed 200 km/h, altitude 600 meters. During flight tests during landing delivery, a TB-3 bomber was used. Two GAZ-64 and Willys vehicles with 37 mm caliber guns mounted on them were suspended under the wing of the bomber. When transported by landing method, according to the instructions of 1944, a cannon, 2 motorcycles and 6 people (crew and two drivers) were loaded onto the Li-2 aircraft, and another cannon and cartridges were added to this “set” in the S-47. When parachuting, the gun and motorcycle were placed on the external sling of Il-4 bombers, and the cartridges and crew were placed on the Li-2. Between 1944 and 1945, 472 ChK-M1 guns were produced.
In the history of “toy guns” after 1945, a new stage began with the use of reactive and recoilless (dynamo-reactive) systems.
Prepared based on materials from: www.dogswar.ru ljrate.ru ww1.milua.org vadimvswar.narod.ru
