24cm Kanone 3 (24cm K3)

History of 24 cm gun 3 (24 cm K3)

Before going to war with Europe to initiate World War II (1939-1944), the German military recognized the need for reliable, effective artillery and invested considerable time, material and financial resources in developing powerful long-range weapons. Large-caliber siege howitzers were studied when it was understood that the many forts scattered across the European countryside would slow the German advance.

From 1935 to 1938, Rheinmetall developed a new 238 mm caliber gun capable of firing 334 pound high-explosive (HE) rounds. After completing the necessary tests, the gun entered service as the 24 cm Kanone 3 (K3) and production began in 1938 under the Krupp brand label.

The K3 artillery system utilizes multiple personnel to ensure overall efficiency. Huge shells were loaded in the breech by horizontal sliders arranged. The Box Trail Carrier is a four-wheel towable assembly that contains the gun mounting hardware and aiming controls, as well as the barrel itself. The inherent traverse is 6 degrees off centerline, but when put into service and ready to fire at its platform by raising the wheels, the gun gains a full 360-degree traverse.

The recoil mechanism is the same as originally used on the 21 cm Morser 18 series guns - a dual recoil system where the barrel springs back to its mount as usual, while the slide follows its own recoil mechanism. This feature provides the crew with a very accurate firing platform with a range of up to 23 miles and a muzzle velocity of 3,182 feet per second.

The rate of fire is one round per minute.

To make the system easier to transport (besides its towability), the K3 was designed to be divided into six main components. One of them is a generator, which also makes it easier to mount the gun using an electric winch.

This allowed the design to dispense with the more complicated and cumbersome crane methods found on other large guns of this type.

In practice, these guns perform relatively well, but the Army is more demanding of such a large and expensive gun, especially one with such a demanding operator. Only four were available in time for the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, and the situation did not improve in time for the French campaign the following year.

Only about fourteen guns were made, and attempts to get more out of the system failed before the end. Production ended in 1944, and the system had its final combat use in 1945, the last year of the war.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

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Armor

Depends on the ammunition carrier.

Changes