30.5cm Belagerungsmorser (Schlanke Emma)

Story of 12" Siege Mortar (Emma Slime)

While the heavy artillery of the First World War (1914-1918) hyped the German Empire's "Big Bertha" and similar heavy developments, the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself produced a huge siege mortar, Such as the 30.5 cm (305 mm) / 12 in) siege mortar ("Skoda Works") that Skodawerke focused on. This weapon is best recognized by its nickname - "Emma the Slender".

Their first combat mission (coincidentally with the Big Berthas) was in Liege, Belgium, against the supposedly impregnable concrete and steel fortresses of the Belgian army. The operation took place on August 14, 1914, and in just four days of heavy bombardment, the Belgian forts inevitably turned into unrecognizable piles.

The Slim Emma gun was developed in 1906 and continued until 1911 before it was officially adopted by the Austro-Hungarian army. Observations of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 illustrate the need for large-caliber siege guns - especially the famous Siege of Port Arthur (1904), in which Japan achieved an overwhelming total sinking of the Russian naval capital. Victory ships in port under the action of German Krupp artillery fired from Japanese land-based positions.

This action forced the war planners of the time to rethink, especially with regard to heavy artillery and siege warfare.

The production time of the Slim Emma spanned from 1911 to 1918 (November) the end of the First World War, and by then 72 to 79 guns had been completed (various sources). Each system requires a large team of 15 to 17 people to manage the various targeting, loading, reloading and transport functions of the weapon. The barrel is 3.05 meters long (called "L/10" in Army terminology) and has a caliber of 30.5 centimeters to fire a massive 305mm shell at range. The barrel allows an elevation range of +40 to +70 degrees, and reloading proved to be a time-consuming process with only one shot every 3.5 minutes or so.

The gun was mounted on the same frame as the 1916 Austro-Hungarian Army 24 cm (240 mm) L/40 gun - also made by Skoda.

The slender Emma fires an 848 lb (385 kg) nickel-steel projectile and proves very useful against hard targets. A special "anti-infantry grenade" projectile is used against entrenched enemies, and this version is also available in a "lighter" version weighing 287 kg (632 lb). "granatschrapnell" ("shrapnel") rounds can deliver physical and psychological attacks on soft targets, resulting in increasingly lethal effects on infantry. These projectiles weigh 660 lbs (300 kg) and feature internal proximity fuzes to provide timed results.

The Schalnke Emma series has a muzzle velocity of 1,476 feet per second and a range of up to 7.6 miles (12.3 kilometers). Each complete system weighs 26 tons and requires artillery tractors for transport.

Slim Emma earned the ranks of M11, M11/16 and M16 while in service. The M11/16 was a simpler design, designed to improve maneuverability through a lighter form (25 tons). This variant was launched immediately in 1916. The M16 was a significantly improved (lighter) version of the M11, also introduced in 1916, with a new mounting system that allowed 360-degree traversal (through a central pivot design). However, by the end of the war, only 14 of the 23-ton model were produced.

During the war years, the original guns (M11/M11/16) were carried on M12 gun tractors, while later (M16) versions were carried on the M17 tractor series. These heavy guns can also be mounted on fixed mounts for a more defensive role.

After the First World War, the remaining stocks of Slim Emma guns were purchased from Czechoslovakia (as "30.5cm Mortar(t)") and Yugoslavia (as "30.5cm Mortar 638(j)" ) adopted the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a country that had risen from collapse. During World War II (1939-1945), captured Czech tanks were in service with the German army, and at least one was included in the June 1940 attack on the famous French Maginot Line.

Other weapons were used by the Germans during World War II, followed by the siege of Sevastopol and Leningrad against the Soviet Union.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

Depends on the ammunition carrier. Shells include hard, soft and anti-infantry shrapnel types.

Changes