35.5cm Haubitze M.1 (35.5-cm H M.1)

History

When German plans to conquer Europe in World War II were brewing, their war planners realized that specialized siege guns were needed to break through the fortified line of defense-oriented fortresses between Berlin and its western enemies. The cost of such weapons falls mainly on Krupp and Rheinmetall, two well-known heavy steel manufacturers.

The latter designed and developed the M1 35.5cm howitzer, a large super-heavy artillery piece prior to World War II, and played a role in several notable sieges including Leningrad. The new weapon fires a large projectile at 22,800 yards and has the power to destroy nearly any fortification within range.

That's what it's worth, so much so that it is believed that a total of seven or eight guns were made when it was first delivered in 1939.

At the request of the Wehrmacht in 1935, construction work began in 1936 at the height of the rearmament of Germany. Authorities requested a larger 24cm version of the Kanone 3 (detailed elsewhere on this site), for which Rheinmetall engineers developed plans for a new super gun that would be largely identical to the original general form and function (still different in development). The hydropneumatic system controls the violent recoil effect through a "dual recoil" arrangement, in which the barrel and stock are recoiled separately to the static firing platform. Large artillery systems can be broken down into six smaller (though still heavy) loads for "easier" transport by accompanying mobile vehicles (usually half-tracks). The transport system itself is designed in two parts for easy portability.

Support components attached to the M1 system include a generator-driven crane that disassembles and assembles the weapon. The generator is also used to raise the barrel on the fly (manual override/standby is also possible). The elevation range is +45 to +75 degrees.

The 355mm shell can penetrate concrete fortifications with 2,042 lb armor-piercing rounds and can carry up to four propellant charges. High-explosive (HE) projectiles weighing up to 1,270 pounds are also available for anti-personnel service. With these weights, the operator consisted of several men, reloading services that required ammunition lifts. During peak loads, M1 crews are not expected to fire more than one round for four to five minutes.

Muzzle velocity reached 1,900 feet per second.

M1 guns were used to attack Belgian and French forts during the German marches into the English Channel and Paris, respectively. During and after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union that began in June 1941, these artillery pieces were transported to the Eastern Front for service against enemy forces during the Siege of Leningrad.

These weapons were then used against the hapless Poles in the ill-fated "Warsaw Uprising" of 1944.

This weapon was thought to be in service until 1945, but it seems plausible that as the war progressed, the weapon was increasingly tactically restricted by the Allies. Due to their size, weight and personnel deployment, these siege tools are a burden in the context of documenting battlefield outcomes.

No doubt their shells could shatter static, sturdy structures with relative ease, but their range could still be improved, and the return on investment proved questionable as Germany's war effort went into the defensive.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

Depends on the ammunition carrier. HE (High Explosive) and concrete armor-piercing projectile types.

Changes