Duel "high power"
Almost forgotten tools - Soviet and German
When it comes to weapons and military equipment during the Second World War, most often talk about tanks, airplanes, divisional and regimental guns, mortars, rifles, machine guns and machine guns ... But large-caliber artillery is rarely remembered.
Meanwhile, the Germans in the 1942 – 1945 years pulled together to the Eastern Front up to two hundred guns of great and special power, collected from all over Europe. The Red Army also used dozens of heavy weapons. However, in this article we will focus on the main samples of the guns of this type of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht - X-NUMX-mm howitzer B-203 and 4-cm Mrs.21 mortar.
... Plus the gun
The 21-Mortar Mrs.18 was adopted by the German army in the 1936 year. Why 18? The fact is that the design of the instrument Krupp company began even during the time of the restrictions imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty. And the cunning Germans in the names of all artillery systems created in 1920 – 1935 included the number 18: they say, this is just a refinement of the First World War.
Due to the long barrel in some English reference books, the 21-cm mortar Mrs.18 is called a cannon. This is fundamentally wrong. This is not only a large elevation angle (+ 70º). The gun could shoot at an angle of 0º only on small charges - from 1 No. to 4. And with a larger charge (No. 5 or No. 6), the angle of elevation had to be set at least to 8º, otherwise the system would be threatened with tilting. Thus, 21-cm Mrs.18 was a classic mortar (weight in the combat position - 17,9 tons, rate of fire - 30 rds / hour, weight of shells: 113 kg fragmentation-explosive, 121 kg concrete-cutting, initial speed - 565 / 550 m / s , range - 16,7 km).
A characteristic feature of the gun was a double rollback: the barrel rolled away along the cradle, and the cradle along with the barrel and the upper machine - along the lower machine gun carriage, thus achieving good stability when firing.
In a combat position, mortar leaned on the front of the base plate, and behind - on the trunk support. Wheels while hanging out. In the stowed position, the barrel was removed and placed on a special wagon. Carriage with limber towed separately. The speed of movement of the system did not exceed 30 km / h. However, for a short distance, the transport of the mortar was also allowed in unassembled form (that is, with the barrel superimposed on the carriage), but at a speed of 4 – 6 km / h.
The gun fired two types of high-explosive fragmentation grenades and concrete shells. In 1939 – 1945, German industry manufactured 1 million 750 thousand units of ammunition for this mortar.
I note that in 1942, 21-cm mortars Mrs.18 were not made. They did not need? No, because of Hitler's self-assurance, who began curtailing the release of artillery shells after the successes of the Wehrmacht in the summer and autumn of 1941 on the Eastern Front.
By 1 June 1941, the German troops numbered 388 21-cm mortars Mrs.18. All of them were in the artillery units of the RGC. By the end of May 1940, these guns were in service with two mixed motorized artillery battalions (No. 604 and No. 607). In each division there were two batteries of 21-cm mortars (three-guns) and one battery of 15-cm guns. 21-cm mortars were also equipped with 15 motorized divisions (three batteries of three guns each), 624 and 641 divisions of special power (three guns in addition to 30,5-cm mortars).
In 1939, the designers of the Krupp company imposed a 17-cm (172,5-mm) naval cannon on the mortar gun carriage. The system received the designation 17 cm K.Mrs.Laf. (weight in combat position - 17,5 tons, rate of fire - 40 rounds / hour, projectile weight - 62,8 / 68,0 kg, initial speed - 925 / 860 m / s, range - 31 / 29,5 km). German historians consider it the best in its class during the Second World War.
The 17-cm K.Mrs.Laf guns were most often sent to the mixed motorized artillery battalions of the Wehrmacht RGK. Each division consisted of two three-gun 21-cm mortars Mrs.18 and one three-gun 17-cm guns.
The first four 17-cm guns were put in parts in January 1941-th. In the same year, the Wehrmacht received such a weapon from the 91 industry, 1942 guns in 126, 1943 in 78, 1944 in 40, and 1945 in 3.
In the autumn of 1943, work began on the creation on the basis of the T-VI tank a 17 / 21 self-propelled gun carriage with 21-cm mortar Mrs.18 and 17-cm gun. The prototype 17-cm ACS on the Tigra chassis, designed by Henschel, weighed 58 tons, the travel speed was 35 km / h, and the frontal armor was 30 centimeters. However, the Germans did not have time to launch self-propelled guns into the series.
Three on one
At the end of 1926, the command of the Red Army decided to create a high-power duplex for the 203-mm howitzer and the 152-mm gun. (Duplex - two guns of different caliber, having an interchangeable carriage, triplex - respectively, three guns. Often there was no interchangeability, and the carriages were just very close in design.) And the 16 of January 1928-I finished designing the 203-mm B-4 howitzer (B - the index of the Leningrad plant "Bolshevik", and Br - the Stalingrad plant "Barricades". The weight in the combat position - 17,7 tons, rate of fire - 1 shots in 2 minutes, the weight of the projectile - 100 / 146 kg, initial speed - 607 / 480 m / c, range - 17,9 / 15,4 km).
The first prototype of the gun was made at the beginning of the 1931 of the year at the Bolshevik plant. In 1932, mass production of the B-4 was launched here, and in 1933, at the Barricades plant. However, officially howitzer adopted only 10 June 1934 of the year.
B-4 participated in the Soviet-Finnish war. On 1 March, 1940-th on the front there were 142 howitzers. Lost or failed four.
In order to break through the concrete of the Finnish dota “millionaire” on the Mannerheim line, it was required that at least two 203-mm projectiles fired from the B-4 be hit in the same point. But I note, this is not the fault of the howitzer constructors. Work on the "millionaire" were systems of special power, the production of which was disrupted by the deputy commissar for arming Tukhachevsky.
By 22 June 1941, the Red Army had a total of X-NUMX B-849 howitzers, including an 4 gun, which needed to be overhauled. The overwhelming majority of serviceable "fours" - 41– were in the western military districts, 517 - in the inner military districts, 174 - on the southern borders of the USSR and 58 - in the Far East.
By the beginning of the war, the B-4 were only in the howitzer artillery regiments of high power RVGK. According to the state (from February 19 1941), each regiment consisted of four divisions of three-battery composition (in the battery - two howitzers, one howitzer was considered a platoon). In total, the regiment had 24 howitzers, 112 tractors, 242 vehicles, 12 motorcycles, and 2304 personnel personnel (including an 174 officer). By June 22 1941 in the RVGK there were 33 regiment, equipped with B-4 (total state - 792 howitzers, in fact - 727 "fours").
In addition to the 203-mm howitzer B-4 and its modifications, 152-mm high-power cannon Br-2 and 280-mm mortars of special power Br-5 were installed on the same carriage. Initially, in 1937, the Br-2 was made with small cuts. However, the survivability of their trunks was extremely low - around 100 shots.
In July-August, the X-NUMX on the NIAP tested the Br-1938 stem with deep cutting (from 2 to 1,5 mm) and a reduced chamber. The gun fired a projectile, which instead of two had one leading belt. According to the test results, the Directorate announced that the survivability of the Br-3,1 cannon had increased fivefold. Such a statement should be treated with caution, since an obvious fraud was committed: the criterion of gun survivability — a drop in the initial velocity — was quietly increased from 2 to 4 percent. One way or another, 10 of December 21 of the year issued a decree of the Directorate: “To approve for deep production 1938-mm deep-cut cannon Br-152” (weight in firing position - 2 tons, rate of fire - 18,4 rpm in 1 minutes, projectile weight - 4 kg, initial speed - 49 m / s, range - 880 km). Experiments with the trunks of Br-25 in 2 klb decided to stop.
In the 1938, the serial guns of the Br-2 did not give up. In 1939, the army received four such weapons (instead of 26 according to the plan), and in 1940, the 23 (according to the 30 plan), in 1941, none. Thus, in the 1939 – 1940 years, the gunners were given 27 deep-cut X-guns of the Br-2, and in the 1937, seven Br-2 with the fine-cut. In addition, before 1 January 1937, the industry launched the 16 152-mm guns of the 1935 model of the year (among them, apparently, were the Br-2 and its upgraded B-30).
According to the state from February 19 of the 1941, the heavy gun regiment of the RVGK should have 152-mm guns Br-2 - 24, tractors - 104, cars - 287 and 2598 people of personnel. The regiment consisted of four divisions of three-battery composition (in each battery - two Br-2).
As a part of the RVGK artillery at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, taking into account the mobilization deployment, there was one cannon regiment (24 Br-2) and two separate heavy cannon batteries (each with two Br-2). Total - 28 guns. In total, the Red Army on 22 June 1941-th, there were 37 Br-2, two of which required major repairs.
The 280-mm mortars of the Br-5 began in December 1936. Although the tool was not debugged, the plant "Barricades" launched it in gross production. In total, 1939 was handed over to 20 Br-5, in 1940-m - 25. In 1941, the armies did not pass a single mortar. After the start of World War II, Br-5 and Br-2 were not produced.
The 203-mm B-4 howitzers were indispensable in the Red Army. No major offensive was carried out without their participation. Particularly distinguished these guns during the breakthrough of the Finnish defense on the Karelian Isthmus in the summer of 1944 and the storming of the cities-fortresses - Berlin, Poznan, Koenigsberg and others.
By 22 June 1941, there were 395 thousands of shells for B-4. During the war years, 470 thousands more were produced, and 661,8 thousands were consumed.
Wheels instead of tracks
As already mentioned, when designing the B-4, our engineers fundamentally abandoned the platform on which all the tools of similar power of the First World War were installed.
But in those years, none of the wheels could not withstand the force of recoil when firing a full charge. Make a pallet and efficient coulters, as in the German mortar 21-sm, did not guess. And then the clever heads decided to replace the wheel drive with a caterpillar, without thinking about the weight of the system, or - most importantly - about its terrain. As a result, the operation of triplex guns, even in peacetime, turned into a continuous “war” with its undercarriage.
For example, the horizontal guidance angle of the system was only ± 4º. In order to turn the X-NUMX-ton colossus of the B-17 to a larger angle, it was necessary to calculate two or more howitzers. Transportation, of course, was separate. Tracked gun carriages and tracked carriages on tracked (B-4) had a terrible maneuverability. In the sleet, a carriage carriage or a barrel carriage had to be pulled by two “Cominterns” (the most powerful Soviet tractors). Total for the system - four "Comintern".
Work on the creation of new undercarriages for the B-4 carriage and new barrel carriages in 1936 – 1941 was carried out in many factories. So, in 1937-m, a prototype of a tracked drive for the B-4 gun carriage was manufactured at the Barricades plant, which received the Br-7 index. However, he could not stand the ground tests and could not be refined.
From 25 November to 30, December 1939 of the year passed military tests of the 203-mm howitzer B-4 with the new tracked course of the T-117 carriage. Compared with the old caterpillar track, the T-117 had the following advantages: less specific pressure on the ground, higher permeability and speed of movement, the system is more stable on the march and when firing. The drawbacks of the T-117 were the greater weight per turn on 1330 kilograms and the insufficient strength of the tracks.
The T-117 crawler drive never entered service.
In 1939, the Barrikady plant created a wheeled barrel wagon Br-15. Factory tests it took from April 28 to 7 May 1940, showed better throughput than the Br-10, and was recommended for use on the condition of re-braking. But that did not happen. And in general, having a towed triplex on a track, significant improvements in maneuverability and speed of the carriage could not be achieved. And what's the point if the wheeled vehicle is moving twice as fast as a tracked carriage? A crucial solution to the issue could only be the transition of the triplex to the new wheeled carriage.
8 February 1938, the AU Red Army approved the tactical and technical requirements for the development of 203-mm howitzers and 152-mm cannon on a single wheeled carriage and with a single barrel wagon. The swinging parts of the guns, ballistics and ammunition were to be taken from the 152-mm cannon Br-2 and 203-mm howitzer B-4.
Art management concluded an agreement with the Perm Molotov Plant (No. 172) for the development of a duplex project by May 1939. The prototype should have been made in November 1939. In Perm, duplex was assigned a factory index M-50 and this was limited, referring to the designers' employment in designing the X-NUMX-mm divisional gun M-107 and 60-mm corpus howitzer M-203.
The work on the M-50 at the factory returned only at the beginning of the 1940. June 9 The Art Direction demanded that plant 172 should overlay the body of the 280-mm mortar Br-5, that is, the duplex should be turned into triplex. In the end, Permian developed his project, which received the designation M-50. The carriage had sliding riveted beds. On the first cart there was a trunk and a pallet (turntable), on the other there was a carriage. When going into combat, the carriage ran into the pallet. However, by 22 June 1941, the triplex M-50 was only on paper.
To remedy the situation, the AU RKKA in December 1939-th tried to involve the plants No. 352 (Novocherkassk) and Uralmash in the design of triplex, but they also did nothing.
Meanwhile, in 1940, two 21-cm mortars Mrs.18 purchased in Germany were tested on the ANIOP. The Perm designers under the direction of A. Ya. Drozdov developed a project for imposing the tools of our triplex and the 180-mm cannon on the German carriage. In fact, it turned out new artillery systems - X-NUMX-mm cannon M-152, X-NUMX-mm cannon M-70, X-NUMX-mm howitzer M-180 and X-NUMX-mm mortar M-71.
To speed up the work, the Art Directorate sent one 21-cm mortar to Perm, since it did not receive the full set of technical documentation from Germany.
The design bureaus of plant No. 172 developed technical projects - M-70, M-71, M-72 and M-73 and prepared a significant part of the working drawings. However, it was not possible to produce prototypes of new tools because of the plant’s workload with the release of serial tools.
I note that the X-NUMX-mm howitzer B-203 had a maximum elevation angle + 4º and its increase to + 60º significantly expanded its capabilities. However, the existing steepness of the rifling of the B-70 trunk could not give the desired accuracy, that is, it was necessary to change the internal structure of the trunk.
The war prevented the implementation of a unique project M-70, M-71, M-72 and M-73. But already in 1942, the Soviet designers resumed their fight against the crawler-mounted carriage of the triplex Br-2, B-4 and Br-5.
In 1942, VG Grabin designed the 152-mm C-47 cannon, which represented the imposition of the swinging part of the Br-2 on the reinforced carriage of the 122-mm A-19 cannon. But, alas, nothing good happened.
In the post-war period, GAU hampered the development of new Grabin tools with a large and special power, and in return for 1947 – 1954, carried out a major overhaul of all B-4 at the Barricades factory. By that time, they had adopted an ATT artillery tractor, which had a speed of up to 35 km / h. But as soon as he began to drive faster than 15 km / h, the undercarriage of the B-4 collapsed. GAU demanded that TSNII-58 create a new move for B-4. Grabin’s resolution was brief: "Any modernization is impossible."
Then, the designers of SKB-221 of the Barricades plant took up the business on their own initiative, and in April 1954, the development of the technical design of the mast was completed, and in December two experienced wheel mast with the X-NUMX-mm howitzer B-203 and 4 installed on them -mm cannon Br-152 sent for testing. New wheeled carriage adopted in the 2 year. The 1955-mm howitzer on this carriage received the B-203М index, the 4-mm gun - Br-152М, and the 2-mm mortar - Br-280М. New bodies of howitzers, cannons and mortars were not made, there was only the replacement of gun carriages.
The X-NUMX-mm B-203-M howitzer remained on arms and in warehouses until the end of the 4-s. And in 80-m for B-1964М began designing a special (nuclear) projectile 4BB3, allowing for firing to 2 kilometers.
When it comes to weapons and military equipment during the Second World War, most often talk about tanks, airplanes, divisional and regimental guns, mortars, rifles, machine guns and machine guns ... But large-caliber artillery is rarely remembered.
Meanwhile, the Germans in the 1942 – 1945 years pulled together to the Eastern Front up to two hundred guns of great and special power, collected from all over Europe. The Red Army also used dozens of heavy weapons. However, in this article we will focus on the main samples of the guns of this type of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht - X-NUMX-mm howitzer B-203 and 4-cm Mrs.21 mortar.
... Plus the gun
The 21-Mortar Mrs.18 was adopted by the German army in the 1936 year. Why 18? The fact is that the design of the instrument Krupp company began even during the time of the restrictions imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty. And the cunning Germans in the names of all artillery systems created in 1920 – 1935 included the number 18: they say, this is just a refinement of the First World War.
Due to the long barrel in some English reference books, the 21-cm mortar Mrs.18 is called a cannon. This is fundamentally wrong. This is not only a large elevation angle (+ 70º). The gun could shoot at an angle of 0º only on small charges - from 1 No. to 4. And with a larger charge (No. 5 or No. 6), the angle of elevation had to be set at least to 8º, otherwise the system would be threatened with tilting. Thus, 21-cm Mrs.18 was a classic mortar (weight in the combat position - 17,9 tons, rate of fire - 30 rds / hour, weight of shells: 113 kg fragmentation-explosive, 121 kg concrete-cutting, initial speed - 565 / 550 m / s , range - 16,7 km).
“The 203 mm B-4 howitzers were indispensable. Not a single major offensive of the Soviet troops was carried out without their participation. ”
A characteristic feature of the gun was a double rollback: the barrel rolled away along the cradle, and the cradle along with the barrel and the upper machine - along the lower machine gun carriage, thus achieving good stability when firing.
In a combat position, mortar leaned on the front of the base plate, and behind - on the trunk support. Wheels while hanging out. In the stowed position, the barrel was removed and placed on a special wagon. Carriage with limber towed separately. The speed of movement of the system did not exceed 30 km / h. However, for a short distance, the transport of the mortar was also allowed in unassembled form (that is, with the barrel superimposed on the carriage), but at a speed of 4 – 6 km / h.
The gun fired two types of high-explosive fragmentation grenades and concrete shells. In 1939 – 1945, German industry manufactured 1 million 750 thousand units of ammunition for this mortar.
I note that in 1942, 21-cm mortars Mrs.18 were not made. They did not need? No, because of Hitler's self-assurance, who began curtailing the release of artillery shells after the successes of the Wehrmacht in the summer and autumn of 1941 on the Eastern Front.
By 1 June 1941, the German troops numbered 388 21-cm mortars Mrs.18. All of them were in the artillery units of the RGC. By the end of May 1940, these guns were in service with two mixed motorized artillery battalions (No. 604 and No. 607). In each division there were two batteries of 21-cm mortars (three-guns) and one battery of 15-cm guns. 21-cm mortars were also equipped with 15 motorized divisions (three batteries of three guns each), 624 and 641 divisions of special power (three guns in addition to 30,5-cm mortars).
In 1939, the designers of the Krupp company imposed a 17-cm (172,5-mm) naval cannon on the mortar gun carriage. The system received the designation 17 cm K.Mrs.Laf. (weight in combat position - 17,5 tons, rate of fire - 40 rounds / hour, projectile weight - 62,8 / 68,0 kg, initial speed - 925 / 860 m / s, range - 31 / 29,5 km). German historians consider it the best in its class during the Second World War.
The 17-cm K.Mrs.Laf guns were most often sent to the mixed motorized artillery battalions of the Wehrmacht RGK. Each division consisted of two three-gun 21-cm mortars Mrs.18 and one three-gun 17-cm guns.
The first four 17-cm guns were put in parts in January 1941-th. In the same year, the Wehrmacht received such a weapon from the 91 industry, 1942 guns in 126, 1943 in 78, 1944 in 40, and 1945 in 3.
In the autumn of 1943, work began on the creation on the basis of the T-VI tank a 17 / 21 self-propelled gun carriage with 21-cm mortar Mrs.18 and 17-cm gun. The prototype 17-cm ACS on the Tigra chassis, designed by Henschel, weighed 58 tons, the travel speed was 35 km / h, and the frontal armor was 30 centimeters. However, the Germans did not have time to launch self-propelled guns into the series.
Three on one
At the end of 1926, the command of the Red Army decided to create a high-power duplex for the 203-mm howitzer and the 152-mm gun. (Duplex - two guns of different caliber, having an interchangeable carriage, triplex - respectively, three guns. Often there was no interchangeability, and the carriages were just very close in design.) And the 16 of January 1928-I finished designing the 203-mm B-4 howitzer (B - the index of the Leningrad plant "Bolshevik", and Br - the Stalingrad plant "Barricades". The weight in the combat position - 17,7 tons, rate of fire - 1 shots in 2 minutes, the weight of the projectile - 100 / 146 kg, initial speed - 607 / 480 m / c, range - 17,9 / 15,4 km).
The first prototype of the gun was made at the beginning of the 1931 of the year at the Bolshevik plant. In 1932, mass production of the B-4 was launched here, and in 1933, at the Barricades plant. However, officially howitzer adopted only 10 June 1934 of the year.
B-4 participated in the Soviet-Finnish war. On 1 March, 1940-th on the front there were 142 howitzers. Lost or failed four.
In order to break through the concrete of the Finnish dota “millionaire” on the Mannerheim line, it was required that at least two 203-mm projectiles fired from the B-4 be hit in the same point. But I note, this is not the fault of the howitzer constructors. Work on the "millionaire" were systems of special power, the production of which was disrupted by the deputy commissar for arming Tukhachevsky.
By 22 June 1941, the Red Army had a total of X-NUMX B-849 howitzers, including an 4 gun, which needed to be overhauled. The overwhelming majority of serviceable "fours" - 41– were in the western military districts, 517 - in the inner military districts, 174 - on the southern borders of the USSR and 58 - in the Far East.
By the beginning of the war, the B-4 were only in the howitzer artillery regiments of high power RVGK. According to the state (from February 19 1941), each regiment consisted of four divisions of three-battery composition (in the battery - two howitzers, one howitzer was considered a platoon). In total, the regiment had 24 howitzers, 112 tractors, 242 vehicles, 12 motorcycles, and 2304 personnel personnel (including an 174 officer). By June 22 1941 in the RVGK there were 33 regiment, equipped with B-4 (total state - 792 howitzers, in fact - 727 "fours").
In addition to the 203-mm howitzer B-4 and its modifications, 152-mm high-power cannon Br-2 and 280-mm mortars of special power Br-5 were installed on the same carriage. Initially, in 1937, the Br-2 was made with small cuts. However, the survivability of their trunks was extremely low - around 100 shots.
In July-August, the X-NUMX on the NIAP tested the Br-1938 stem with deep cutting (from 2 to 1,5 mm) and a reduced chamber. The gun fired a projectile, which instead of two had one leading belt. According to the test results, the Directorate announced that the survivability of the Br-3,1 cannon had increased fivefold. Such a statement should be treated with caution, since an obvious fraud was committed: the criterion of gun survivability — a drop in the initial velocity — was quietly increased from 2 to 4 percent. One way or another, 10 of December 21 of the year issued a decree of the Directorate: “To approve for deep production 1938-mm deep-cut cannon Br-152” (weight in firing position - 2 tons, rate of fire - 18,4 rpm in 1 minutes, projectile weight - 4 kg, initial speed - 49 m / s, range - 880 km). Experiments with the trunks of Br-25 in 2 klb decided to stop.
In the 1938, the serial guns of the Br-2 did not give up. In 1939, the army received four such weapons (instead of 26 according to the plan), and in 1940, the 23 (according to the 30 plan), in 1941, none. Thus, in the 1939 – 1940 years, the gunners were given 27 deep-cut X-guns of the Br-2, and in the 1937, seven Br-2 with the fine-cut. In addition, before 1 January 1937, the industry launched the 16 152-mm guns of the 1935 model of the year (among them, apparently, were the Br-2 and its upgraded B-30).
According to the state from February 19 of the 1941, the heavy gun regiment of the RVGK should have 152-mm guns Br-2 - 24, tractors - 104, cars - 287 and 2598 people of personnel. The regiment consisted of four divisions of three-battery composition (in each battery - two Br-2).
As a part of the RVGK artillery at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, taking into account the mobilization deployment, there was one cannon regiment (24 Br-2) and two separate heavy cannon batteries (each with two Br-2). Total - 28 guns. In total, the Red Army on 22 June 1941-th, there were 37 Br-2, two of which required major repairs.
The 280-mm mortars of the Br-5 began in December 1936. Although the tool was not debugged, the plant "Barricades" launched it in gross production. In total, 1939 was handed over to 20 Br-5, in 1940-m - 25. In 1941, the armies did not pass a single mortar. After the start of World War II, Br-5 and Br-2 were not produced.
The 203-mm B-4 howitzers were indispensable in the Red Army. No major offensive was carried out without their participation. Particularly distinguished these guns during the breakthrough of the Finnish defense on the Karelian Isthmus in the summer of 1944 and the storming of the cities-fortresses - Berlin, Poznan, Koenigsberg and others.
By 22 June 1941, there were 395 thousands of shells for B-4. During the war years, 470 thousands more were produced, and 661,8 thousands were consumed.
Wheels instead of tracks
As already mentioned, when designing the B-4, our engineers fundamentally abandoned the platform on which all the tools of similar power of the First World War were installed.
But in those years, none of the wheels could not withstand the force of recoil when firing a full charge. Make a pallet and efficient coulters, as in the German mortar 21-sm, did not guess. And then the clever heads decided to replace the wheel drive with a caterpillar, without thinking about the weight of the system, or - most importantly - about its terrain. As a result, the operation of triplex guns, even in peacetime, turned into a continuous “war” with its undercarriage.
For example, the horizontal guidance angle of the system was only ± 4º. In order to turn the X-NUMX-ton colossus of the B-17 to a larger angle, it was necessary to calculate two or more howitzers. Transportation, of course, was separate. Tracked gun carriages and tracked carriages on tracked (B-4) had a terrible maneuverability. In the sleet, a carriage carriage or a barrel carriage had to be pulled by two “Cominterns” (the most powerful Soviet tractors). Total for the system - four "Comintern".
Work on the creation of new undercarriages for the B-4 carriage and new barrel carriages in 1936 – 1941 was carried out in many factories. So, in 1937-m, a prototype of a tracked drive for the B-4 gun carriage was manufactured at the Barricades plant, which received the Br-7 index. However, he could not stand the ground tests and could not be refined.
From 25 November to 30, December 1939 of the year passed military tests of the 203-mm howitzer B-4 with the new tracked course of the T-117 carriage. Compared with the old caterpillar track, the T-117 had the following advantages: less specific pressure on the ground, higher permeability and speed of movement, the system is more stable on the march and when firing. The drawbacks of the T-117 were the greater weight per turn on 1330 kilograms and the insufficient strength of the tracks.
The T-117 crawler drive never entered service.
In 1939, the Barrikady plant created a wheeled barrel wagon Br-15. Factory tests it took from April 28 to 7 May 1940, showed better throughput than the Br-10, and was recommended for use on the condition of re-braking. But that did not happen. And in general, having a towed triplex on a track, significant improvements in maneuverability and speed of the carriage could not be achieved. And what's the point if the wheeled vehicle is moving twice as fast as a tracked carriage? A crucial solution to the issue could only be the transition of the triplex to the new wheeled carriage.
8 February 1938, the AU Red Army approved the tactical and technical requirements for the development of 203-mm howitzers and 152-mm cannon on a single wheeled carriage and with a single barrel wagon. The swinging parts of the guns, ballistics and ammunition were to be taken from the 152-mm cannon Br-2 and 203-mm howitzer B-4.
Art management concluded an agreement with the Perm Molotov Plant (No. 172) for the development of a duplex project by May 1939. The prototype should have been made in November 1939. In Perm, duplex was assigned a factory index M-50 and this was limited, referring to the designers' employment in designing the X-NUMX-mm divisional gun M-107 and 60-mm corpus howitzer M-203.
The work on the M-50 at the factory returned only at the beginning of the 1940. June 9 The Art Direction demanded that plant 172 should overlay the body of the 280-mm mortar Br-5, that is, the duplex should be turned into triplex. In the end, Permian developed his project, which received the designation M-50. The carriage had sliding riveted beds. On the first cart there was a trunk and a pallet (turntable), on the other there was a carriage. When going into combat, the carriage ran into the pallet. However, by 22 June 1941, the triplex M-50 was only on paper.
To remedy the situation, the AU RKKA in December 1939-th tried to involve the plants No. 352 (Novocherkassk) and Uralmash in the design of triplex, but they also did nothing.
Meanwhile, in 1940, two 21-cm mortars Mrs.18 purchased in Germany were tested on the ANIOP. The Perm designers under the direction of A. Ya. Drozdov developed a project for imposing the tools of our triplex and the 180-mm cannon on the German carriage. In fact, it turned out new artillery systems - X-NUMX-mm cannon M-152, X-NUMX-mm cannon M-70, X-NUMX-mm howitzer M-180 and X-NUMX-mm mortar M-71.
To speed up the work, the Art Directorate sent one 21-cm mortar to Perm, since it did not receive the full set of technical documentation from Germany.
The design bureaus of plant No. 172 developed technical projects - M-70, M-71, M-72 and M-73 and prepared a significant part of the working drawings. However, it was not possible to produce prototypes of new tools because of the plant’s workload with the release of serial tools.
I note that the X-NUMX-mm howitzer B-203 had a maximum elevation angle + 4º and its increase to + 60º significantly expanded its capabilities. However, the existing steepness of the rifling of the B-70 trunk could not give the desired accuracy, that is, it was necessary to change the internal structure of the trunk.
The war prevented the implementation of a unique project M-70, M-71, M-72 and M-73. But already in 1942, the Soviet designers resumed their fight against the crawler-mounted carriage of the triplex Br-2, B-4 and Br-5.
In 1942, VG Grabin designed the 152-mm C-47 cannon, which represented the imposition of the swinging part of the Br-2 on the reinforced carriage of the 122-mm A-19 cannon. But, alas, nothing good happened.
In the post-war period, GAU hampered the development of new Grabin tools with a large and special power, and in return for 1947 – 1954, carried out a major overhaul of all B-4 at the Barricades factory. By that time, they had adopted an ATT artillery tractor, which had a speed of up to 35 km / h. But as soon as he began to drive faster than 15 km / h, the undercarriage of the B-4 collapsed. GAU demanded that TSNII-58 create a new move for B-4. Grabin’s resolution was brief: "Any modernization is impossible."
Then, the designers of SKB-221 of the Barricades plant took up the business on their own initiative, and in April 1954, the development of the technical design of the mast was completed, and in December two experienced wheel mast with the X-NUMX-mm howitzer B-203 and 4 installed on them -mm cannon Br-152 sent for testing. New wheeled carriage adopted in the 2 year. The 1955-mm howitzer on this carriage received the B-203М index, the 4-mm gun - Br-152М, and the 2-mm mortar - Br-280М. New bodies of howitzers, cannons and mortars were not made, there was only the replacement of gun carriages.
The X-NUMX-mm B-203-M howitzer remained on arms and in warehouses until the end of the 4-s. And in 80-m for B-1964М began designing a special (nuclear) projectile 4BB3, allowing for firing to 2 kilometers.
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