Strangest Tanks: The Giant Karl

28
What are the designers capable of having received carte blanche? Flying equipment, Tanks with four tracks, military Robots This is just the tip of the engineering iceberg. We present the project "The Strangest Fighting Vehicles of the World" from the creators of the legendary game World of Tanks. The rubric tells about the amazing, daring and failed decisions of tank engineers. The protagonist of this issue is the German mortar "Karl".

The development of the Karl mortar began in 1935. The German company Rheinmetall-Borsig AG received an order to create a super-heavy rifled mortar capable of launching a 4-ton projectile at a distance of more than 1000 meters. 2-ton ammunition, in turn, had to overcome about 3 kilometers. The main task of such weapons there was the destruction of long-term defense lines, including forts.




The first mortar was made in November 1940 and was officially named "Adam". In total, Germany had 7 such guns, of which 6 took part in battles. The second mortar was designated "Eve", and the subsequent ones were named after the heroes of Scandinavian mythology. However, due to the fact that the design was carried out under the leadership of Karl Becker, most often the German monsters were called exactly "Karl".

The first thing that catches your eye is the size of the mortar. This is the unique and largest-caliber SPG that was destined to become legendary. A cannon of 600 and 540 mm caliber was "spat" by shells weighing more than 2 tons, containing from 280 to 348 kg of explosives. In this case, the barrel length was only 8,5 calibers. It was a monoblock with 112 grooves. Together with the breech, the barrel mass was more than 28 tons. The consequences of the hit "Karl" can be compared with the explosion of a powerful bomb. At the point of impact, the shells pierced craters more than 10 meters deep and threw out clouds of sand to a height of about 170 meters.

A feature of the giant mortar was the chassis, with which it could move independently. In the bow there was an engine with a capacity of 580 hp, but the speed did not exceed 10 km / h. Basically, the car was transported by rail. She was balanced on two platforms and transported to her destination. Often, the ACS was completely disassembled and reassembled already on the front line. It was quite difficult to carry out the delivery unnoticed, so those who were supposed to guard it were added to the 16 crew members serving the mortar. By the way, Karl's armor was far from being the strongest.

To use the huge mortar required "greenhouse" conditions. The aiming of the gun in the horizontal plane was carried out by turning the lower machine in a sector of only ± 2,5 degrees. To increase the sector, it was necessary to rotate the entire chassis. The vertical guidance angles were in the range from 0 to 70 degrees. All operations were carried out manually, and the time between shots was about 10 minutes.


Although the large caliber of the German mortar provided enormous firepower, in practice the Karls did not live up to the hopes placed on them and did not have a significant value in battles. A huge machine with a terrifying cannon could somehow declare itself only in 3 battles - the siege of the Brest Fortress, the battle of Sevastopol and the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising.

For more details about the huge German mortar, see the video from Wargaming.

Our news channels

Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest news and the most important events of the day.

28 comments
Information
Dear reader, to leave comments on the publication, you must sign in.
  1. +3
    14 December 2021 05: 43
    I saw this monster in Kubinka several years ago.

    The name is Adam, but Eve was not there. request
    1. +4
      14 December 2021 05: 53
      Gigantomania has never justified itself ... so, for prestige, or something.
    2. The comment was deleted.
      1. +7
        14 December 2021 08: 20
        Quote: Proxima
        Dora is definitely useless
        Here, better than Colonel-General Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces of Hitlerite Germany, no one will say: "a real work of art, but this is a useless weapon."
    3. +4
      14 December 2021 07: 31
      Weird. As far back as I can remember, "Karl" (and his brothers) has always been called a self-propelled mortar.
      And then suddenly a tank ...
      1. +3
        14 December 2021 07: 53
        Igor, hello.))

        For the author, obviously, everything on the tracks is either a tank or a tractor. bully

        This is to the question of the competence of the authors of some articles.
        1. +1
          14 December 2021 08: 11
          That yes ... Good morning (with us) As I understand it, he is ready to write "Doru" into an armored train)))
          1. +3
            14 December 2021 08: 24
            And easily - it rides on rails, so why not a train! laughing

            1. +2
              14 December 2021 18: 03
              It looks like the most trainable train)
              1. +1
                22 December 2021 15: 33
                And then, for the fool-"Dora" 4 railway tracks were required at once.
      2. +8
        14 December 2021 08: 55
        Quote: Leader of the Redskins
        always called a self-propelled mortar.
        And then suddenly a tank ...

        In reality, it is difficult to call Karl a self-propelled gun! In fact, this is a self-propelled weapon! Something similar appeared among the French in WW1 ...

        194-mm SPG (or rather, self-propelled gun ...) GPF ...
    4. +9
      14 December 2021 08: 31
      So who is “Adam” or “Ziu”? I didn’t understand. How many who have not read on this topic, there are all "who are in the forest, who are for firewood" stands and stands, and who - what a difference I thought and stopped looking for an answer to this question in due time.
      1. +4
        14 December 2021 08: 39
        The name is written, read clearly, but the truth was written by the museum staff "or how", it is already on their conscience. request
      2. +1
        22 December 2021 16: 22
        The fact that in Kubinka not all exhibits are in their native colors, the museum staff said and did not hide it. About this exhibit, visitors asked almost constantly: why not "Karl"? And they explained to everyone that each tool had its own name and specifically this is "Adam". All exhibits are periodically put in order. The inscriptions are updated, but in accordance with the original. Like this:
    5. +2
      14 December 2021 18: 02
      I always wanted to go there, I can ask - is the admission free, did you come, charged, joined?
      1. +2
        14 December 2021 18: 38
        I would gladly inform you, but I was there about twenty years ago, and I don’t know how it is now. Then everyone was allowed in.
        And you go to their side, everything is probably detailed there. smile
        By the way, there was a wonderful aviation museum in Monino at least twenty years ago.
        1. +2
          14 December 2021 18: 51
          Thanks for the answer, I will do it in 2022) I have been dreaming for a long time.
          1. +2
            14 December 2021 19: 14
            It's worth it! smile

            Photo from the same place.
            1. +1
              14 December 2021 19: 39
              Thank you again, I will certainly visit, I swear)
          2. +2
            22 December 2021 16: 09
            I was in Kubinka and Monino also 15 years ago. Then everything was simple, from the fences there were simple cables on the posts (as in the photograph of Konstantin). Although the restrictive inscriptions were present, but within reason, I managed to touch something from behind the fence in more detail on the photo. The huge T-35 and the really low "object-279" were especially impressive in contrast. Later it became tougher: in the photographs I saw that they had installed glass barriers, for them it was no longer easy to jump over them.
            Now some copies from Kubinka were taken to the Patriot park. I don’t undertake to judge whether this is good or bad, but in one place you can’t see everything, and you definitely won’t be able to touch the historical hardware in “Patriot”, just look.
            But even in Kubinka there should be so many exhibits that will be enough for the eyes.
            It generally requires one visit per hangar. I recommend, you will not regret it!
            And Monino too. But from there, too, part of the exposition in the "Patriot" was pulled.
            1. +2
              22 December 2021 16: 34

              Here in the photo, apart from the Panther, you can see the glass enclosure and part of the black hull of the Adam, and slightly higher, even the 128mm gun barrel of the Mouse hiding behind it.
            2. +2
              22 December 2021 17: 04
              Many thanks for the details!
              1. +1
                24 December 2021 15: 53
                Here on the channel "Zvezda" there is an advertisement for the next program. From it I learned that this Panther is also now in the "Patriot".
                But then it was brought to a running state.
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul6MW7Hxmd0&ab_channel=DmitryPuchkov
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmdvxokrCco&ab_channel=DmitryPuchkov
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vi7iMXRD6A&ab_channel=DmitryPuchkov
                Apparently all WWII equipment is already there.
                1. 0
                  24 December 2021 16: 43
                  So we will visit Patriot too, thanks again for clarification)
                  1. +1
                    24 December 2021 17: 21
                    Then at the "Panther" in Kubinka I met a colleague. He swam in the Dead Sea in the morning, then a plane-train-museum.
                    And I was from Vladivostok the day before and in the morning I was also a train-museum.
                    Now my "scientific tourism" is Sakhalin and the outskirts of the Far East.
                    If there is an opportunity, then in a personal description of the visit, and how things are now. hi
  2. +2
    14 December 2021 14: 27
    Always admired the big guns / barrels. Here is a moshch.
  3. +2
    14 December 2021 16: 43
    Quote: aleks neym_2
    so, for prestige or something.

    It's just that some of the "paddling pools" surrendered too quickly. They were not made for Sevastopol and Warsaw, for the "Maginot Line". They ruined the hunt! lol hi
  4. +2
    14 December 2021 18: 01
    Excuse me, but how did the self-propelled mortar become a tank?
  5. 0
    10 February 2022 15: 53
    And yet, it was the shell of the "Karl" mortar that disabled one of the two two-gun turrets of the BB No. 30 of the village of Lyubimovka with a direct hit during the most difficult phase of the second assault on Sevastopol!
    The entire crew of the turret compartment died and the gun barrels and turret ring were damaged, the restoration of the turret lasted a month and a half
    But it was the armored turret 30ka that was the backbone of the entire defense sector from Simferopol. hi

"Right Sector" (banned in Russia), "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) (banned in Russia), ISIS (banned in Russia), "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra" (banned in Russia) , Taliban (banned in Russia), Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), Anti-Corruption Foundation (banned in Russia), Navalny Headquarters (banned in Russia), Facebook (banned in Russia), Instagram (banned in Russia), Meta (banned in Russia), Misanthropic Division (banned in Russia), Azov (banned in Russia), Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia), Aum Shinrikyo (banned in Russia), AUE (banned in Russia), UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia), Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (banned in Russia), Legion “Freedom of Russia” (armed formation, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation and banned)

“Non-profit organizations, unregistered public associations or individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent,” as well as media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent: “Medusa”; "Voice of America"; "Realities"; "Present time"; "Radio Freedom"; Ponomarev; Savitskaya; Markelov; Kamalyagin; Apakhonchich; Makarevich; Dud; Gordon; Zhdanov; Medvedev; Fedorov; "Owl"; "Alliance of Doctors"; "RKK" "Levada Center"; "Memorial"; "Voice"; "Person and law"; "Rain"; "Mediazone"; "Deutsche Welle"; QMS "Caucasian Knot"; "Insider"; "New Newspaper"