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SURVIVING GUN FILE (# 162)
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Germany

21cm lg.Mrs.16 L/14.5 ('langer Mörser')

Heavy artillery

Contributor :
Bernard Plumier      http://www.passioncompassion1418.com
     
     
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Location :
Belgium
Brussels
Musée Royal de l'Armée
Coordinates : Lat : 50.84260 / Long : 4.39230
General comments on this surviving gun :


Identical items in the same location : 1
Items covered by this file : 1

This nice model is presented with the tube in transport position on the RohrWagon.

Front view with the camouflaged shield, and the recuperator protective shielding.

Rear view with the aiming system. Breech markings : 'Nr 1778 - Fried Krupp Essen - 1918'


Historic and technical information
Denomination :     21cm M 16 Origin :       ( Krupp)          

Historic context :

As soon as August 1914, the 21cm M 191O mortars demonstrated their power and mobility in front of the Belgian and French fortresses, in the fall of which they highly contributed. However the transformation of the movement war into a position war and the apparition of better enemy counter-battery fire at the end of 1914 made the APK ('Artillerie Prüfungs Komission') listen to the armies requests and ask to Krupp to study a range improvement to more than 10.000 m. This modernisation mainly consisted into the extension of the tube length from 12 to 14.5, the addition of a protection shield, and some minor modifications gave birth to the and transformed it into the 'langer 21 cm Morser M16', also named 'langer Mörser', one of the most famous aces of the German heavy artillery.

Delivered to the units from the end of 1916, this remarkable weapon provided on all the fronts its impressive destructive power, propulsing its big 120 kg shells being to a distance more than 10 km...

'lange Mörser' was modified a last time in 1917/1918, re-inforcing its wheels system (now steel discs pierced with holes, instead of rod wheels) and its suspension to allow the mechanical towing in a single load by a tractor. The tube could now be moved backwards to lye directly on the carriage trail for transportation. This last version, 100 kg heavier, was named '21 cm Mrs. M17

The long 21cm mortar was built by Krupp to a number of 736 until november 1918. At the Armistice, the german Army was still having 489 suc weapons. Some of them were called back to service during WW2.

Technical data :

  • Complete description : 21cm mortar M 16 (and M 17)
  • Design year : 1916 (1917)
  • Calibre : 211.00 mm
  • Weight in firing position : 6630 kg (7550 kg with trackpads). Additional 100 kg for the M17 version
  • Weight for transportation : 3 wagons 3870 kg (with tube), 3713 kg (with carriage) and 3345 kg (with accessories), single 7550 kg load for the M17 version
  • Tube length in calibres : 14.50 (total tube length)
  • Grooves : 64
  • Projectile weight : 120 kg
  • Initial speed : 394 m/s
  • Fire rate :
  • Range : 10200 m
  • Elevation range : +6 to +70 degrés
  • Direction range : 4 degrees total range


Sources
  • German Artillery of World War One           Herbert Jager                   Crowood   2001  
  • Das Geraet der Schweren Artillerie vor, in und nach der Weltkrieg       Herman Schirmer                   Bernard und Graefe, Berlin   1937  
  • Deutsche 21-cm Morser 1911-1945, Waffen-Arsenal #162       Wolfgang Fleischer                   Waffen-Arsenal   1996  
  • Les 'Mörser' de calibre 21 cm - Atouts majeurs de l'artillerie allemande en 1914-1918 - Tank Zone Nr 11       Général Guy François                   Histoire et Collection   2010