21 cm Mörser 16

Infobox Weapon
name=21 cm Mörser 16


caption=21 cm Mörser 16 in Hämeenlinna Finnish Artillery Museum.
origin=Germany
type=howitzer
is_ranged=
is_bladed=
is_explosive=
is_artillery=yes
is_vehicle=
is_UK=
service=1916-1950
used_by=flag|German Empire
SWE
flag|Nazi Germany
FIN
wars=World War I, World War II
designer=Krupp
design_date=
manufacturer=Krupp
production_date=
number=
variants=
weight=convert|6680|kg|lb
length=
part_length=convert|2.675|m|in L/14.5
width=
height=
crew=
cartridge=separate-loading, cased charge
caliber=211 mm
action=
rate=1-2 rpm
velocity=393 m/s
range=
max_range=convert|11100|m|yd
feed=
sights=
breech=horizontal sliding wedge
recoil=hydro-pneumatic
carriage=box trail
elevation=-6° to +70°
traverse=4°
blade_type=
hilt_type=
sheath_type=
head_type=
haft_type=
diameter=
filling=TNT
filling_weight=
detonation=
yield=
armour=
primary_armament=
secondary_armament=
engine=
engine_power=
pw_ratio=
suspension=
vehicle_range=
speed=

The 21 cm Mörser 16 (21 cm Mrs 16) or langer 21 cm Mörser was a heavy howitzer used by Germany in World War I and World War II.

History

It was based on the earlier 21 cm Mörser 10, but had a longer barrel, a gun shield and other refinements. Originally it broke down into two loads for transport, but the Germans rebuilt surviving guns during the Thirties with rubber-rimmed steel wheels to allow for motor traction in one piece with a limber under the trail and generally removed the gunshield.

Combat service

In German service it used two shells, the 21 cm Gr 18 (HE) that weighed convert|113|kg|lb and the 21 cm Gr 18 Be concrete-piercing shell of convert|121.4|kg|lb with a filler of convert|11.61|kg|lb of TNT.

They remained in first-line use with the Germans until replaced by the 21 cm Mörser 18 by about 1940. Afterwards they were used for training and equipped units in secondary theaters.

The Swedes bought a dozen weapons in 1918 from the Germans and they remained in service until 1950. The Swedes had their own concrete-piercing shells, the 210 tkrv 51/65-ps R-/33 weighing convert|120.75|kg|lb, which had dispersion problems as the Finns found out.

The Finns bought four of these from the Swedes during the Winter War although they didn't participate in the war because the Finns lacked vehicles strong enough to tow their great weight to the front. This had been rectified before the Continuation War and the Finns equipped the 10th Separate Super-Heavy Artillery Battery with them for the duration of the war. They were put into reserve after the war and remained there until the late 1960s before being discarded.

References

* Englemann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst. "Deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliderung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz". Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1974
* Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. "Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945". New York: Doubleday, 1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3
* Hogg, Ian. "Twentieth-Century Artillery". New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000 ISBN 0-7607-1994-2
* Jäger, Herbert. "German Artillery of World War One". Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001 ISBN 1-86126-403-8

External links

* [http://www.landships.freeservers.com/21cm_howitzer.htm 21 cm Mörser 10/16 on Landships]
* [http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/ARTILLERY7.htm the Mörser 16 on Jägerplatoon]