Karl (another big gun!)

In an earlier thread on big german guns, Karl came up. Well, book shopping today yielded an entire volume on this beast, so I figured I'd share.
I mentioned that there were two very similar versions of this gun- a 54cm and a 60cm. Seems I was right and wrong. There were actually six different types of chassis made which could all mount either of the gun sizes, in theory. The different chassis versions accomodated two different engine designs, two different suspension designs, and two different transmissions. In total, seven vehicles were created, but one broke down early on and was never fully serviceable. "Karl" was only one of these- other names included Thor, Loki, Ziu, or technically Geraet 040/041 Nr. I - VII. The 60 cm barrel (040), which was also 21 cm shorter, had a lesser range and had less bunker-penetrating power. The longer 54cm barrel (041) provided increased muzzel velocity, thus the round had more speed when it hit the ground, improving penetration. The longer barrel was more cumbersome and was not used to the extent of the 60 cm barrel. Vehicle weight when ready to fire- 124,000 - 126,000 kg (tons? I'm bad on metrics).
60 cm ammo- 2 kinds of rounds, weighing 1.7 or 2.17 TONS each round.
These monsters were actually used regularly throughout most of the war, with all vehicles out of action only throughout most of 43. They were generally used in batteries of 2 to 4. Action history includes firing on Brest-Litowsk and Sevastopol in Russia, firing on Warsaw in 44, one was used briefly during the Battle of the Bulge, and (here's my favorite)- the germans used one or two to fire on the bridge at Remagen in an attempt to destroy the bridge (and allied bridgehead) in 1945! Apparently, unfortunately, the combat records of this action (and many others) were destroyed.

This thing was a real monster- yet another incredible weapon from the germans...
(sorry to ramble- incredibly fascinating stuff!)

 

Agreed, Crazy - this one has always fascinated me. I'm fairly certain that the filmclip I've seen was taken at Warsaw. I must get around to making that Hasegawa kit...!

 

The book I got has a great 3 photo sequence from the weapon firing; the citation claims it is Geraet Nr. VI, "Ziu", firing on Warsaw. I bet you saw the film these three stills were taken from!
I must say, I'm somewhat suprised at how much action these guns actually saw. Many examples of the more outrageous (and neat!) german weapons saw very little service for the time and resources used on them- perfect examples being the Dora/Gustav guns and the bent barrel attachment for the mp43. Yet the Geraet mortars actually saw pretty regular service. I would absolutley love to find more info on their actions during the Battle of the Bulge and at Remagen. The author of my book (Thomas J. Lentz) couldn't find any records.

A TWO-TON shell! wow....

And in additon to building that Hasegawa kit, you should give me the product number!!! My hobby shop can order it, and damn would I love to get my hands on that! 1/76?

 

No problem, Crazy, got it right here.
It's Hasegawa Kit No 032:1700 ( Mini-Box Series No 32 ) Morser Karl in 1/72 scale.
There are two types available; mine is on its' railway carriage, there is a better ( I think ) version in 'firing' mode with modified PzKpfw IV ammo carrier. I don't know the number of this one but your retailer should be able to look it up. I've seen both types made up and they are very !

 

I do love too the big guns. The powerful of artillery has always amazed me. And big guns really take away my attention. And crazy, it is simple: 1.000 kilogrammes= 1 ton.

And I enjoyed learning more about this. Thanks.

 

Thanks, Friedrich.. although I'll never get used to metrics... even though they certianly make more sense than inches and feet and whatnot!!
And glad you liked the info. I just had to post after finding that whole book on the subject! Maybe more info on Dora/Gustav is waiting somewhere!
And thanks for the model info, Martin. Don't get the scale though- why is it that some companies use 1/76, and some use 1/72? Standardization would be nice...

 

**bumped* for Ta152 !

 

I gotta a stupid question,

If the atom bomb was invented in Germany in 1940 would Germany hav had any v rockets tht could carry 1 or any artillery guns that could fire 1 a few miles away.?

 

I put the name in the forum search engine and nothing came up but my post.

Thank you anyway Martin.