Terminus
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Shupov
quote:
ORIGINAL: Terminus
quote:
ORIGINAL: Shupov
Is the great Gustav 800 mm (31.5 inch) gun included in WitE? It had a range of 23-29 miles depending on shell type and was used effectively in the siege of Sevastopol.
That's HIGHLY debatable.
From Military.com -
She (Gustov) spoke first on June 5, 1942, targeting coastal batteries that had, up until that time, survived the rain of over half-a-million artillery projectiles fired at the city. After eight rounds the coastal fortifications were demolished. Gustav then turned her attention to Fort Stalin, that target was destroyed in six rounds. The next day’s encounter was the most spectacular and clearly demonstrated the gun’s tremendous power. The day’s first target was Fort Molotov, which succumbed to the gun’s shells after seven rounds. An area known as the White Cliff on Severnaya Bay was next. The Soviets had carefully and skillfully placed an ammunition depot deep in the earth and (what is even more impressive) angled the galleries so that they ran out under the bay. The ammunition would have been safe from any conventional weapon in the enemy’s arsenal, except Gustav. She fired nine shells at the target, with tiny Storch observation planes circling overhead, radioing back the results. The shells passed through 100 feet of seawater, tunneled through the seabed, and exploded in the ammunition depot. By the 17th of June, Gustav had exhausted all of her target opportunities around Sevastopol and she was dismantled and returned to Germany. There was simply nothing left for her to do.
Certainly Gustav was not an efficient use of German war resources, but I would argue it was effective in reducing the Sevastopal fortress.
The weapon fired seven rounds at Fort Molotov, only ONE landing within 100 meters. The White Cliffs ammunition depot was NOT destroyed despite the nine rounds fired at it. And Gustav (or Dora, as it was correctly called) did not "exhaust her target opportunities" but her ammunition. The Germans had exactly 48 rounds for it, and misspent them grossly by shifting fire from target to target without actually destroying any of them. The fault lies with General Zuckertort, the main artillery commander of 11th Army.
The big guns at Sevastopol have been mythologized as fire-breathing monsters who slew all before them, but that is just that, a myth.
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We are all dreams of the Giant Space Butterfly.
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