paul roncetti Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Hi Farmer & Mike69, I am glad to hear there are others interested too. There were 3 guns built by the Krupp Works, only one went into battle at Sevastopol, on coastal Ukraine. Fired a total of 48 rounds total during the war there, brought the city to its knees. 7 ton shell was able to penetrate solid rock or concrete 90 feet thick. But high maintenence piece of equipment, took up to 3 months to get in place and assemble, laying track, security, assemble crane, mechanics, factory engineers, army, Luftwaffe, 4200 men total etc etc, etc............Paul Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike69mackman Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Now that's a gun! 7 ton shell ? Damn. What kind of range did that gun have? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Hi Mike69, I believe the range was 29 miles.......Paul Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer52 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Dang...7 tons x 29 miles = a whole bunch of explosives. What was the velocity? How many shots to hit the target/"sight it in"? I doubt if there is anything today that comes close to this monster. 1 Quote Ken PRR Country and Charter member of the "Mack Pack" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Hi farmer52, Velocity 2700 ft / s Caliber 80 centimetres (31 inch) Diameter I believe it was used in battle just this once, total of 48 rounds fired during the battle and the whole war as a matter of fact. Took 45 minutes to reload, but the city fell within 3 to 4 days and then it was over. The gun barrel was good for only 100 rounds, then needed to be replaced, but that never did happen. Was originally designed as an anti tank gun. Whole gun length was 155 feet and the weight was 1350 tons...........Paul Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post other dog Posted December 5, 2012 Popular Post Share Posted December 5, 2012 Here is another interesting discovery recently Vlad, http://www.telegraph...discovered.html Russian payment to USA on ship sunk by Nazi sub off of Cape Cod also....... (Interesting everyone here is oblivious to our conversation, I hope Vinny is getting a history lesson, lol)...........Pauloh no- actually we're all paying attention. 3 Quote Producer of poorly photo-chopped pictures since 1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Dash Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 oh no- actually we're all paying attention.It's not often that a thread strays off topic in a positive direction. No stopping now gentlemen, you have a captive audience. 1 Quote Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer52 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 It's not often that a thread strays off topic in a positive direction. No stopping now gentlemen, you have a captive audience.Yea, usually we are in the gutter on the 2nd or 3rd reply and never recover. However this one does slip in and crawls out of the gutter randomly. 1 Quote Ken PRR Country and Charter member of the "Mack Pack" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike69mackman Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 The size of that shell is amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer52 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 At 2700 fps that equates to about 1 minute from the time the trigger is pulled to go 30 miles (if I did my math correctly - hey I am a retired engineer so I packed away my slide rule). You should be able to see that sucker coming. I imagine the KABOOM (on both ends) is LOUD!Likely the Vinster never saw a slide rule.Are any of these big guns still around or have they been melted? Would be nice to see one up close. 1 Quote Ken PRR Country and Charter member of the "Mack Pack" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Hi Green Dash & other dog, I under estimated the interest generated here. You can get on U Tube and type in "Worlds Biggest Gun" or "800mm DORA Gun" or "Schwerer Gustav Gun" and see some good footage of this gun and some othe siege mortors also. Gustav was Alfried Krupps father and Dora was the Senior Engineers wife, hence the names. 250 rounds were fired at their proving grounds before the German High Command took delivery. Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 farmer52, The only big one left I think is Leopold, which is at the entrance to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in MD, it was used against us at Anzio in Italy 1 Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer52 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 farmer52, The only big one left I think is Leopold, which is at the entrance to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in MD, it was used against us at Anzio in ItalyThanks! I thought it would be in Europe somewhere. How in the F did we get it and how was it moved? 1 Quote Ken PRR Country and Charter member of the "Mack Pack" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 another pic of Leopold 1 Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike69mackman Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Hi Mike69 I have pictures some where I will have to find of 3 of our rail guns, which were no where near the size of the German ones, that were stationed on rail spurs through the sand dunes on the Atlantic side of Provincetown on the very tip of Cape Cod. The entrance to Provincetown Harbor was where two 16" Naval guns were positioned also, the foundations were dismatled about 10 years ago, but the built up mounds are still visable when you look out to Long Point.........Paul Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb502 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Sure looks cold in Moscow and other places, it was 73 here in Tennessee today, and the rail gun and constellations are cool, I have Lots and Lots and Lots of military books, memorabilia, oh and pics from IQ some from friends others from 2010 when I was there, saw lots of neat stuff.Oh and to anyone interested in military aircraft make plans and take a trip to Dayton Ohio to The Museum of the Air Force, that place is freakin awesome, the largest collection of military aircraft in the world, you can tour the restoration hanger on weekdays where they are restoring the Memphis Belle right now. 1 Quote "Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH" "You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb502 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Oh and heres a pic or two that might be of interest.....including Macks too....the F model was built for export and was sitting at Talil airbase IQ camp Adder, the Granite came out of Kuwait the company is supposedly owned by the Mack dealership owner and has several hundred of those Granites. 1 Quote "Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH" "You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 hI 84superdog, not a good pic, but showing catapillar track undercarriage on an upgraded B29 called EB-B50 needed for heavy weight of being able to carry atomic bombs 1 Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb502 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 The b50 was also upgraded with variable pitch props. 1 Quote "Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH" "You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Hi 84 superdog, I was wondering about that but the whole venture didn't last long. Attached is Segelschulschiff Horst Wessel, one of the 5 sisters built in the mid 30's 1 Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb502 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I actually just remembered the 29 had featherable props but the 50 had the Curtis reversible pitch prop, the only 29's windows h these were the 509th planes used in the pacific as I recall. I have a pic of a 50 with those tracks on the rear I think it said they were being tested for soft field use at full weight but generated too much drag to be feasible. I remember looking at the original rear gear for the b36 at Dayton and thinking there was no was the gear could lift that single huge tire, apparently they were so heavy on the original single rear tire they cracked concrete runways so they went with a redesigned 4 tire pre side rear gear that distributed the weight better. I could get into this thread like you have no idea so ill stop there, I leave with this, my favorite flight of all time was my first combat takeoff and landing in a c130, 45 degrees up and 45 degrees down. 1 Quote "Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH" "You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Dash Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Very interesting photos. Thanks for sharing. 1 Quote Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Hi 84superdog, LOL, yes I know what you mean.............Paul Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul roncetti Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Hi Green Dash, Yes, we have one of the 5 sisters now renamed the Eagle being used as the Coast Guard Training Ship, based in New London, CT We also got the Heavy Cruiser Prinze Eugen, which was the ship that went out with the Bismark and was released into the N.Atlantic before the Bismark was sunk. We incorporated it into the U.S. Navy and renamed it the U.S.S. Prinze Eugen -300 1 Quote RONCETTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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