Artillery is the god of war? Artillery of World War II

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

"Artillery is the god of war," - I. V. Stalin once said, speaking of one of the most significant branches of the military. With these words, he tried to emphasize the great importance that this weapon had during the Second World War. And this expression is true, since the merits of artillery can hardly be overestimated. Its power allowed the Soviet troops to mercilessly smash enemies and bring the much-desired Great Victory closer.

Further in this article, the artillery of World War II, which was then in service with Nazi Germany and the USSR, will be considered, starting with light anti-tank guns and ending with super-heavy monster guns.

Anti-tank guns

As the history of the Second World War has shown, light guns by and large turned out to be practically useless against armored vehicles. The fact is that they were usually developed in the interwar years and could only withstand the weak protection of the first armored vehicles. But before World War II, technology began to rapidly modernize. Tank armorbecame much thicker, so many types of guns turned out to be hopelessly outdated.

The emergence of heavy equipment far outstripped the development of a fundamentally new generation of guns. The gun crews that were deployed on the battlefields, to their surprise, noted that their accurately aimed projectiles no longer hit tanks. The artillery was powerless to do anything. The shells simply bounced off the hulls of the armored vehicles without causing them any harm.

The firing range of light anti-tank guns was short, so the gun crews had to let the enemy get too close to hit him for sure. In the end, this World War II artillery was relegated to the background and began to be used as fire support for infantry advances.

Field artillery

The initial speed, as well as the maximum flight range of field artillery shells of that time, had a great influence on both the preparation of offensive operations and the effectiveness of defensive measures. Gunfire hindered the free movement of the enemy and could completely destroy all supply lines. At especially important moments of the battles, field artillery (you can see photos in the article) often saved their troops and helped win the victory. For example, during the hostilities in France in 1940, Germany used its 105-mm leFH 18 guns. It is worth noting that the Germans quite often went outwinners in artillery duels with enemy batteries.

Field guns, which were in service with the Red Army, were represented by a 76, 2-millimeter cannon of 1942. She had a fairly high initial velocity of the projectile, which made it relatively easy to break through the protection of German armored vehicles. In addition, Soviet guns of this class had sufficient range to fire at targets from a favorable distance for them. Judge for yourself: the distance that a projectile could fly often exceeded 12 km! This allowed Soviet commanders from distant defensive positions to prevent the enemy from advancing.

An interesting fact is that during the entire period of the Second World War, much more guns of the 1942 model were produced than other weapons of the same type. Surprisingly, some of its copies are still in service with the Russian army.

Mortars

Perhaps the most accessible and effective infantry support weapon was mortars. They perfectly combined such properties as range and firepower, so their use was able to turn the tide of the entire enemy offensive.

German troops most often used the 80mm Granatwerfer-34. This weapon earned a grim reputation among the allied forces for its high speed and the utmost accuracy of firing. In addition, its firing range was 2400 m.

The Red Army used the 120 mm M1938, which entered service in 1939, to provide fire support to its infantrymen. He was the very first of the mortars with such a caliber,which has ever been produced and used in world practice. When the German troops encountered this weapon on the battlefield, they appreciated its power, after which they put a copy into production and designated it as the Granatwerfer-42. M1932 weighed 285 kg and was the heaviest type of mortar that the infantrymen had to carry with them. To do this, it was either disassembled into several parts, or pulled on a special cart. Its firing range was 400 m less than that of the German Granatwerfer-34.

Self-propelled units

In the very first weeks of the war, it became clear that the infantry was in dire need of reliable fire support. The German armed forces ran into an obstacle in the form of well-fortified positions and a large concentration of enemy troops. Then they decided to strengthen their mobile fire support with the Vespe self-propelled 105-mm artillery mount mounted on the PzKpfw II tank chassis. Another similar weapon - "Hummel" - was part of the motorized and tank divisions since 1942.

In the same period, the Red Army was armed with a self-propelled gun SU-76 with a 76.2 mm cannon. It was installed on a modified chassis of the T-70 light tank. Initially, the SU-76 was supposed to be used as a tank destroyer, but during its use it was realized that it had too little firepower for this.

In the spring of 1943, Soviet troops received a new machine - the ISU-152. It was equipped with a 152.4 mm howitzer and was intended both to destroy tanks andmobile artillery, and to support infantry with fire. First, the gun was mounted on the KV-1 tank chassis, and then on the IS. In combat, this weapon proved to be so effective that it remained in service with the Soviet army, as well as the Warsaw Pact countries until the 70s of the last century.

Soviet heavy artillery

This type of gun was of great importance during the conduct of hostilities throughout the Second World War. The heaviest of the then available artillery, which was in service with the Red Army, was the M1931 B-4 howitzer with a caliber of 203 mm. When the Soviet troops began to slow down the rapid advance of the German invaders across their territory and the war on the Eastern Front became more static, heavy artillery was, as they say, in its place.

But the developers were always looking for the best option. Their task was to create a weapon in which, as far as possible, such characteristics as a small mass, a good firing range and the heaviest projectiles would harmoniously merge. And such a weapon was created. They became the 152-millimeter howitzer ML-20. A little later, a more modernized M1943 gun with the same caliber, but with a heavier barrel and a large muzzle brake, entered service with the Soviet troops.

The defense enterprises of the Soviet Union then produced huge batches of such howitzers that fired massively at the enemy. Artillery literally devastated German positions and thereby thwarted enemy offensive plans. An example of this would be the operation"Hurricane", which was successfully carried out in 1942. Its result was the encirclement of the 6th German army near Stalingrad. For its implementation, more than 13 thousand guns of various types were used. Artillery preparations of unprecedented power preceded this offensive. It was she who largely contributed to the rapid advance of the Soviet tank troops and infantry.

German heavy weapons

According to the Treaty of Versailles, after the First World War, Germany was forbidden to have guns with a caliber of 150 mm or more. Therefore, the specialists of the Krupp company, who were developing the new gun, had to create a heavy field howitzer sFH 18 with a 149.1 mm barrel, consisting of a pipe, a breech and a casing.

At the beginning of the war, the German heavy howitzer moved with the help of horse traction. But later, its modernized version was already dragging a half-track tractor, which made it much more mobile. The German army successfully used it on the Eastern Front. By the end of the war, sFH 18 howitzers were mounted on tank chassis. Thus, the Hummel self-propelled artillery mount turned out.

Soviet Katyushas

Missile troops and artillery is one of the divisions of the ground armed forces. The use of missiles during the Second World War was mainly associated with large-scale hostilities on the Eastern Front. Powerful rockets covered large areas with their fire, which compensated for some inaccuracy of theseunguided guns. Compared to conventional shells, the cost of rockets was much less, and besides, they were produced very quickly. Another advantage was their relative ease of use.

Soviet rocket artillery used 132 mm M-13 shells during the war. They were created in the 1930s and by the time Nazi Germany attacked the USSR, they were in very small quantities. These rockets are perhaps the most famous of all such shells used during the Second World War. Gradually, their production was established, and by the end of 1941, the M-13 was used in battles against the Nazis.

I must say that the rocket troops and artillery of the Red Army plunged the Germans into a real shock, which was caused by the unprecedented power and deadly effect of the new weapon. BM-13-16 launchers were placed on trucks and had rails for 16 rounds. Later, these missile systems would be known as "Katyusha". Over time, they were modernized several times and were in service with the Soviet army until the 80s of the last century. With the advent of rocket launchers, the expression "Artillery is the god of war" began to be accepted as true.

German rocket launchers

A new type of weapon made it possible to deliver explosive explosive parts both over long and short distances. Thus, short-range projectiles concentrated their firepower on targets located on the front line, while long-range missiles attacked targets behind enemy lines.

UThe Germans also had their own rocket artillery. "Wurframen-40" - a German rocket launcher, which was located on the Sd. Kfz.251 half-tracked vehicle. The missile was aimed at the target by turning the machine itself. Sometimes these systems were introduced into battle as towed artillery.

Most often, the Germans used the Nebelwerfer-41 rocket launcher, which had a honeycomb structure. It consisted of six tubular guides and was mounted on a two-wheeled carriage. But during the battle, this weapon was extremely dangerous not only for the enemy, but also for their own crew due to the nozzle flame escaping from the pipes.

The weight of rocket powered projectiles had a huge impact on their range. Therefore, the army whose artillery could hit targets located far behind the enemy line had a significant military advantage. Heavy German rockets were useful only for indirect fire when it was necessary to destroy well-fortified objects, such as bunkers, armored vehicles or various defensive structures.

It is worth noting that the German artillery firing was much inferior in range to the Katyusha rocket launcher due to the excessive heaviness of the shells.

Super-heavy guns

Artillery played a very important role in the Nazi armed forces. This is all the more surprising since it was almost the most important element of the fascist military machine, and for some reason modern researchers prefer to focus their attention on studying the history of the Luftwaffe (air force).

Even at the end of the war, German engineers continued to work on a new grandiose armored vehicle - a prototype of a huge tank, in comparison with which all other military equipment would seem dwarfed. Project P1500 "Monster" did not have time to implement. It is only known that the tank was supposed to weigh 1.5 tons. It was planned that he would be armed with an 80-cm Gustav gun from the Krupp company. It is worth noting that its developers have always thought big, and artillery was no exception. This weapon entered service with the Nazi army during the siege of the city of Sevastopol. The gun fired only 48 shots, after which its barrel wore out.

K-12 railroad guns were in service with the 701st artillery battery stationed on the coast of the English Channel. According to some reports, their shells, and they weighed 107.5 kg, hit several targets in southern England. These artillery monsters had their own T-shaped track sections, necessary for installation and targeting.

Statistics

As noted earlier, the armies of the countries that participated in the hostilities of 1939-1945 came to grips with obsolete or partially modernized guns. All their inefficiency was fully revealed by World War II. Artillery urgently needed not only to be updated, but also to increase its number.

From 1941 to 1944, Germany produced more than 102,000 guns of various calibers and up to 70,000 mortars. By the time of the attack on the USSR, the Germans already had about 47 thousand artillery pieces, and this does not include assault guns. If we take the United States as an example, then over the same period they produced about 150 thousand guns. Great Britain managed to produce only 70 thousand weapons of this class. But the record holder in this race was the Soviet Union: during the war years, more than 480 thousand guns and about 350 thousand mortars were fired here. Prior to this, the USSR already had 67 thousand barrels in service. This figure does not include 50mm mortars, naval artillery and anti-aircraft guns.

During the years of World War II, the artillery of the warring countries has undergone great changes. Constantly, either modernized or completely new guns came into service with the armies. Anti-tank and self-propelled artillery developed especially rapidly (photographs of that time demonstrate its power). According to experts from different countries, about half of all losses of the ground forces are accounted for by the use of mortars during the battle.