28 cm SK L/40 "Bruno"
28 cm SK L/40 "Bruno" | ||
---|---|---|
Breech horizontal sliding-wedge | | |
Recoil | hydro-pneumatic | |
Carriage | 2 x 5-axle trucks | |
Elevation | +0° to 45° | |
Traverse | 2° 15' (E. u. B.) 180° (Bettungsschiessgerüst) 360° on platform | |
Muzzle velocity | 740–785 m/s (2,430–2,580 ft/s) | |
Maximum firing range | 20,050–27,500 m (21,930–30,070 yd) |
The 28 cm SK L/40 "Bruno" (SK — Schnelladekanone (quick-loading cannon) L — Länge (with a 40
Design and history
These
The firing platform was a semi-portable mount that could be emplaced anywhere after several weeks of labor to prepare the position. It rotated on a pivot at the front of the mount. The rear was supported by rollers resting on a semicircular rail and was generally equipped with a gun shield.[2]
Twenty guns, from the battleships Braunschweig, Hessen, Preussen, Deutschland, Schlesien, and Schleswig-Holstein were mounted on the railroad and firing platform (Eisenbahn und Bettungsschiessgerüst) (E. u. B.) mounts successfully used by other German railroad guns.[3]
The E. u. B. could fire from any suitable section of track after curved wedges were bolted to the track behind each wheel to absorb any residual recoil after the gun cradle recoiled backwards. It also had a pintle built into the underside of the front of the mount. Two large rollers were fitted to the underside of the mount at the rear. Seven cars could carry a portable metal firing platform (Bettungslafette) that had a central pivot mount and an outer rail. It was assembled with the aid of a derrick or crane, which took between three and five days, and railroad tracks were laid slightly past the firing platform to accommodate the front bogies of the gun. The gun was moved over the firing platform and then lowered into position after the central section of rail was removed. After the gun's pintle was bolted to the firing platform's pivot mount, the entire carriage was jacked up so that the trucks and their sections of rail could be removed. The carriage was then lowered so that the rear rollers rested on the outer track. Concrete versions were also used. It could have up to 360° of traverse.[4]
Ammunition
Ammunition was moved by means of an overhead rail from which a shell trolley carried individual shells to be placed in the loading tray fixed to the
Shell name | Weight | Filling Weight | Muzzle velocity | Range |
---|---|---|---|---|
base-fused high-explosive shell (Sprenggranate L/2.9 m. Bdz.)[a]
|
240 kg (530 lb) | 15.9 kg (35 lb) ( HE )
|
785 m/s (2,580 ft/s) | 20,050 m (21,930 yd) |
nose- and base-fused HE shell with ballistic cap (Sprenggranate L/4.4 m. Bdz. u. Kz. (mit Haube))[b]
|
284 kg (626 lb) | 22.9 kg (50 lb) ( TNT )
|
740 m/s (2,400 ft/s) | 27,750 m (30,350 yd) |
Combat history
The Navy kept most of the "Brunos" and used them on coast-defense duties, mainly in Occupied Flanders to protect the ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge. Sailor Artillery Regiment (German: Matrosen Artillerie Regiment) 1 defended the latter with Batteries Hessen (3[7] or 4[8] guns) and Braunschweig (4 x "Brunos"). Those same sources disagree about the number of guns assigned to Batteries Hannover (3 or 4[9][c] "Brunos") and Preussen (4 guns) defending Ostende under the command of Sailor Artillery Regiment 2. Battery Rossbach, with 2 guns, saw service against the British during the German spring offensive in March–April 1918. Only two "Brunos" were given to the Army - they served in Battery 746 and Bavarian Battery (German: Bayerische Batterie) 1005.[10] The latter gun, on E. u. B. mount No. 7, formerly carried by Hessen, was captured by the Australian Army on 8 August 1918.[11] Its barrel is preserved today in Canberra, Australia, as the Amiens Gun.[12]
After the
After the surrender of Belgium on 28 May 1940, two "Brunos" were used by Battery 655 between 8 and 10 June to fire on
Notes
References
- ^ François, p. 30
- ^ François, p. 38
- ^ François, pp. 30–31
- ^ Miller, pp. 475–476
- ^ Miller, pp. 496–497
- ^ Kosar, p. 209
- ^ Rolf 2004, pp. 139–140
- ^ François, p. 8
- ^ Miller, p. 758
- ^ François, p. 12
- ^ a b François, p. 31
- ^ Buckland, pp. 137–142
- ^ François, p. 47
- ^ François, p. 54
- ^ Rolf 1998, p. 377
- ^ François, p. 62
- ^ François, p. 68
Sources
- Buckland, J. L. (1978). "The Amiens Railway Gun Story". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin (July). Australian Railway Historical Society.
- François, Guy. Eisenbahnartillerie: Histoire de l'artillerie lourd sur voie ferrée allemande des origines à 1945. Paris: Editions Histoire et Fortifications, 2006
- Jäger, Herbert. German Artillery of World War One. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001 ISBN 1-86126-403-8
- Kosar, Franz. Eisenbahngeschütz der Welt. Stuttgart: Motorbook, 1999 ISBN 3-613-01976-0
- Miller, H. W., Lt. Col. Railway Artillery: A Report on the Characteristics, Scope of Utility, Etc., of Railway Artillery, Volume I Washington: Government Print Office, 1921
- Rolf, Rudi (1998). Der Atlantikwall: Bauten der deutschen Küstenbefestigungen 1940–1945. Osnabrück: Biblio. ISBN 3-7648-2469-7.
- Rolf, Rudi (2004). A Dictionary on Modern Fortification: An Illustrated Lexicon on European Fortification in the Period 1800–1945. Middleburg, Netherlands: PRAK.
- Schmalenbach, Paul (1983). "German Navy Large Bore Guns Operational Ashore During World War I". Warship International. XX (2): 123–153. ISSN 0043-0374.
External links
Media related to 28 cm L/40 Bruno at Wikimedia Commons