Railway artillery

World War I

In the First World War , various types of heavy artillery were widely used. Naturally, powerful and especially powerful guns were installed on railway platforms. The famous Paris cannon was capable of firing from the front line to Paris itself .

World War I contributed to the development of large-caliber railway artillery ^[1] .

Germany

German troops began to use field guns with wheeled carriages for the first railway installations (this was at the first installations of the Saint-Chamon plant). However, already in 1917 powerful installations with 389-mm guns of the “E” and “B” type were published ^[1] .

In 1918, an event of great importance occurred; it forced a different look at the railway artillery ^[1] .

On March 23, 1918 , at 7.15 in the morning, Paris heard a very powerful explosion of “something falling on the embankment of the Seine River”. After 15 minutes, a new, second explosion followed, but now on Charles V. Street Bombs fell on the French capital from balloons and airships. However, this time something happened in a new way. Various assumptions and points of view were expressed, up to the most ridiculous - for example, "an air gun fires, allegedly installed in the capital itself." Meanwhile, powerful explosions lasted all day; all of them were 21. There were losses: 15 people were killed, 36 were injured. The streets of Paris became empty; many residents, panicky frightened, rushed to the stations. Specialists immediately guessed that there was a shelling being carried out with the help of some new heavy-duty gun. According to the flight of shells to the target, experts determined the direction from which the shooting was carried out. Soon, French pilots discovered three artillery railway installations belonging to German forces in a forest southwest of Lyon . The location of the installations was estimated at a distance of 125 kilometers from Paris . The installations were very deep in the German rear, and therefore the only one capable of “resisting” them was a 34-cm 45-caliber long sea gun mounted on a railway conveyor. However, within reach was only one installation of the Germans. The French forces managed to drive their conveyor to German positions; did it from the side of the hill; the hill covered from direct observation. In order to mislead the sound direction finders of the Germans, at a distance of several hundred meters from the main installation, two more, only a smaller caliber, were placed. They started shooting earlier for a few seconds ^[1] .

Correction of fire occurred with the help of airplanes. By the time the day was over, the German artillery station nearby was destroyed; all other installations were not damaged and continued to shell Paris . In total, German troops conducted three series of shelling: from March 23 to May 1, from May 27 to June 11, and also from July 15 to August 9; according to the famous engineer A. G. Dukelsky, “the entire artillery-technical world was stunned by these shellings” ^[1] .

The German troops made their own guns firing at long range from 381 millimeters (15 dm), which had a length of 45 calibres (17.1 m). First, the trunk was drilled, then an insert of a long pipe located inside and protruding 12.9 m was carried out. As a result, the size of the gun was 30 m in length. The gun also had a supply: 210-mm liner, which has a very large thickness; after ignition, it was possible to drill up to 240 mm, and then even up to 260 mm. The barrel had not very great survivability: only 50 shots. When the gun carried out its 50 shots, it was dismantled, then transported to the factory, then drilled to the next caliber and mounted on a railway conveyor. All the survivability of the barrel was 150 shots. The German troops made a total of three railway conveyors; Naturally, they were capable of carrying such an instrument. The main beam supported four trolleys. Shots were fired from a base made of concrete; its upper part was rotatable. In this case, the carts were rolled out from under the main beam; it was a pattern of firing from a base having a constant state; this scheme was once proposed by Colonel Ouderd; soon it was very widely used in coastal defense ^[1] .

The firing range of the installation was 125 km; it opened up new possibilities for the artillery of railway workers and, by the way, for many it did not seem to be the ultimate distance. The First World War in its scale was very sharp and very different from all the wars that occurred earlier. Armies could fight only under the condition that a huge amount of ammunition, food, and other resources were brought from the rear; consequently, shelling of seaports, railway junctions and industrial centers was of great importance. The Hague Conference recognized for all civilized nations the prohibition of shelling cities without protection, mandatory, but the gunners made excuses; they made statements that there were no such cities; therefore, the First World War also differed from all previous wars in the increased percentage of deaths not only of the military, but also of the civilian population ^[1] .

Artillery, striking at a great range, according to the opinions of some experts, acquired not only the status of a powerful means of attack and defense; in France, after the last war, the opinion was expressed: it is very necessary to determine the land and sea areas of the opponents, and precisely those due to which it will be possible to benefit; this benefit was presented in the form of a guarantee of keeping under threat, constantly ongoing, related cannons under different policy options between nations; consequently, artillery on the railway almost turned into a weapon for intimidation; By the way, the Germans pursued this very goal (they were developing a plan; it should contain a proposal on how to bomb the capital of France ). From two points of view - economic and military - the production of related cannons, firing at a long range, was very, very unprofitable; the benefit could only be in political situations ^[1] .

But not only France and Germany carried out work and created railway installations. Work was carried out in other countries. So, for example, the English railway systems, as well as in the 19th century , did not differ from other systems by their great originality. In most cases, 9.2-dm (223.7-mm) machines were used on the front and center pin located on the shore. The former had circular shelling, and the latter only had ten degrees. To prevent the machines from moving along the path, anchor fasteners (a bar buried to a depth of 2 meters; rail conveyor was fixed with chains with a tensioner) were used. In addition, 12-dm (305-mm) and 14-dm (356-mm) conveyors were also manufactured; they fired along with the rollback on carts that were braked along the path, as well as from curved sections (mustaches). Rolling back a 14-dm railway conveyor had a length of 9-12 meters; this forced the service team to leave the conveyor during shelling; it was a very uncomfortable action; it also reduced the speed of shots ^[1] .

Italy

The coastal defense of Italy on the Adriatic Sea on conveyors had sea ​​guns of caliber 75, 102, as well as 152 mm; on the land front, the railway conveyor of the Ansaldo plant was used; he had a 381-mm gun with a length of 40 calibers. The absorption of the rolling energy was carried out by a hydraulic compressor, as well as by friction of the main beam of the railway conveyor; friction occurred on the longitudinal bars (they were laid along the railway track) ^[1] .

Russia

In December 1916, the Russian Ministry of the Sea began to look for the necessary reserves and suddenly remembered the 10-dm (254-mm) guns taken from the battleship “Rostislav” ; they were dismantled from a sea vessel in 1901 . These machines were manufactured at the Obukhov plant in 1898 according to the design of Colonel V. A. Alekseev, head of the factory drawing workshop ^[1] .

In 1901 , in the city of Sevastopol , while testing the shooting of 254-mm tower installations removed from the battleship Rostislav, they suddenly showed design flaws, and very serious ones. To fix these shortcomings, it took time, and it was sorely lacking, and therefore the tools were simply replaced: the machines of the Metal Plant were put in their place; the plant was intended for the battleship Oslyabya ^[1] .

It was assumed that in 1916, machines should somehow serve the Fatherland in order to protect it. At the end of 1916, the Ministry of the Sea gave an important task to the Petrograd Metal Plant: to begin developing a project for one of the very first railway conveyors, so that they used guns taken from Rostislav ^[1] .

This case was new to Russia, and therefore the Ministry of the Sea made a proposal to take advantage of the French experience; the ministry allocated two transporters with a mass of 50 tons; these transporters were used to transport large-volume sea cargo from St. Petersburg to the Black Sea . A. G. Dukelsky, who was the head of the Artillery Design Bureau at the Metal Plant, chose the 240-mm railway installation of the French troops as a prototype. The 254-mm guns, having a length of 45 calibres, were taken from those stockpiles manufactured at the time. Together with the harsh conditions of the war and the events of February , the Metal Plant was somehow able by the summer time of 1917 to carry out the final stage of manufacturing the first railway conveyor. At the same time, tests were completed; he was tested by firing taking place at a landfill; in early August, the conveyor passed the tests and the second shooting. But these installations could shoot only along the tracks and with only a 2 ° turn; their maximum elevation angle was calculated at 35 °. To unload the conveyor, the spring when firing at the rails of the railway track with screw jacks, pressing 2 stops was carried out; in addition, in order to reduce the rollback, there were captures on the rails ^[1] .

August 15, 1917 completed the formation of the 1st and 2nd separate marine heavy batteries; these batteries were given the state of wartime. Each of these batteries included compositions - permanent and temporary. The permanent one consisted of a railway conveyor along with a gun, a front car, six freight carriages for the ammunition, and one official car (At that time, the artillery itself was generally horse-drawn. A carriage with a gun was attached to the front; after that on the same front In general, the name "front" was transferred to the railway artillery in order to designate a car intended for transporting military supplies. Later, it was these wagons that were familiar to oryakov name "wagon-cellar") ^[1] .

The temporary composition was given to the battery only at the request of its commander and during long-distance transportation; the composition included wagons: 1st, as well as 2nd class, plus two special wagons for soldiers, four platforms, as well as a wagon with a roof for accommodating a camp kitchen. Moreover, one truck as well as cars were included in the battery; two motorcycles were also placed there ^[1] .

But, anyway, the Russian railway transporters with batteries did not have time to participate in the battles; Subsequently, the 254 mm machine tools together with the guns were replaced: instead, they installed the Metal Plant for 203 mm guns having a length of 50 calibers ^[1] .

The first Russian railway conveyors, like all such plants, naturally had many serious flaws, and therefore they were inferior to better models. Nevertheless, one should not forget that only the first experience was unsuccessful. Also, all this was affected by the fact that there was not a sufficient number of railway tracks that did not have preparation. It was in this case that Russia still lagged significantly behind the countries of Western Europe ; in 1917 , in order to eliminate this noticeable lag, there was no money, people, time, and in general, there were no funds ^[1] .

But, despite this, the designers of the Metal Plant continued to work in this direction; designers even managed to catch up to the closure of the Metal Plant in December 1917 to develop a project for a conveyor designed for 305-mm howitzers ^[1] .

But this project was destined to remain on paper ^[1] .

France

The leader in the direction of railway artillery was France ^[1] .

When England entered the war, it greatly facilitated the care of the French - the protection of its coastal border; This task was undertaken by the fleet of England. Due to this, a lot of powerful large-caliber coastal and naval guns were released ^[1] .

After that, the question arose of using guns on the land front; it was there that there was a great need for large-caliber artillery. French field artillery was unable to destroy the powerful concrete shelters built by German troops before the war. Due to the large combat mass of the guns, their movement was possible only by rail ^[1] .

In October 1914, the French command created the commission of the AZVF (heavy artillery on railway conveyor systems); the commission took up the solution of the problem; the commission turned to the Schneider plants in Creuso, as well as to the Batignel marine steel plant, to make a proposal on the development of projects for the deployment of powerful large-caliber guns on railway conveyors ; so called platforms with large sizes. They were intended to transport particularly heavy loads ^[1] .

First, it was possible to install 305-mm guns on frame carriages manufactured at the Saint-Chamonix factory; in parallel with this, installations were made with 95 mm and 19 cm coastal guns, as well as 274 mm sea guns ^[1] .

In May 1915, the first division, consisting of eight 19 cm cannons, took part in the offensive in Artois . After some time, the French army was already armed with a huge number of different artillery mounts, which, according to one of the artillerymen, was “a real museum of samples of the most diverse systems” ^[1] .

Some designs of artillery mounts clearly showed inability to battle; this undermined authority (it was gradually “taken into its own rights” by the artillery of the railways) ^[1] .

The rail artillery installations were also flawed. So, for example, opponents considered the “attachment” of installations to the railway track as one of the serious drawbacks. Until now, many believed that the railway tracks that were lacking "on the battlefield" and their vulnerability to the enemy sharply limit the capabilities of railway artillery. But over time, experiments in practice refuted these claims; Nevertheless, the Skoda plant in Pilsen ( Austria-Hungary ) during the First World War produced several original installations; they were able to move both along the railway track and along an ordinary road. Among them were the 38 cm howitzer of 1916 and the 42 cm howitzer of 1917 . To move the installation disassembled; then they were placed on four platforms. Each of the platforms was heavy - from 30 to 36 tons; it was also equipped with double wheels: there were internal ones for moving along the railway track, and external ones with rubber tires for a regular road. The outer wheels had a larger diameter and, when the railway was moving, were removed. An ordinary tractor was used as a mover. It may well be that precisely these systems of railway artillery installations were prototypes of self-propelled guns created at a later time ^[1] .

Over time, the French troops preferred the first unsuccessful railway installations newer, more powerful and with a higher rate of fire. Thanks to the activities of the AZVF commission, which replenished in 1916 the program for the rearmament of the French army, adopted in 1913 , this became possible. В результате французские войска получили 400-мм и 520-мм гаубицы Шнейдера с предельным углом возвышения 65°, предназначенные для железных дорог. С этого времени перед всеми наступательным операциями французов происходила длительная артиллерийская подготовка. Так, например, за некоторое время наступления в июле 1917 года подготовка рассчитывалась на тринадцатидневный срок, но из-за плохой погоды её продолжение заняло целых 16 дней ^[1] .

Вторая мировая война

Наибольших успехов в применении железнодорожной артиллерии достиг Вермахт . Немецкими инженерами были созданы 800 мм орудия « Дора » и « Густав ». Финны сумели переделать для стрельбы с транспортера несколько 254-мм пушек, а также захватить несколько поврежденных советских 180-мм и 305-мм орудий на железнодорожных транспортерах, оставленных при эвакуации ВМБ Ханко и применить их в боях к северу от Ленинграда и для обстрела самого города. После окончания войны, в числе прочего, СССР конфисковал у Финляндии и эти транспортёры (финское командование пыталось их скрыть, но согласно слухам, один из солдат выдал советской комиссии месторасположение транспортёров).

К началу Великой Отечественной войны в составе ВМФ СССР насчитывалось 11 батарей железнодорожной артиллерии из 37 дальнобойных орудий-транспортеров (шесть 356-мм , девять 305-мм - ТМ-2-12 и ТМ-3-12 , два 203-мм и двадцать 180-мм ) ^[2] . Со стороны СССР принимали участие бронепоезда , вооруженные орудиями калибром до 107 мм. При обороне Ленинграда использовалось более 20 железнодорожных батарей, в том числе поставленные на транспортеры 100-мм,120-мм ,130-мм и 152-мм корабельные орудия и несколько трофейных 88-мм зениток.Самой крупной из серийных была артустановка с 356-мм орудиями с недостроенных линейных крейсеров типа "Измаил" (2 орудия участвовало в обороне Ленинграда). РККА планировало принять на вооружение 356-мм и 500-мм железнодорожные батареи (вся имеющаяся к началу войны железнодорожная артиллерия была подчинена ВМФ-использовались лишь дальнобойные корабельные орудия, а сами они были предназначены для борьбы с вражескими НК и обороны собственных ВМБ), но из за войны отказалось от этого. Финны использовали для обстрелов Ленинграда трофейные советские 180-мм и 305-мм орудия на транспортерах и поставленные на транспортер 254-мм береговые орудия (сняты с построенных еще до революции батарей Центральной минно-артиллерийской позиции (после 1944 года 305-мм и 180-мм орудия отбиты РККА, 254-мм оставлены финнам)). .

В наше время железнодорожная артиллерия применяется только в виде баллистических ракет, установленных на платформы, с целью маскировки в бункерах и тоннелях.

• Дора (орудие)
• Бронепоезд

• Encyclopedia of Artillery - Railway Artillery (Russian)
• From the history of weapons on the railway