Artillery is not in vain called the "god of war." It has long become one of the main and most important shock forces of the ground forces. Despite the rapid development of military aviation and missile weapons, modern gunners still have a lot of work to do, and this situation is unlikely to change in the near future.
It is believed that Europe became acquainted with gunpowder in the XIV century, which led to a real revolution in military affairs. Fire-breathing bombers were first used to destroy enemy fortresses and other fortifications, and it took several centuries for the guns to move along with the army and participate in land battles.
For centuries, the best minds of mankind engaged in the improvement of artillery shells. In this article we will talk about the largest and most famous artillery guns in the history of mankind. Not all of them were successful or even useful, but this absolutely did not prevent the giants from evoking universal delight and admiration. So, what is the biggest gun in the world?
Top 10 largest artillery guns in the history of mankind.
10. Self-propelled mortar "Karl" (Gerät 040)
This is a German self-propelled gun during the Second World War. Karl had a caliber of 600 mm and weighed 126 tons. In total, seven copies of this system were built, which would be more correct to call a self-propelled mortar. The Germans built them for the destruction of enemy fortresses and other fortified positions. Initially, these weapons were developed to storm the French Maginot line, but because of the transience of the campaign, they did not have time to use them. The debut of these mortars took place on the Eastern Front, where the Nazis used them during the storming of the Brest Fortress, and then during the siege of Sevastopol. At the end of the war, one of the mortars was captured by the Red Army, and today this self-propelled gun can be seen by anyone in the armored museum in Kubinka near Moscow.
9. "Mad Greta" (Dulle Griet)
At the ninth place in our ranking is a medieval cannon made in the XIV century on the territory of modern Belgium. "Mad Greta" - one of the few surviving medieval forged tools of high caliber. The gun fired stone cores, its trunk consists of 32 forged steel strips fastened with numerous hoops. The dimensions of the Greta are really impressive: the length of its trunk is 5 meters, its weight is 16 tons, and its caliber is 660 mm.
8. Howitzer "Saint-Chamon"
Eighth place in the ranking is occupied by a French gun of 400 mm caliber, created in 1884. This gun was so large that it had to be installed on a railway platform. The total weight of the structure was 137 tons, the gun could send shells weighing 641 kg to a distance of 17 km. True, in order to equip the position for "Saint-Chamond" the French were forced to lay railway tracks.
7. Faule Mette ("Lazy Metta")
In the seventh place of our rating is another famous medieval large-caliber gun, which was firing stone cores. Unfortunately, none of these guns has survived to this day, so the characteristics of the gun can be restored only by descriptions of its contemporaries. "Lazy Metta" was made in the German city of Braunschweig in the early XV century. Its creator is master Henning Bussenshutte. The gun had impressive dimensions: weight was about 8.7 tons, caliber from 67 to 80 cm, weight of one stone core reached 430 kg. For each shot in the gun it was necessary to lay about 30 kg of gunpowder.
6. "Big Bertha" (Dicke Bertha)
The famous German large-caliber gun during the First World War. The gun was developed at the beginning of the last century and made at the Krupp factories in 1914. "Big Berta" had a caliber of 420 mm, its projectile weighed 900 kg, the firing range was 14 km. The tool was intended to destroy the very strong fortifications of the enemy. The gun was made in two versions: semi-stationary and mobile. The weight of the mobile modification was 42 tons, for its transportation the Germans used steam tractors. During the explosion, the projectile formed a crater with a diameter of more than ten meters; the rate of fire of the gun was one shot in eight minutes.
5. Mortar "Oka"
The fifth place in our ranking is occupied by the Soviet Oka self-propelled large-caliber mortar, developed in the mid-50s. At that time, the USSR already possessed a nuclear bomb, but had difficulties with the means of its delivery. Therefore, Soviet strategists conceived to create a mortar capable of firing nuclear weapons. Its caliber was 420 mm, the total weight of the car was 55 tons, and the firing range could reach 50 km. Mortar "Oka" had such a monstrous return that it was abandoned. In total, four self-propelled mortars were manufactured.
4. Little David ("Little David")
This is an American experimental mortar during the Second World War. It is the largest instrument (in caliber) of modern artillery.
"Little David" was intended for the destruction of especially powerful enemy fortifications and was designed for the Pacific theater of military operations. But in the end, this gun has not left the limits of the landfill. The barrel was installed in a special metal box, dug into the ground. "David" shot special cone-shaped shells, the weight of which reached 1678 kg. After their explosion, a crater with diameters of 12 meters and a depth of 4 meters remained.
3. Tsar Cannon
In the third place of our ranking is the most famous instrument of Russia - the Tsar Cannon. It was cast from bronze by the Russian gunsmith Andrey Chokhov in 1586.
The dimensions of the gun make an impression: the length of the gun is 5.34 meters, the caliber is 890 mm, the total weight is almost 40 tons. This weapon really deserves a respectable prefix "king."
The Tsar Cannon is decorated with intricate designs, several inscriptions are carved on it. Experts believe that the gun was shot at least once, but it was not possible to find historical evidence of this. Today "Tsar Cannon" is listed in the Guinness Book of Records, it is one of the main Moscow attractions.
2. "Dora"
The second place of our rating is occupied by the super heavy German weapon of the period of the Second World War. This gun was created by Krupp engineers in the mid 30s. She had a caliber of 807 mm, was installed on a railway platform and could shoot at 48 km. In total, the Germans managed to make two "Dora", one of them was used during the siege of Sevastopol, and it is possible that during the suppression of the uprising in Warsaw. The total weight of one gun was 1350 tons. One shot could make a gun in 30-40 minutes. It should be noted that the combat effectiveness of this monster raises doubts among many experts and military historians.
1. "Basil" or Ottoman cannon
In the first place of our rating is another historical tool of the Middle Ages. It was made in the middle of the XV century by the Hungarian master Urban specially commissioned by Sultan Mehmed II. This artillery gun had enormous dimensions: its length was about 12 meters, diameter - 75-90 cm, total weight - about 32 tons. The bombardment was cast in bronze; 30 bulls were needed to move it. In addition, the "calculation" of the tool included another 50 carpenters, whose task was to manufacture a special platform, as well as up to 200 workers who moved the gun. The firing range of the Basilica was 2 km.
However, in the first place of our rating, the Ottoman cannon did not hit because of its size. Only thanks to this tool did the Ottomans succeed in destroying the solid walls of Constantinople and seizing the city. Up to this point, the walls of Constantinople were considered impregnable, the Turks unsuccessfully tried to capture it for several centuries. The fall of Constantinople marked the beginning of the Ottoman Empire and became the most important moment in the history of Turkish statehood.
"Basilica" served its masters for a short time. The very next day after the start of its use, the first cracks appeared on the trunk, and after a few weeks it came into complete disrepair.
