In 1926, the command of the Red Army came to the conclusion that it was necessary to create several new artillery pieces. The troops needed new guns for various purposes with different characteristics. The meeting of the Artillery Committee identified the needs of the army as follows: a 122mm corps cannon, a 152mm cannon and a 203mm long range howitzer. This was the beginning of the history of one of the most interesting Russian weapons - the B-4 high-power howitzer.
The development of three projects of new weapons was taken up by the Artkom design bureau. The group responsible for the creation of a 203 mm howitzer was headed by F. F. Lander. By the decision of Artkom, 46 months were given for the development of the project. Work in the KB committee continued until the end of 1927. In September 27th, the chief designer Lender passed away, and soon after that the project was transferred to the Leningrad plant "Bolshevik" (Obukhov plant). The new project manager was A. G. Gavrilov. All further work on the project of a new high-power weapon was carried out there. Nevertheless, as far as is known, in the future, Artkom KB specialists were involved in some work, in particular, in the preparation of working drawings.
In mid-January 1928, the development of a new project was completed. Experts offered two versions of a self-propelled howitzer at once. At the same time, the differences between the guns were minimal: one of the options provided for the use of a muzzle brake, and in the second project this unit was dispensed with. The specialists of the Artillery Committee reviewed two projects and made their choice. For a number of technological and operational reasons, it was decided to continue the development of the project of the gun, not equipped with a muzzle brake. Apparently, the design of the gun and carriage made it possible to do without additional means of damping the recoil impulse, limiting itself only to recoil devices.
For some reason, for the next three years, specialists from all organizations involved in the project were engaged in certain modifications to the project. As a result, a prototype of the new high-power howitzer was assembled only in 1931. In the summer of the same year, the gun was delivered to the Scientific Test Artillery Range near Leningrad, where the first test firing began. The first firing was aimed at selecting the necessary charges of gunpowder. In the early thirties, a new nomenclature of artillery projects was introduced in the USSR. The developments of the Bolshevik plant were now indicated by an index starting with the letter "B". The new 203 mm howitzer received the designation B-4.
According to reports, already in 1932, the Leningrad plant began mass production of new guns, although the pace of construction was not very high at first. In addition, in the same year, a project for the modernization of the gun appeared, aimed at increasing its power. In order to improve performance, it was decided to use a new barrel, which was three calibers longer than the old one. The shape of the breech has also changed. There were no other external differences. The new version of the howitzer received the designation B-4BM ("High Power"). By analogy, the old version was named B-4MM ("Low Power"). In the course of mass production and operation, preference was given to a more powerful howitzer. During the repair, the B-4MM howitzer received new elongated barrels, which is why the low-power guns were gradually withdrawn from service.
After all tests were carried out in 1933, the B-4 gun was put into service. It received the official name "203-mm howitzer mod. 1931 ". In the same year, production of new howitzers began at the Barrikady plant (Stalingrad). Nevertheless, the development of production ran into serious problems. Until the end of the 33rd, the Stalingrad workers collected only one howitzer, but did not have time to hand it over. The first two guns of the new model were delivered by Barricades only in 1934. It should be noted that the factories "Bolshevik" and "Barrikady" to some extent modified the design of the howitzer. The production of some parts and assemblies was carried out taking into account the capabilities of a particular enterprise.
Such changes made it possible to begin the full-scale construction of new guns, but affected the complexity of their maintenance in the troops. Due to the alteration of the initial project in accordance with the capabilities of the manufacturers, the troops received weapons that had rather large differences. To remedy this situation in 1937, an updated project of a tracked howitzer was created. It took into account the improvements and changes made at the enterprises, and also made some other adjustments. All this made it possible to get rid of the previously observed differences. Until the beginning of 1937, two factories produced and handed over to the gunners about 120 howitzers.
The release of the updated blueprints solved most of the problems. Nevertheless, according to some sources, the howitzers of the Leningrad and Stalingrad plants were still different from each other. In 1938, a set of updated documentation was transferred to the Novokramatorsk Machine-Building Plant, which soon joined the manufacture of new guns.
After the start of serial production of the B-4 howitzers, the specialists of the Artkom and the manufacturing plants modified the project several times in order to improve the characteristics. The barrel underwent the greatest changes. Initially, the barrel was fastened and consisted of several cylindrical parts. Later it was decided to switch to liner barrels. The first experimental liner for the B-4MM gun was made in the spring of 1934, for the B-4BM - by the end of the same year. In view of certain difficulties in the future, howitzers of "High power" received both fastened barrels and liners. At the same time, the production of liners at the "Barricades" began only in the fall of 1938.
In the same 1934, there was a proposal to create a modification of the B-4 howitzer, capable of firing rifled shells. Due to the polygonal shape of the lateral surface, such ammunition, in theory, should have had better characteristics. To test such a proposal, an experimental barrel with special grooves was made at the Bolshevik plant. In the bore of this barrel, there were 48 12-gauge rifling grooves. The depth of each groove was 2 mm and the width was 9 mm. A field of width 4, 29 mm remained between the grooves. Such a barrel made it possible to use rifled projectiles weighing about 172-174 kg, 1270 mm long with a charge of about 22-23 kg of explosive. On the side surface of the shells, there were grooves with a depth of 1, 9 mm.
At the end of 1936, specialists from the Scientific Test Artillery Range tested the proposed modification of the howitzer, and came to disappointing conclusions. The reason for criticism of the project was the inconvenience of loading the gun, associated with the rifled surface of the projectile, the lack of noticeable advantages over the B-4 in the basic version, and other features of the experienced howitzer for rifled projectiles. Work on this topic was curtailed due to the lack of prospects.
In 1936, 203-mm howitzers arr. 1931 received new barrels with modified threading. Earlier, the barrels had 64 rifling 6, 974 mm wide with 3 mm wide margins. In the course of operation, it turned out that such cutting of trunks or liners can lead to the disruption of the cutting fields. For this reason, a new cutting option has been developed with 6 mm grooves and 3,974 mm margins. During the tests of such barrels, their copper plating was revealed. Nevertheless, the specialists of the Artillery Directorate rightly decided that such a disadvantage is an acceptable price to pay for getting rid of previously observed problems.
The B-4 howitzer turned out to be quite heavy, which affected the peculiarities of its operation. It was proposed to deliver the gun to the place of combat work partially disassembled. The carriage units remained on a tracked towed chassis, and the barrel was removed and placed on a special receiver vehicle. Two variants of the vehicle were developed: the tracked B-29 and the wheeled Br-10. These products had both pros and cons. For example, the tracked barreled vehicle had a higher cross-country ability, however, tracks broke regularly during operation. In addition, in order to move the B-29 cart with the barrel laid down, an effort of 1250 kg was required, so in some cases it had to be towed by two tractors at once. The wheeled carriage required five times less effort, but it got stuck off-road.
The crew of the Soviet 203-mm howitzer B-4 shells the Finnish fortifications
In the summer of 1938, comparative tests of two barreled carriages were carried out, according to the results of which both of these units were severely criticized. Both B-29 and Br-10 did not meet the requirements. Soon, factory # 172 (Perm) received a task to develop a new towed gun carriage for both the B-4 and two other guns that were being created at that time (the so-called triplex artillery). This carriage project, designated M-50, did not receive due attention, which is why by the beginning of World War II, B-4 howitzers were still equipped with imperfect carriages and carriages.
The main element of the B-4 203-mm high-power howitzer was a 25-caliber rifled barrel (the rifled part was 19.6 caliber). Guns of various series were produced with several types of barrels. These were stapled barrels without a liner, fastened with a liner, and monoblock with a liner. According to reports, regardless of the design, the howitzers' barrels were interchangeable.
The barrel was locked using a piston bolt of the Schneider system. The principle of operation of the shutter depended on the type of barrel. So, guns with fastened barrels had a two- or track-action bolt. With monolithic barrels, only two-stroke breeches were used. Recall that the two-stroke bolt, when unlocked, turns around its axis, disengaging from the engagement with the barrel (first stroke), and then is removed from the breech and at the same time goes to the side, allowing you to load the gun (second). In the case of a three-stroke scheme, the bolt first comes out of the barrel using a special frame (second stroke) and only after that is retracted to the side (third).
The crew of the Soviet 203-mm howitzer B-4 is firing on the outskirts of Voronezh. Howitzer barrel lowered to reload the gun
The barrel of the howitzer was attached to recoil devices based on a hydraulic recoil brake and a hydropneumatic recoil device. During the shot, all units of the recoil devices were stationary. As an additional means of ensuring stability when firing, an opener mounted on the bed of a tracked carriage was used.
The cradle with the gun was installed on the so-called. upper carriage - a design that provides guidance in the horizontal and vertical planes. The upper carriage was in contact with the tracked chassis using a vertical combat pin, on which it could rotate when using guidance mechanisms. The design of the gun carriage and the limitations associated with the recoil power allowed horizontal guidance only within an 8 ° wide sector. If it was necessary to transfer the fire to a greater angle, the entire gun had to be deployed.
The toothed sector of the lifting mechanism was attached to the cradle. With its help, it was possible to change the angle of elevation of the barrel in the range from 0 ° to 60 °. Negative elevation angles were not provided. As part of the lifting mechanism, there was a system for quickly bringing the gun to the loading angle. With its help, the barrel was automatically lowered and allowed loading.
All units of the B-4 towed howitzer were installed on a tracked chassis of the original design. The gun was equipped with 460 mm wide tracks, a suspension system, brakes, etc. In the rear of the caterpillar track, a frame with a coulter was provided for resting on the ground. Tracked carriage of 203 mm howitzer mod. 1931 of the year was later used as a base for other guns: 152 mm Br-2 cannon and 280 mm Br-5 mortars.
The new high-power howitzer was one of the largest and heaviest domestic artillery pieces of that time. When assembled, the gun had a length of about 9.4 m and a width of almost 2.5 m. The height of the line of fire was 1910 mm. The length of the barrel with the shutter exceeded 5.1 m, and their total weight reached 5200 kg. Taking into account the so-called. The barrel weighed 5, 44 tons of recoil parts. The carriage had a mass of 12, 5 tons. Thus, the howitzer, ready to fire, weighed 17, 7 tons, not counting various auxiliary means and ammunition. The B-29 barreled carriage on a caterpillar track had its own weight at the level of 7, 7 tons, the weight of the carriage with a barrel reached 13 tons. The Br-10 wheeled carriage weighed 5, 4 tons or 10, 6 tons with a barrel.
203mm B-4 howitzers towed by Comintern tractors across Red Square during the 1941 May Day parade. Howitzers B-4 were part of the high power howitzer artillery regiments of the Reserve of the High Command
Howitzer B-4 was served by a crew of 15 people. They had at their disposal a crane for loading shells and a number of other equipment that facilitated the operation of the gun. In particular, two gunner seats covered with metal shields were provided on the side surfaces of the gun carriage. The aiming control mechanisms were brought out to both sides of the gun.
The B-4 gun was disassembled over long distances. A caterpillar carriage could be towed at a speed of no more than 15 km / h, a barrel wagon - no faster than 25 km / h. If it was necessary to move the howitzer over short distances (for example, between positions), towing in an assembled state was allowed. In this case, the speed of movement should not exceed 8 km / h. Exceeding the recommended speeds threatened damage or destruction of the chassis.
The B-4 howitzer could use all the 203 mm artillery shells in service. Its main ammunition was the F-625 and F-625D high-explosive shells, as well as the G-620 and G-620T concrete-piercing shells. This ammunition weighed about 100 kg and carried between 10 and 25 kg of explosives. In the post-war period, the range of ammunition for the B-4 gun was expanded with a special projectile with a nuclear warhead.
The gun used a separate cap loading. Together with the projectile, it was proposed to place one of 12 variants of the propellant charge in the chamber: from a total weight of 15 kg to No. 11 weighing 3, 24 kg. The possibility of combining the weight of the powder charge and the elevation angle of the barrel in combination with several types of projectiles with different characteristics provided great flexibility in the use of the howitzer. Depending on the type of target and the range to it, it was possible to combine the vertical guidance angle and the weight of the propellant charge. The muzzle velocity of the projectiles ranged from 290 to 607 m / s. The maximum firing range, achieved with an optimal combination of all variable parameters, reached 18 km.
Long-range gun under the command of senior sergeant G. D. Fedorovsky is firing during the counteroffensive near Moscow - the signature under the photo in the exposition of the Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the city of St. Petersburg
To load shells and caps with gunpowder, a small crane was used, located on the frame of the carriage. Due to the large mass of ammunition, manual loading was difficult. Before lifting to the loading line, the shells were placed in a special tray, which was lifted by a crane. Such equipment facilitated the work of the calculation, but the rate of fire was small. A trained crew could fire one shot in two minutes.
Despite all the difficulties, three factories were able to master the production of high-power howitzers B-4 mod. 1931 At the peak of production, each of the three factories annually produced several dozen guns. By the beginning of World War II, the Red Army possessed 849 such howitzers, which exceeded the originally required number.
It is known that in August 1939 a new mobilization plan was approved, which, among other things, established the organizational structure of high-power artillery. As part of the Artillery of the Reserve of the High Command, it was planned to form 17 howitzer artillery regiments of high power (gap b / m) with 36 B-4 howitzers in each. The number of personnel in each regiment is 1374 people. The 13 new regiments were to have dual deployment. The troops required a total of 612 new guns. At the same time, to meet the requirements of wartime, it was necessary to additionally build about 550-600 howitzers.
B-4 howitzer attached to the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 756th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Division of the 79th Infantry Corps of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front during the Berlin offensive. Battalion Commander - Captain S. Neustroev, future Hero of the Soviet Union
The first armed conflict in which B-4 howitzers were used was the Soviet-Finnish war. By the end of 1939, almost one and a half hundred of these guns were transferred to the front, which were actively used to destroy the Finnish fortifications. The B-4 guns have shown themselves to be ambiguous. The power of the howitzer was enough to destroy some of the pillboxes, but often the artillerymen had to face more defended targets. Sometimes, to destroy a concrete structure, it was required to hit one point with two or three shells. At the same time, to conduct effective fire, the howitzer had to be brought almost manually to a distance of about 200 m from the target. The overall mobility of the howitzer also left much to be desired due to the restrictions associated with its transportation.
The combat work of the artillerymen was complicated by the small angles of horizontal guidance, because of which, to transfer the fire to a large angle, it was necessary to deploy the entire gun. In some situations, the crews lacked protection from enemy fire, which is why they had to rely on hastily dug trenches and other cover.
Nevertheless, despite all the problems and difficulties, the B-4 high-power howitzers coped well with their duties. The use of these weapons made it possible to destroy a large number of Finnish fortifications and thereby allowed the troops to fulfill their assigned tasks. Out of more than 140 howitzers in the winter of 1939-40, only 4 were damaged or lost. The rest returned to the units at the end of the war. Successful hits from concrete-piercing shells left a pile of crushed concrete and bent reinforcement from the Finnish fortifications. For this, the B-4 howitzer received the nickname "Karelian sculptor".
On June 22, 1941, as part of the Artillery of the Reserve of the High Command, there were 33 gap b / m armed with B-4 howitzers. According to the state, they were entitled to 792 howitzers, although their actual number, according to some sources, did not exceed 720. The outbreak of the war led to the loss of a certain number of guns. During the summer and autumn of the 41st, the Red Army lost 75 howitzers for various reasons. The production of such weapons was greatly reduced in favor of more relevant systems, which is why only 105 howitzers were manufactured and handed over to the troops during the war.
Some of the lost guns became trophies of the German troops. So, the 529th gap b / m, not having the required number of tractors, in the summer of the 41st lost 27 serviceable guns. In the Wehrmacht, captured B-4s received the designation 20.3 cm Haubitze 503 (r) and were used to a limited extent during various operations. For firing from these howitzers, the Germans used captured G-620 concrete-piercing shells and powder caps of their own production. For a number of reasons, the number of "German" B-4s was constantly decreasing. So, by the spring of the 44th, the enemy had only 8 captured guns at their disposal.
The crew of the Soviet 203-mm howitzer B-4 under the command of Senior Sergeant S. Spin in the Sopot suburb of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) is firing at German troops in Danzig. On the right is the Church of the Savior (Kościół Zbawiciela)
In view of the low mobility and the constant retreat of the troops, the command of the Red Army in the summer of 1941 decided to withdraw all the howitzer artillery regiments of high power to the rear. The gunners returned to the front only by the end of 1942, when the strategic initiative began to pass to the Soviet Union. Subsequently, B-4 howitzers were actively used in various offensive operations as a means of destroying enemy fortifications.
Like other howitzers, arr. 1931 was intended for firing on hinged trajectories. Nevertheless, in the second half of the war, the Red Army also mastered direct fire. The first such incident occurred on June 9, 1944, on the Leningrad front. The task of the high-powered artillery was to destroy a well-protected large bunker, covered by other firing points. This complex of fortifications was the basis of the enemy's defense in the area, because of which it had to be destroyed as soon as possible. The Red Army artillerymen under the command of the battery commander of the Guard Captain I. I. Vedmedenko, masking the tractors with the noise of battle, brought two B-4 howitzers to position. For two hours, the howitzers with direct fire from a distance of 1200 m were hit with concrete-piercing shells against the walls of the fortification several meters thick. Despite the non-standard method of application, the guns coped with the task. The commander of the battery that destroyed the pillbox was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In the future, 203-mm high-power howitzers arr. 1931 fired repeatedly with direct fire. Newsreels are widely known in which the crew of the gun fires in this way on the streets of Berlin. Nevertheless, the main method of firing remained “howitzer-style” fire, with large elevation angles. At the time of the end of World War II, the troops had 760 such howitzers.
A characteristic feature of the B-4 howitzer was low mobility, due to the limitations of the tracked carriage used. The solution to this problem could be the creation of a self-propelled artillery unit armed with such a weapon. In the thirties, Soviet engineers developed the SU-14 ACS based on the T-35 heavy tank. The maximum speed of such a car on the highway reached 22 km / h. Two prototypes were built, which were tested in 1940 and sent for storage. In 1941 they were sent to the Kubinka station to participate in the defense of Moscow. This was the only case of the combat use of such self-propelled guns.
After the end of the war, the military returned to the idea of creating a wheeled carriage for the B-4 and other guns. For a number of reasons, the work was delayed, as a result of which a prototype of the B-4M howitzer on a wheel drive appeared only in 1954. The new wheeled carriage to a certain extent repeated the design of the tracked one. Howitzer attachment systems remained the same, the upper carriage also did not undergo major changes. The lower units of the carriage received a base plate and four wheels. In preparation for firing, the wheels had to rise, as a result of which the base plate of the gun dropped to the ground.
In 1954, the military tested a new carriage with a B-4 cannon and a 152-mm Br-2 cannon. The following year, he was accepted into service. New units were equipped with the B-4 guns (after such modernization they were designated as B-4M), Br-2 and Br-5. New barrels, bolts, etc. were not produced. The modernization consisted in the installation of existing units on new carriages.
Having great power and high power of shells, howitzer arr. 1931 remained in service until the end of the eighties. Moreover, in the mid-sixties, the range of its ammunition was supplemented with a new special 3BV2 projectile with a nuclear warhead. Such ammunition made it possible to significantly increase the combat capabilities of the old gun.
The high-power B-4 203 mm howitzer is one of the most famous artillery pieces of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. A weapon with a characteristic design and high performance has become one of the symbols of any offensive operation of the Red Army. All major operations since the end of 1942 were carried out with fire support from 203-mm howitzers, confidently hitting enemy fortifications.
Soviet 203 mm B-4 howitzer firing in Berlin at night
A Soviet soldier at a 203-mm B-4 howitzer of the 1931 model from the 9th howitzer artillery brigade.
The inscription on the plate: “Tool No. 1442. Fired the first shot at Berlin on 23.4.45, the commander of the gun - Jr. s-t Pavlov I. K. Gunner - efr. Tsarev G. F."
