Before continuing the mortar theme, we want to say a few words to those who read carefully. Yes, we are not professional mortars, but we know perfectly well what a mortar is, and we have tested its work in practice. On myself. In different places.
Therefore, they took up this topic, maybe from an amateur point of view. But here we are not talking about mortars in general, considering all the models that have been invented in the world, but about the most interesting solutions in the mortar business.
The article that we bring to your attention today is a continuation of our review of extraordinary design solutions used in the creation of mortars. In the previous article, we looked at small caliber mortars. Today we will start talking about large calibers, deliberately omitting medium caliber mortars.
Today, you won't surprise anyone with a large-caliber mortar (from 100 mm). Rather, surprise with little. And the famous 82-mm is familiar to almost everyone. Someone remembers with love, someone with hatred. Depending on who was shooting or who was being shot.
The First World War showed the need for this type of weapon. Positional for the most part, this war dictated to designers an "order" for such weapons. Small calibers have proven themselves well "in the open field". But during a long defense, when the enemy burrows into the ground, when serious engineering fortifications are being built, a small caliber was useless.
It was necessary to have such a weapon that could hit the enemy even with an indirect hit or in fortified dugouts and cracks. Simply put, it was necessary to create a weapon capable of firing more powerful ammunition. Hence the development of larger calibers for mortars.
The French were surprised by the first large calibers. Already in 1916, a monster was created and adopted! Mortar 240 LT mod. 1916!
The mortar is really heavy - 1700 kg. Installed on a fixed platform. For transportation, disassembled into 4 parts. Preparing a position for this mortar by a crew (7 people) took from 12 hours to a day. It was required to open a position, level the site for a mortar, assemble and disguise it.
Mortars 240 LT mod. 1916 released not much. But by the beginning of World War II, the French army had more than 400 of these mortars.
Caliber: 240 mm
Barrel length: 1.7 meters
Rate of fire: 6 rounds per minute
Mine muzzle velocity: 145 m / s.
Firing range: 2, 2 km.
The mass of the mine, depending on the purpose, is from 69 to 82 kilograms. When hit, a mine created a crater 6-10 meters in diameter and 2 to 3.5 meters deep.
Immediately after the adoption of the 240 LT mod. 1916 it became clear that despite the enormous power of the mortar, it was problematic to use it as a mobile one. More than one and a half tons of weight, even in a divided state, was a very serious argument for creating a smaller mortar.
In 1917, the French adopted the Mortar 150 mm T Mod. 1917. As you can see, the caliber of the mortar has decreased by as much as 90 mm. Accordingly, the mass of the gun also decreased - "only" 615 kg.
Caliber: 150 mm
Barrel length: 2.1 meters
Mine muzzle velocity: 156 m / s
Mine weight: 17 kg
Firing range: 2 km
Rate of fire: 2-4 rounds per minute.
It seems that with the advent of this mortar, transportation problems have been resolved. But the army put forward new demands. Fast putting into action and fast movement across the battlefield. Two requirements faced - power and ability to move. And the mortar "lost weight" again.
In 1935, a heavy 120-mm mortar Mle1935 (Brandt) was adopted by the army. This mortar could already be transported by road, in the back of a truck, or on a trailer near a tracked tractor. Moreover, the presence of a wheel drive allowed the crew to move the mortar over short distances on their own.
Caliber: 120 mm
Barrel length: 1.8 m
Weight in firing position: 280 kg
Firing range: 7 km.
Rate of fire: 10-12 rounds per minute.
Mine weight: 16, 4 kg.
Mines for this mortar were developed for various purposes. Shrapnel, high-explosive, incendiary, smoke and lighting.
And, the main requirement of the army was fulfilled with this mortar. A crew of 7 people transferred the gun from the marching position to the firing position in 2-3 minutes.
We can say that it was this mortar that pushed the designers to the 120-mm caliber. True, there were only 12 such mortars released. Although outdated, but numerous mortars 240 LT mod. 1916 (at the beginning of the war 410 units) and 150 mm T Mod. 1917 (at the beginning of the war more than one and a half thousand) hindered the introduction of a good modern mortar.
The development of Soviet mortars took a completely different path. The young republic inherited from the tsarist army several types of mortars and bombers, including the 91-mm GR bomb and the 58-mm FR mortar. Both samples fired over-caliber ammunition and had a short firing range.
Bomb Launcher GR
Mortar FR
That is why, as part of the Main Artillery Directorate, the Commission for Special Artillery Experiments (KOSARTOP) was created, which included in late 1927-early 1928 the design and test group "D" of the gas-dynamic laboratory of the Artillery Research Institute (headed by N. Dorovlev). It was this group that created the first Soviet 82-mm mortar in 1931, which was adopted in 1936 as the BM-36 battalion mortar.
A simple question arises: what does the heavy mortar have to do with it?
The fact is that in parallel with Group D, engineer Boris Ivanovich Shavyrin from the special design bureau No. 4 at the Leningrad Artillery Plant No. 7 named after V. I. M. V. Frunze (Arsenal plant).
Many readers are puzzled why our designers were engaged in small and medium caliber, but not in heavy mortars. The answer is simple. "Monkey" effect.
In most European armies, 105-mm mortars were in service in the regimental echelon. It was the foreign 105-mm that gave birth to our 107-mm mountain-pack mortar, which we wrote about in the previous article.
But the "parent", we repeat what was written above, 120-mm mortars were French Mle1935 (Brandt)! It was they who convinced the leadership of the Red Army to support this particular caliber. Therefore, our first 120-mm PM-38 mortar is very similar in design to the 82-mm BM-38.
Caliber: 120 mm
Elevation angle: + 45 / + 85
Swing angle: -3 / + 3
Rate of fire: up to 15 rounds per minute
Sighting range: 460 … 5700 meters
Maximum range: 5900 meters.
Mine muzzle velocity: 272 m / s
Mine weight (OF-843): 16, 2 kg.
The mortar was wheeled. The wheels had split metal rims and tires filled with sponge rubber. The transportation was carried out by a four-horse team. The mortar could also be transported in a trailer behind a car at a speed not exceeding 18 km / h when driving on a cobblestone pavement, and at speeds up to 35 km / h when driving on an asphalt highway.
Modernization of the mortar continues with the beginning of the war. And already in 1941, the 120-mm PM-41 was put into service. The designer somewhat simplified the barrel, installed a screw-in breech and a simpler shock absorber with increased travel. In addition, the design of the tripod and the swivel and lifting mechanisms have been slightly changed.
In 1943, the next modernized MP-43 mortar was adopted. It was distinguished by an improved firing device, which was disassembled without screwing the breech. It was installed with longer shock absorbers and a swinging sight, which greatly simplified the leveling mechanism. In 1945, an improved sprung course was given to the mortar for towing by a car.
So, the development trends of the French and Soviet design schools were completely opposite. The French went from larger to smaller caliber, we went from smaller to larger. Soviet designers, inspired by the success of the 120-mm mortar, went further.
Moreover, it was the Soviet designers who changed the very purpose of the mortar.
At the beginning of 1942, the Research Institute of the People's Commissariat of Armaments began the development of a new 160-mm breech-loading mortar with a caliber of 160 mm. Initially, the work was directed by G. D. Shirenin, but in December 1942 the group was headed by I. G. Teverovsky. Already in 1943, in the Urals, under the leadership of L. G. Shershen, a prototype 160-mm mortar was manufactured under the MT-13 index.
State tests were carried out, which were personally approved by I. Stalin, and on January 17, 1944, the MT-13 was put into service under the name "160-mm mortar model 1943". The troops received weapons not of defense, but of a breakthrough!
The tasks of this mortar were not only the fight against manpower, but also the destruction of tanks, the destruction of bunkers and bunkers, the destruction (suppression) of artillery and mortar batteries, especially important targets, making passages in wire fences, the destruction of trenches and trenches. Simply put, the mortar is used where it is impossible to use guns or it makes no sense to attract mortars of smaller calibers.
Caliber: 160 mm
Rate of fire: 3-4 rounds per minute
Range: 5100 meters
Mine speed: 140-245 m / s
Elevation angle: + 45 / +80
Angle of rotation: 12 (at VN +45) and 50 (at VN +80)
Coarse aiming can be done by turning the wheels.
Weight: in combat position 1170 kg, in travel 1270 kg.
Shooting is carried out with a high-explosive mine with a GVMZ-7 fuse, which has two installations. Shrapnel and high-explosive action. Mine weight 40, 865 kg. Bursting charge weight 7, 78 kg.
The transfer of the mortar from the traveling position to the combat position and from the combat to the traveling position takes 3-4 minutes. Calculation of 7 people.
The MT-13 mortar was towed only by mechanical traction. At the same time, for the first time in the world, the barrel began to serve as a trailing device, since the problem of towing a mortar was solved in a very peculiar way. The mortar was attached to the tractor with a barrel, on which a special pivot paw was attached.
The sprung wheel travel of the mortar made it possible to transport it at a speed of up to 50 km / h, which is very significant for that time.
The barrel at the same time served as a lever that made it possible to turn the base plate out of the ground, if during firing it buried (and it buried itself, and how!) Into the ground. The entire combat crew hung on the trunk, and if this did not help, then a bolt paw was put on it, the mortar clung to the tractor, which pulled out its plate.
During the Second World War, no army in the world had such a powerful mortar as the MT-13 and, at the same time, a mobile one.
Since 1943, MT-13 mortars have been equipped with heavy mortar brigades that were part of the artillery breakthrough divisions of the RVGK. Let us note once again - breakthrough divisions, that is, specialized in offensive operations.
Each brigade had three divisions (12 mortars in each). The very first combat use of 160-mm mortars had a huge psychological impact on the enemy. The shots from the MT-13 were deaf, mortar mines flew along a steep trajectory and fell almost vertically, therefore, during the first cases of use, it was noted that the Germans began to give air raid signals.
The mortars described in this article are truly epoch-making. Each of them has its own "flavor", its own peculiarity, which is then used in many other designs. Moreover, even today this weapon is relevant and is used in the armies of some countries. Not the most advanced, but a lot of time has passed.
The design idea does not stand still. Ideas arise constantly and sometimes are embodied in products. Ideas are in the air. A story about the development of these ideas in our time is ahead …
