Three years before the outbreak of World War II, Hitler commissioned the leadership of the Krupp concern to develop a heavy-duty long-range gun capable of penetrating concrete fortifications up to seven meters thick and one meter of armor. The implementation of this project was the heavy-duty gun "Dora", named after the wife of its chief designer Erich Müller.
The first samples of super-heavy guns
By the time the Fuhrer came up with such an ambitious idea, the German industry already had experience in the production of artillery monsters. At the end of the First World War, Paris was shelled by a battery of three Colossal super-heavy guns. The barrels of these monsters had a caliber of two hundred and seven millimeters and sent their shells over a distance of over one hundred kilometers, which at that time was considered a record.
However, the calculation of the damage inflicted on the French capital by this battery showed that its real effectiveness is negligible. With exceptional range, the accuracy of hitting the guns was extremely low, and it was possible to fire from them not specific objects, but only huge areas.
Only a small part of the shells hit whenthis in residential buildings or other structures. The guns were mounted on railway platforms, and at least eighty people were required to service each of them. Considering, moreover, their high cost, it turned out that the cost of them in many respects exceeded the damage that they were capable of inflicting on the enemy.
Shame on the Treaty of Versailles
At the end of the war, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, among other restrictions, imposed a ban on the production of guns for Germany, the caliber of which exceeded one hundred and fifty millimeters. It was for this reason that it was a matter of prestige for the leadership of the Third Reich, by amending the articles of the treaty that was humiliating for them, to create a gun that could surprise the world. As a result, "Dora" appeared - an instrument of retribution for the infringed national pride.
Creating an artillery monster
The project and production of this monster took five years. The super-heavy railway gun "Dora" surpassed fantasy and common sense with its technical parameters. Despite the fact that the projectile fired from it with a caliber of eight hundred and thirteen millimeters flew only fifty kilometers, it was able to penetrate seven meters of reinforced concrete, one meter of armor and thirty meters of earthwork.
Issue-related problems
However, these undoubtedly high figures lost their meaning, given that the gun, with extremely low fire aiming, required a truly large-scale maintenance and operating costs. It is known, for example, thatthe position occupied by the Dora railway gun was at least four and a half kilometers. The entire plant was delivered unassembled and took up to a month and a half to assemble, requiring two 110-ton cranes.
The combat crew of such a weapon consisted of five hundred people, but, in addition, a security battalion and a transport battalion were seconded to them. Two trains and another power train were used to transport ammunition. In general, the personnel required to service one such gun amounted to one and a half thousand people. To feed so many people, there was even a field bakery. From all this it is clear that the Dora is a weapon that requires incredible costs for its operation.
First attempt to use the weapon
For the first time, the Germans tried to use their new offspring against the British to destroy the defensive structures they had erected on Gibr altar. But immediately there was a problem with transportation through Spain. In a country that had not yet recovered from the civil war, there were no lifting bridges and roads needed to transport such a monster. In addition, the dictator Franco prevented this in every possible way, not wanting at that moment to draw the country into a military clash with the Western allies.
Transfer of guns to the eastern front
In view of these circumstances, the Dora super-heavy gun was sent to the eastern front. In February 1942, it arrived in the Crimea, where it was placed at the disposal of the army, without success.trying to storm Sevastopol. Here, the 813 mm Dora siege gun was used to suppress Soviet coastal batteries equipped with 305 mm guns.
The excessively numerous staff serving the installation here, on the eastern front, needed to be increased by additional security forces, since from the first days of arrival on the peninsula, the gun and its crew were attacked by partisans. As you know, railway artillery is very vulnerable to air strikes, so an anti-aircraft division had to be additionally used to cover the guns from air raids. He was also joined by a chemical unit, whose task was to create smoke screens.
Preparing a combat position for the start of shelling
The place for the installation of the gun was chosen with great care. It was determined during an overflight of the territory from the air by the commander of the heavy guns, General Zuckerort. He chose one of the mountains, in which a wide cut was made for the equipment of the combat position. In order to ensure technical control, the Krupp company sent its specialists to the combat area, who were involved in the development and manufacture of the gun.
The design features of the gun made it possible to move the barrel only in a vertical position, therefore, to change the direction of fire (horizontally), the Dora gun was placed on a special platform that moved along an arc of steeply curved railway tracks. Two powerful diesel locomotives were used to move it.
Works onthe installation of the artillery mount and its preparation for firing were completed by the beginning of June 1942. To enhance the fire strike on the fortifications of Sevastopol, the Germans used, in addition to the Dora, two more Karl self-propelled guns. The caliber of their barrels was 60 cm. They were also powerful and destructive weapons.
Memories of event participants
Remained eyewitness accounts of the memorable day of June 5, 1942. They talk about how two powerful locomotives rolled this monster weighing 1350 tons along the rail arc. It should have been installed with an accuracy of up to a centimeter, which was done by a team of machinists. For the first shot, a projectile weighing 7 tons was placed in the charging part of the gun.
A balloon took off into the air, the task of the crew of which was to adjust the fire. When the preparations were completed, the entire crew of the gun was taken to shelters located at a distance of several hundred meters. From the same eyewitnesses it is known that the recoil during the shot was so strong that the rails on which the platform was standing went five centimeters into the ground.
Useless piece of military art
Military historians disagree on the number of shots fired by the German Dora gun at Sevastopol. Based on the data of the Soviet command, there were forty-eight of them. This corresponds to the technical resource of the barrel, which cannot withstand more of them (then it needs to be replaced). German sources claim that the gun fired at least eighty shots,after which, during the next raid of Soviet bombers, the power train was disabled.
In general, the command of the Wehrmacht was forced to admit that Hitler's vaunted gun "Dora" did not justify the hopes placed on it. With all the costs incurred, the effectiveness of the fire was minimal. Only one successful hit was recorded in the ammunition depot, located at a distance of twenty-seven kilometers. The remaining multi-ton shells fell uselessly, leaving behind deep craters in the ground.
No harm was done to the defensive structures, since they could only be destroyed as a result of direct hits. The statement about this gun of the chief of staff of the ground forces of the Wehrmacht, Colonel General Franz Halder, has been preserved. He said that the largest Dora cannon was just a useless work of art. It is difficult to add anything to the judgment of this military specialist.
Fuhrer's wrath and new plans
Such disappointing results, shown in the course of hostilities by the Dora gun, aroused the wrath of the Fuhrer. He had high hopes for this project. According to his calculations, the gun, despite the prohibitive costs associated with its manufacture, should have gone into mass production and, thus, make a significant change in the balance of forces on the fronts. In addition, the serial production of weapons of this magnitude was supposed to testify to the industrial potential of Germany.
After the failure in the Crimea, the designers of "Krupp"tried to improve their offspring. It was supposed to be a completely different Dora heavy artillery mount. The gun was supposed to be ultra-long-range, and it was supposed to be used on the Western Front. It was planned to make fundamental changes to its design, allowing, according to the authors' intention, to fire three-stage rockets. But such plans, fortunately, were not destined to come true.
During the war years, in addition to the Dora cannon, the Germans produced another super-heavy gun with a caliber of eighty centimeters. It was named after the head of the Krupp company, Gustav Krupp von Bollen - "Fat Gustav". This cannon, which cost Germany ten million marks, was just as unusable as the Dora. The gun had almost all the same numerous shortcomings and very limited advantages. At the end of the war, both installations were blown up by the Germans.
