T21, 36 "(914 mm) Little David Heavy Siege Mortar (1944), Project No. 4712
Little David,
36-inch heavy mortar, which is known to be the largest weapon and was built to compete with the German cannon Dora with a caliber of 820 mm and Karl with a caliber of 540 mm.
However, the reality was less flashy. During World War II, devices similar to Little David were used to test air bombs. The test bombs were dropped with a small projectile on a test target several hundred yards away. With the growth of the dimensions of air bombs, smaller test equipment became unusable, so a caliber of 914 mm was created. Until October 1944, it was not a weapon, but a means of conducting tests.
At the end of the war, after landing in Japan, a fight was expected in a heavily fortified area. An effective anti-fortification weapon was sought, and the choice fell on Little David. Tests of this armament program lasted about a year and ended at the end of the war. Little David was like a weapon unsuitable for its small range and unresolved, often recurring, technical defects. I myself saw in the TV show Super Gun how wooden beams fly off from the back of the ground of recessed firing position, which formed the reinforcement of the trench walls.
Little David was a weapon capable of launching a 3,650-pound projectile at a distance of six miles. It used a 22-foot barrel and was loaded horizontally through its muzzle. The projectile could be fired only after it slid to the bottom of the barrel and initiated the electro-mechanical trigger mechanism. The total weight of the barrel was about 80,000 pounds. The mortar bearing, the appearance of a large box designed to be buried, weighed 93,000 pounds.
Little David was transported in a disassembled state into two units, the main and the bearing. Each of the parts was attached to the swivel bearing of the M26 Dragon Wagon wheeled tractor (see https://www.valka.cz//topic/view/12759) by means of an additional arm and mounted or attached to the two-axle travel on the other side.
An excavator, a bulldozer and a crane were used to build the firing position. The firing position took only 12 hours, while Germany's largest artillery weapon was transported to its destination in 25 railroad cars and required three weeks of work to build the firing position.
Weapon length?
The length of the weapon on the go?
Weapon weight 42184.1 kg/93000 lb avpd
The weight of the weapon on the go? kg /? lb avpd
Weapon range 9656.1 m/6 us mil
Barrel caliber 914.4 mm/36 us in
Barrel length 6,706 m/22 us ft
Barrel length with counterweight 8.53 m /? us ft
Weight barrel with counterweight 40640 kg /? lb avpd
Missile weight 1655.6 kg/3650 lb avpd
Note
The above photographs are dated July 6, 1945 and document part of the weapons tests of Project No. 4712 in Aberdeen. Forces Journal, and the Global Security website.
Resources
globalsecurity.org
www.afji.com
Television documentary Secrets of War - Super Guns, by the British company Wunder Film Design, broadcast years ago by Czech Television.
Little David,
36-inch heavy mortar, which is known to be the largest weapon and was built to compete with the German cannon Dora with a caliber of 820 mm and Karl with a caliber of 540 mm.
However, the reality was less flashy. During World War II, devices similar to Little David were used to test air bombs. The test bombs were dropped with a small projectile on a test target several hundred yards away. With the growth of the dimensions of air bombs, smaller test equipment became unusable, so a caliber of 914 mm was created. Until October 1944, it was not a weapon, but a means of conducting tests.
At the end of the war, after landing in Japan, a fight was expected in a heavily fortified area. An effective anti-fortification weapon was sought, and the choice fell on Little David. Tests of this armament program lasted about a year and ended at the end of the war. Little David was like a weapon unsuitable for its small range and unresolved, often recurring, technical defects. I myself saw in the TV show Super Gun how wooden beams fly off from the back of the ground of recessed firing position, which formed the reinforcement of the trench walls.
Little David was a weapon capable of launching a 3,650-pound projectile at a distance of six miles. It used a 22-foot barrel and was loaded horizontally through its muzzle. The projectile could be fired only after it slid to the bottom of the barrel and initiated the electro-mechanical trigger mechanism. The total weight of the barrel was about 80,000 pounds. The mortar bearing, the appearance of a large box designed to be buried, weighed 93,000 pounds.
Little David was transported in a disassembled state into two units, the main and the bearing. Each of the parts was attached to the swivel bearing of the M26 Dragon Wagon wheeled tractor (see https://www.valka.cz//topic/view/12759) by means of an additional arm and mounted or attached to the two-axle travel on the other side.
An excavator, a bulldozer and a crane were used to build the firing position. The firing position took only 12 hours, while Germany's largest artillery weapon was transported to its destination in 25 railroad cars and required three weeks of work to build the firing position.
Weapon length?
The length of the weapon on the go?
Weapon weight 42184.1 kg/93000 lb avpd
The weight of the weapon on the go? kg /? lb avpd
Weapon range 9656.1 m/6 us mil
Barrel caliber 914.4 mm/36 us in
Barrel length 6,706 m/22 us ft
Barrel length with counterweight 8.53 m /? us ft
Weight barrel with counterweight 40640 kg /? lb avpd
Missile weight 1655.6 kg/3650 lb avpd
Note
The above photographs are dated July 6, 1945 and document part of the weapons tests of Project No. 4712 in Aberdeen. Forces Journal, and the Global Security website.
Resources
globalsecurity.org
www.afji.com
Television documentary Secrets of War - Super Guns, by the British company Wunder Film Design, broadcast years ago by Czech Television.