griffenj%db1_pdx@ncube.com (Griffen) (02/06/91)
From: griffenj%db1_pdx@ncube.com (Griffen)
Been waiting for somebody to mention these. Guess I will.
1. RE: Gustav and Dora (800mm guns of 3rd Reich)
Official designation: 80cm K(E) [Krupp(Eisenbahn)???]
[mod.note: "Kanone (Eisenbahn)" - Bill ]
Crew: ~1500. Weight: ~1350 tons. Mounting/dismantling: 4-6 weeks.
Projectiles:
Anti-personnel, 4 tons weight, range 29 miles.
Concrete-piercing, 7 tons weight, range 23 miles. (reputedly
could penetrate > 80 meters of concrete - no typo)
Conceived in 1937 by Krupp to bomb the Maginot line. Built as a
low-priority project from 1939-41. First test firing at the Rugenwalde
range in 1942. The first piece named 'Gustav', saw action in the siege
of Sevastopol in 1942. It was located at Bakhchisaray and reportedly
fired 30-40 rounds. Gustav was also used at Pruskov, when it fired
~30 rounds into Warsaw in September, 1944. It was beleived to have
been captured by the Soviets. The second piece, named 'Dora', was
supposedly used for development and never left the proving ground.
(Among those items developed were fin-stabilized projectiles - 2000Kg
and > 90 mi range - and rocket-assisted projectiles capable of > 115 mi
range.) Ammunition and a spare barrel were found at the Meppen Proof
range at the end of the war.
It was thought that logistics killed these guns. They required two
antiaircraft regiments to defend it. The commander was a major-
general. ~500 men were required to load and fire the gun. Sixty
trains were required to set it up and service it. It was not deemed
worth the effort.
2. RE: Sound as a weapon.
Luftkanone. Developed at Talstation Lofer, Germany, during WWII.
Developer: Dr. Richard Wallauscheck.
Best quote here:
"...design consisted of a parabolic reflector, 3.2 meters in diameter,
having a short tube which was the combustion chamber or sound
generator, extending to the rear from the vertex of the parabola.
The chamber was fed at the rear by two coaxial nozzles, the outer
nozzle emitting methane, and the central nozzle oxygen. The length
of the chamber was one-quarter the wavelength of the sound in air.
Upon initiation, the first shock wave was reflected back from the
openend of the chamber and initiated the second explosion. The
frequency was from 800 to 1500 impulses per second.
The main lobe of the sound intensity pattern had a 65 degree
angle of opening, and at 60 meters' distance on the axis a pressure
of 1000 microbars had been measured. No physiological experiments
were conducted, but it was estimated that at such a pressure it
would take from 30 to 40 seconds to kill a man. At greater ranges,
perhaps up to 300 meters, the effect, although not lethal, would be
very painful and would probably disable a man for an appreciable
length of time. Vision would be affected, and low-level exposures
would cause point sources of light to appear as lines." [1]
The device was not deployed, due to complexity and lack of range.
Also, a device that created vortices in the air, and a device that
shot 'plugs' of air were developed at the same facility, primarily
for low-level anti-aircraft defence.
References:
[1] _Secret Weapons of the Third Reich_ by Leslie E. Simon (USA, ret)
WE, Inc., Publishers (c)1971 [great book!]
[2] _The Guns 1939-45_ by Ian V. Hogg
Ballentine Books Inc. (c)1970
[3] _Lost Victories_ by Erich von Manstein
(Ooops, no data)
[4] _German Secret Weapons of World War 2_ by I. V. Hogg
ARCO Publishing Company, Inc. (c)1970
- Jeff
griffenj@ncube.com