Description
The 40-caliber barrel was constructed of twelve parts, notably the inner tube and various inner and outer jacket pieces. The hydro-pneumatic recoil system was mounted on the cradle above the gun. It used the same horizontal sliding block breech as the 38 cm Belagerungshaubitze M 16. The gun carriage rested on a base box or bedding platform which measured 6.5 metres (21 ft) long, 5.2 metres (17 ft) wide and 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) high. The base box incorporated a turntable resting on a ball race capable of 360° traverse. At the rear of the turntable was a 2 tonnes (2.0 long tons; 2.2 short tons) tilting crane used to move ammunition from the shell cart to the roller race and to help assemble the roller race and to remove the breech. The roller race was mounted directly behind the gun on four tilting arms. When the gun returned to the prescribed loading angle of 6° the roller race was raised so that it met the rear end of the breech, a shell was placed on roller race by the crane and it was hand-rammed with the shell sliding forward on the rollers. It was followed by a cartridge case containing the propellant. While the gun was being elevated to its firing angles between +10° and +41° 30' the roller race was lowered out of the recoil path of the gun.
The gun was transported in four loads, the barrel, carriage and one for each half of the base box. Each load was carried by an eight-wheeled electric-powered trailer with the electricity provided by a Daimler Artillery Generator truck (Artillerie-Generatorzugwagen) M. 16, designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The 6-cylinder, 20.32 litres (1,240 cu in) gasoline engine powered two electric generators which fed electric motors in each wheel of the trailer and the rear wheels of the truck. Top speed was 14 kilometres per hour (8.7 mph). The solid rubber tires could be removed and the trucks could tow their trailers on the rails. For longer distances they could be towed by ordinary locomotives. One additional truck towed the ammunition trailer, which carried twenty-eight rounds with their cartridge case as well as the loading crane.
It took eight to twenty hours in soft soil or gravel to excavate the large firing pit required to hold the halves of the base box. Six to eight hours were required to actually assemble the gun itself. Each half of the base box was maneuvered into position on rails that ran along each side of the pit and then it was jacked up off the wagon and the wagon was then removed. Each base box half was jacked down onto wheels that ran on the guide rails and then they were bolted together. The complete base box was pulled over the pit, the wheels removed and it was jacked down into the pit. Three rails were placed on top of the base box to guide the carriage wagon into position and the carriage was jacked up while the wagon was removed and it was then jacked down and bolted to the base box. The barrel wagon was guided into place using the same rails and two block and tackles were attached to the barrel clamp. The crew pulled on the ropes and slid the barrel into the cradle. The last steps were to connect the recoil brakes' pistons to the barrel, fill and test the recoil brake and recuperator, and install the roller race. Disassembly took around six hours.
Read more about this topic: 24 Cm Kanone M. 16
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