www.passioncompassion1418.com
SURVIVING GUN FILE (# 426)
Version française

Germany

25cm schwerer MinenWerfer alte Art

Trench artillery

Contributor :
Jean27     
     
     
Lien vers post du blog
Location :
France
Draguignan (83)
Musée de l'Artillerie
Coordinates : Lat : 43.52790 / Long : 6.49740
General comments on this surviving gun :
This heavy minenwerfer was originally was in Port-Villez. It was coming from the Yser front, and was exposed in a Belgium Institute for Military Reeducation of War Severe Wounded, together with a 15cm sFH 93 German howitzer.

Both weapons are now now in the reserve inventories of the Artillery Museum of Draguignan


Identical items in the same location : 1
Items covered by this file : 1

Unknown markings


Historic and technical information
Denomination :     25cm sMW a/A Origin :       ( RheinMetall)          

Historic context :

The close combats of Port Arthur siege, during the Russia / Japan war in 1904-1905, gave to the whole world observers and military analysts important lessons that influenced the evolution of numerous weapons that were used afterwards during WW1.

This is how the improvised techniques used by Japaneses in order to bring or launch heavy explosive charges on the Russian close defences or fortifications inspired the German pioneer engineers the need of adding to the powerful heavy mortars of the classical artillery more mobile small mortars able to shoot precisely at short range high power shells in order to destroy specific obstacles or deep entrenchments.

This need was understood by the weapons industry, and in 1909 Krupp proposed a weapon named '5.3cm BombenKanone L/19' that was able to launch at a distance of 300 m projectiles of 85 kg made of a sphere ant a 53mm diameter tail, while Rheinmetall was working on a mortar launchning classical ogival shape 100 kg projectiles at the distance. The German Pionneers soon decided to follow RheinMetall ideas and that company was ordered to study and manufacture a whole range of 3 trench mortars (named 'MinenWerfer', litteraly 'mine launchers') of different calibres.

The 250mm heavy model appeared first in 1910 and was tested until 1911, date when it started to equip the Pioneers units specialised in the siege warfare. This '25 cm sMW, ' ('sMW' = 'schwerer MinenWerfer' = heavy mine launcher), later named '25 cm sMW a/A' to differenciate it from the improvement appeared in 1916 ('a/A' = 'alte Art' = Old version), was a modern weapon, equipped with recoil recuperators, a rifled barrel (6 grooves), muzzle loaded and using separate propulsive charges that were fired by a friction primer (later electric) inserted at the gun base.

The power of its big 97 kg bombs was huge, helped by the slow initial speeds that allowed to decrease the shells wall thickness and therefore increase the explosive material proportion in the shell to an unusual 50% ratio.

The availability of 44 such weapons in the German Army at the war outbreak was a total surprise for the Allies. The first shots took place on August 13th 1914 on the Fléron Fort near Liège and caused the fall of this position. Other famous achievements occured soon later and contributed to the fall of the forts of the fortified towns of Liège, Namur and Antwerp in Belgium, and Maubeuge in France. This weapon confirmed even more its extreme utility from the early beginning of the positions war at the end of 1914, for the destruction of entrenchments, shelters and surface obstacles.

There were 188 such mortars in the armies in the end of 1915.

Technical data :

  • Complete description : 25cm Middle trench mortar old mark
  • Design year : 1910
  • Calibre : 250.00 mm
  • Weight in firing position : 660 kg
  • Weight for transportation : 955 kg (with the 232 kg platform and the wheels)
  • Tube length in calibres : 3.00
  • Grooves : 6 34.44 mm wide; 7 degrees angle
  • Projectile weight : 97 kg (mine raccourcie 70 kg)
  • Initial speed : 51 m/s (73 m/s for the short mine)
  • Fire rate :
  • Range : 563 m (750 m for the short mine)
  • Elevation range : 45 to 75 degrees
  • Direction range : 20 degrees total range


Sources
  • German Artillery of World War One           Herbert Jager                   Crowood   2001  
  • Das Ehrenbuch der Deutschen Pioniere       Major Paul Heinrici                   Verlag Tradition, Berlin   1931  
  • Die deutschen Minen- und Granatwerfer im Ersten Weltkrieg 1914-1918       Dr Tillmann Reibert                   epubli GmbH   2014  
  • German Trench Mortars and Infantry Mortars 1914-1945       Wolfgang Fleischer                   Schiffer Military / Aviation History   1996