Most of the nations in war arsenals included heavy tubes, mainly spares for their navy units, relatively useless given the relative quietness of the sea war. The frontline stabilisation induced a new need for long range super-heavy guns, in order to harass the enemy rear positions, or to destroy heavily fortified positions from a long distance.

Mounting these tubes on wheeld carriage was not an appropriate solution since those rare tubes had to be transported from one end of the frontline to another. An old idea fron the American Civil War was then unearthed, and these big guns were directly mounted on specific railcar carriages including powerful recoil recuperation systems.

The German Armies used that concept as early as 1916, with various calibres including 15, 17, 21, 24, 28, 30.5, 35.5 and 38 cm.

7 railway 28 cm guns, 40 calibres, were built. They were able to fire directly from the railways, or set-up in special positions, at a range of nearly 30 km ! They were able to go quickly at any position of the front where they were needed, including on their dedicated positions within the 'Preussen' battery, on the Belgian coast.

Main characteristics :

• Weight in firing position : 150560 kg
• Calibre : 280 mm
• Tube length : 40 calibres
• Projectile weight : 273 kg
• Initial velocity : 830 m/s
• Maximum range : 29260 m
• Elevation range : -0 / +45 degrees
• Direction range : 8 degrees