Karl-Gerät

Karl-Gerät 040
60 cm Karl-Gerät "Ziu" firing in Warsaw, August 1944.
Type	Self-propelled siege mortar
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Service history
In service	1941–45
Used by	Nazi Germany
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Rheinmetall
Designed	1937–40
Manufacturer	Rheinmetall
Produced	1940–42
Number built	7
Variants	Gerät 041
Specifications
Weight	124 t (137 short tons; 122 long tons) (firing)
Length	11.15 m (36 ft 7 in)
Barrel length	4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) L/7
Width	3.16 m (10 ft 4 in)
Height	4.38 m (14 ft 4 in) (firing)
Crew	21 (Gun Commander, Driver, Assistant Driver, 18 x Gunners)
Shell	separate loading, cased charges
Caliber	60 cm (24 in)
Breech	horizontal sliding wedge
Recoil	hydro-pneumatic
Elevation	55° to 70°
Traverse	8°
Rate of fire	1 round/10 min
Engine	Daimler-Benz MB 503 A gasoline or Daimler-Benz MB 507 C diesel 580 hp (590 PS)
Power/weight	4.8 hp/ton
Suspension	torsion-bar
Fuel capacity	1,200 l (260 imp gal; 320 US gal)
Operational range	42 km (26 mi) (gasoline engine) 60 kilometres (37 mi) (diesel engine)
Speed	6 to 10 km/h (3.7 to 6.2 mph)

Karl-Gerät 041
A section of three 54 cm Karl-Geräte in the field. The Munitionsschlepper is shown on the right.
Specifications
Weight	126.35 t (139.28 short tons; 124.35 long tons) (firing)
Length	11.37 m (37 ft 4 in)
Barrel length	6.24 m (20 ft 6 in) L/11.55
Width	3.16 m (10 ft 4 in)
Height	4.38 m (14 ft 4 in) (firing)
Caliber	54 cm (21 in)

"Karl-Gerät" (040/041) (German literally "Karl-device"), also known as Mörser Karl, was a World War II German self-propelled siege mortar (Mörser) designed and built by Rheinmetall. Its heaviest munition was a 60 cm (24 in) diameter, 2,170 kg (4,780 lb) shell, and the range for its lightest shell of 1,250 kg (2,760 lb) was just over 10 km (6.2 mi). Each gun had to be accompanied by a crane, a heavy transport trailer, and several modified tanks to carry shells.

Seven guns were built, six of which saw combat between 1941 and 1945. It was used in attacking the Soviet fortresses of Brest-Litovsk and Sevastopol, bombarded Polish resistance fighters in Warsaw, participated in the Battle of the Bulge, and was used to try to destroy the Ludendorff Bridge during the Battle of Remagen. One Karl-Gerät has survived and the remainder were scrapped after the war.

In March 1936 Rheinmetall made a proposal for a super-heavy howitzer to attack the Maginot Line. Their initial concept was for a weapon that would be transported by several tracked vehicles and assembled on site, but the lengthy preparation time drove them to change it to a self-propelled weapon in January 1937. Extensive driving trials took place in 1938 and 1939 using the first Neubaufahrzeug tank prototype and a scale model to investigate the extremely high ground pressure and steering of such an enormous vehicle. Firing trials took place in June 1939. The full-scale driving trials were held at Unterlüss in May 1940. General Karl Becker of the Artillery was involved in the development, from whom the huge weapon gained its nickname.