upgunned Guns of August

  • Thread starter Deleted member 1487
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Deleted member 1487

What if the Krupp 420mm guns were ready for WW1. Instead of having to await the arrival of the Skoda mortars, the Krupp guns would be on scene from the first day of the attack. What effect would this have other than allow the Germans to move on quicker? Would it have actually made the Schlieffen plan more possible?
 
Given how the German offensive was run on a shoestring logistical tail as it was, I doubt that the addition of those behemoths would have been any real bonus for the germans. They may get some benefit from taking Liege sooner, although whether this just strains the logistics more is debatable. After penetrating Belgium, however, there isnt really much use for the guns, and the attacks still run out of steam roughly on schedule (and they would almost certainly fall well behind the advancing german columns).
 

Deleted member 1487

The only benefit to the guns is in the beginning. Basically with their addition the forts at Liege fall about a week sooner. The question is if that extra week does the Germans any good. Also maybe the Skoda guns come in handy in Serbia for the Austro-Hungarians (there really are no other targets for the guns in Russia).
 
There were some Krupp guns ready: 4 x 420 mm Gamma (rail transport) and 2 x 420 mm M-Gerät (road transport).
The two Ms were used at Liège, one Gamma battery fired on Fort Manonviller in Lorraine, the second one was only used at Antwerp for the first time.
The Austrian Skoda guns arrived in time for the bombardement of Namur.
The Liège forts were subdued by a mixture of 420 mm M-Geräte and 210 mm Mörser.
 

Deleted member 1487

But why the delay in firing? The guns took until the 16th to get the job done. Was it to do with the concrete firing base? From what I read, the Skoda guns were at Liege too. I don't know why 210mm guns would be used as the forts were designed to resist this caliber of weapon.
 
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The Ms were the ones on wheels, they didn't need a concrete base. The 210s were capable of destroying all structures on the surface of a fort, but couldn't penetrate to the subterran casemates. The first fort to give up, de Barchon on August 8th, was only shelled by 210s and smaller guns.
The two Ms first opened fire in the evening of August 12th. - The Ms had not been completely tested when the war broke out. The battery (Kurze Marine Kanonen Batterie 3 - KMK 3) was formed at Krupp's at Essen starting on August 5th, 1914. On August 9/10th, they were put on a train and travelled to the Belgo-German border. From the border station they conducted a road march to Liège, then had to assemble their guns. In fact, the Ms only shelled two Liège forts, Pontisse and Loncin, all other forts were subdued by 210s and 150s.
 
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