"Dora" 800mm?!

Everything but not IL2 ... say here 'Hello!' ;)
Post Reply
L.F
Forum Junky
Posts: 730
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2003 6:14 pm
Location: Stavanger/Sola Norway

"Dora" 800mm?!

Post by L.F » Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:56 pm

:shock:



Brace yourself for superlatives in a notice dedicated to the railroad gun "Dora". With a 800 mm bore and up to seven tons shells, it was the largest gun in the history of World War II (and of all times). To put one of it into firing position, eight complete trains, 5000 men and six weeks were necessary. It used two parallel rail tracks to move and the overall weight was equal to the one of a little destroyer. One of its shells successfully destroyed an ammunition depot buried 30 meters deep. Such examples could go on.
That profusion of resources wasn't worth it. The development started in 1936 and took five years while the operational life of the weapon was exactly two weeks. Only one example took part in a real battle, during the siege of Sebastopol in June of 1942. It fired in total 40 shells and later fell in Russian hands in Crimea in 1944. The existence of a second "Dora" is not sure, but shells and a replacement barrel was found in 1945 after the German defeat. Most certainly, it did not fire any rounds on a battlefield.
Note: there are discrepancies between my sources on the name of the gun engaged against Sebastopol: the German ones speak about a "Dora", the Anglo-American about a "Gustav". There is also discrepancies about the number of pieces completed: three according to the Germans, two for the Anglo-Americans



if only my lagg had one of thoseImage
Og det er det stora,
og det er det glupa,
at Merket det stend,
um Mannen han stupa.
User avatar
:FI:TacticalS!
Post Maniac General
Posts: 2513
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2003 10:05 pm
Location: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Post by :FI:TacticalS! » Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:05 pm

Yes saw a show about it a while back. That and those remote-control mini-tank thingies. There were some rather interesting/bizarre weapons developed during WW2.
L.F
Forum Junky
Posts: 730
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2003 6:14 pm
Location: Stavanger/Sola Norway

Post by L.F » Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:06 pm

Og det er det stora,
og det er det glupa,
at Merket det stend,
um Mannen han stupa.
User avatar
:FI:Heloego
Post Maniac General
Posts: 3899
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2003 9:40 pm
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (Smile when you say that!)

The third production model...

Post by :FI:Heloego » Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:37 am

...designated "Hansel", with a bore increased to 850mm, and designed for three rails was captured by the Russians and sold to Luxembourg. Cheap.

It is currently in storage awaiting the day that Luxembourg overcomes obstacles common to developement of Atomics, which they plan to throw at Canada.
Once those minor issues are resolved only one remains: In what country will they deploy it?
For obvious reasons, notably the lack of a population large enough to service the monstrosity, and it's size (all the bicycles in Lux couldn't move it), a somewhat larger geopolitical subdivision would have to be the host.

I hear they are considering Monaco.



I can hardly wait! :roll: ;)
...and wear your feckin' mask!!!!! :x
User avatar
:FI:WillieOFS
Post Maniac 1st Grade
Posts: 1831
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2003 4:17 pm
Location: 65 MI NE of DUBLIN (TX)
Contact:

Post by :FI:WillieOFS » Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:10 am

:shock: BOOM!!!! :badgrin:

Luxembourg?? :roll: FFS... :lol:
Mindless Dribble and Off Topic posts are my specialty!



Image
Image
Deathsledge
The Unforseeable
Posts: 453
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2003 2:58 am
Location: U.S.

Post by Deathsledge » Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:27 pm

:shock:
There are two things that are infinite in life, human stupidity and the universe, and I'm not too sure about the universe. Albert Einstein
Ianus
Postmaster
Posts: 239
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 2:30 pm

Post by Ianus » Wed Jan 26, 2005 3:27 pm

WTH must that thing have sounded like when it went off :-# Remember reading stories about the armour plating given to secondary armourment positions on Battleships being put there as much to protect from the blast of the big guns as it was against incoming fire. That gun was 800mm lololol, thats about 31 and a half inches. The biggest guns ever mounted on b/ship to my knowledge were on the Yamoto/Musashi classs at 18.1. I would love to have watched that being fired.................. from a very safe distance.

:)
User avatar
:FI:Dutchman
The Unforseeable
Posts: 1099
Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2003 8:39 am
Location: Europe, The Netherlands, Almere

Luxembourg??

Post by :FI:Dutchman » Wed Jan 26, 2005 3:31 pm

with a gun that big,
The country can be renamed to Dorabourg because there is not much space left then.


a good place to hide this ML gun is in Dora Bora - Afganistan
tjeez

Dutch..,

Image

ImageImageImage
Better loose one minute in your life, than loose your life in one minute...
L.F
Forum Junky
Posts: 730
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2003 6:14 pm
Location: Stavanger/Sola Norway

Re: Luxembourg??

Post by L.F » Wed Jan 26, 2005 3:59 pm

:FI:Dutchman wrote:with a gun that big,
The country can be renamed to Dorabourg because there is not much space left then.


a good place to hide this ML gun is in Dora Bora - Afganistan
tjeez

Dutch..,


:lol:
Og det er det stora,
og det er det glupa,
at Merket det stend,
um Mannen han stupa.
Post Reply