The mortars of World War II were a formidable artillery weapon capable of hitting any enemy firing points at long and short range. Having in their arsenal various calibers of mortar installations, the warring parties could successfully cope with any assigned combat missions.
History of Combat Weapons
Back in 1904, during the defense of Port Arthur, Russian officers S. Vlasyev and L. Gotyabyo created an unusual artillery weapon with a short barrel in the form of a pipe. The 47-mm naval gun was intended for mounted shooting at enemy targets. The flight range of such an installation was small, only 400-500 meters.
Subsequently, mortars of the First World War were used as an effective means of trench warfare. However, over time, it was this improved invention that became a formidable weapon. Mortars of World War II brought a lot of trouble to German soldiers.
The mortar got its modern shape thanks to the first model of the Stokes design. This is a pipe-trunk on a gun mount biped, resting on a flat metal plate that dampens the impact of a shot into the ground.
A few years before the war with Germany, the Soviet government began to persistently launch mass production of low-cost and easy-to-maintain artillery weapons, believing that it would replace a number of artillery weapons. For this reason, the production of Taubin automatic grenade launcher was suspended, which, during tactical tests in 1937, established itself as an excellent mounted-type combat weapon.
37 mm caliber spade mortar
In 1938, a 37-mm caliber light mortar was developed specifically for infantry units. The author of the combat unit was M. G. Dyakonov, the famous designer of explosive devices and ammunition for artillery. In addition, he developed: a hand grenade RGD-33, a gun grenade launcher.
In field conditions, the 37-mm mortar could be compared with an ordinary shovel. Shooting from this type of weapon was carried out by fragmentation mines. Baptism of fire mortar Dyakonova received in the Finnish campaign.
Unfortunately, the range and accuracy of this weapon left much to be desired. Due to low efficiency, a 37-caliber mortar, it was decided to withdraw from production and remove from service the Red Army. But life decreed differently. The use of mortars in World War II 37-mm caliber has found its application. In the winter of 1942, thanks to the fire support of the Dyakonov mortars, the paratroopers of the 4th air corps successfully landed in the area of the city of Vyazma.
The performance characteristics of the mortar 37 caliber:
- Gun caliber - 37 mm.
- Weight - 2.4 kg.
- Mines flight speed - 65-70 m / s.
- The minimum range is 60 m.
- The maximum range of mines is 250 m.
- Projectile weight (mines) - 0.5 kg.
The company mortar of 1938 and 1940 (caliber 50 mm)
Serial production of this artillery was begun by the military industry of the Soviet Union in 1939. The developer is an experimental design bureau headed by B. I. Shavyrin. Schematically, the mortar is arranged along an imaginary triangle. The trunk-pipe and the two-leg carriage with the lifting mechanism were one side of this triangle, and the third imaginary side was the line between the support and the carriage.
Characteristics of the company mortar 50 mm caliber 1938 release:
- Caliber - 50 mm.
- Weight - 17 kg.
- Mines flight speed - 95 m / s.
- The maximum range of the shot is 800 m.
- Rate of fire - 32 rounds per minute.
- Weight of the projectile (mines) - 0.85 kg.
Subsequently, the design was improved in the design bureau of V.N. Shamarin. And in 1940, a new version of the 50 mm mortar installation was released. As of June 22, 1941, 50-mm mortar guns became mass in the Red Army, their number reached about 24 thousand units. These mortars of the Second World War were not particularly popular.
By the end of 1943, few military units used this type of weaponry. The reason was the fact that the small firing range reached only 800 meters, which made mortar calculations as close as possible to enemy positions. Due to this, combat units suffered multiple casualties in manpower. This type of mortar installation was especially popular with partisans, who until the end of the war used it in their arsenal.
82-mm battalion mortar
In 1936, a mortar installation developed at the Leningrad SKB-4 under the leadership of D.I. Shavyrin was adopted by the Red Army. Its 82-mm mortar baptism took place in the battles at Khalkhin Gol, having established itself as a reliable military weapon capable of hitting enemy targets over long distances. Subsequently, these artillery guns were modernized.
So, new modifications of the 82-mm mortar appeared annually throughout all military operations. These mortars of World War II served faithfully for many more years. Not a single military operation of the Soviet troops could do without these weapons.
The successful use of mortars in the Second World War of this caliber led to the fact that they became the prototype of the lightweight version of the mortar "Tray" of the 1981 model.
Wehrmacht weapons
German mines of World War II for mortars were made of various calibers, since the military arsenal of Wehrmacht mortar installations had several modifications - 50 mm and 81 mm samples of 1936 and 1932, respectively.
According to some technical characteristics, the Wehrmacht mortars exceeded their Soviet counterparts. However, this did not help the German troops fulfill their main task - to win the war. It is noteworthy that the captured German 81-caliber World War II mortars were used by the Soviet army after the victory. By the way, until 1955.
Mortars of World War II
The fact that the Red Army had an unprecedented in power weapons, the Germans learned at the very beginning of the war.
For the first time, a combat unit of rocket mortars under the command of Captain Flerov dealt a massive blow to the Orsha junction station on July 14, 1941. According to the surviving Nazis, a real flurry of fire fell on the railway junction. The battery of rocket mortars struck not with simple shells, but filled with incendiary mixture. German soldiers and officers burned the ground under their feet.
The fame of the famous Katyusha instantly spread throughout the front. They knew about her in the rear. Mines for mortars of World War II were made by the whole country. The single motto for the entire population was: "Everything for the front, everything for the victory."
Secret Katyusha - mortar of the Second World War
The basic rule of the guards mortars is a hidden occupation of combat positions. Movement only in cloudy weather or at night, so that the enemy could not detect. In case of an environment, everything was also thought out. Each vehicle was mined; at the slightest threat of capture, the installation should have been blown up. It was under such circumstances that the battery of Captain Flerov died along with his commander.
In 1942, the Germans still managed to capture the combat vehicle, but they did not succeed in creating weapons like Katyusha. Soviet military industry was constantly increasing the production of rocket mortars.
Allied help
Beginning in 1943, Soviet Soviet jet mortars of the Second World War were placed not only on domestic ZiS-6 trucks and STZ-5 crawler tractors, but on Ford, Austin and Studebaker cross-country vehicles received by Lend-Lease. Developed for the "Katyusha" and new ammunition.
In particular, the rocket launchers received huge 300-mm shells. They were intended for well-fortified defenses. As a rule, Katyusha was beaten in squares. However, there have been cases when launchers had to be used for other purposes.
Urban warfare
For example, during the Vistula-Oder offensive operation, in order to break through the 8-meter-high walls of the Poznan citadel, charged high-power shells were rolled out into the launchers for direct fire. The firing range of the Katyusha was four and a half kilometers, and in direct fire it was only one. Shooting at a shorter distance was simply impossible.
Nevertheless, the mortar guards managed to adapt their formidable weapons for street battles. From Moscow to Berlin, the guards Katyusha, a mortar of the Second World War, took an active part in all military operations.
By the end of the war, the BM-13 became a weapon of mass destruction. The first official salute in the Great Patriotic War was in August 1943, in honor of the liberation of Orel and Belgorod. It became an echo of the first Katyush volleys in July 1941.
Interesting Facts
It is known that mortars from the Second World War destroyed not only ground targets.
In 1942, during the defense of Sevastopol, junior lieutenant Vladimir Simonok hit the German Junkers with a direct hit from an 82-mm mortar, flying low over the positions of the Soviet troops. This was the only case in the entire Great Patriotic War, when mortar crews hit the enemy’s aircraft. For this fantastic shot, Junior Lieutenant Vladimir Polikarpovich Simon was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, the lieutenant died in the same 1942, defending Sevastopol.
War statistics
It is interesting to compare how, in quantitative terms, the mortars of the USSR of World War II were produced in comparison with other countries. So the numbers are:
- In the period from July 1940 to July 1945, the United States released about 111 thousand units of military equipment.
- The British military industry for all time, and this is 1939-1944, produced 97 thousand artillery weapons of this class.
- Germany from the beginning of 1941 to the middle of 1944 managed to arm its army with almost 70 thousand mortar installations.
- From July 1, 1941 to June 30, 1945, the Soviet Union manufactured 348 thousand mortar artillery mounts of various calibers.
These figures indicate that the mortars of the USSR of the Second World War were very popular and made an invaluable contribution to the victory over fascist Germany.