Skoda 305 mm Model 1911

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Skoda 305 mm Model 1911

Škoda 305 mm Model 1911
Type Siege mortar
Place of origin Flag of Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
Service history
Used by Austria
Wars WWI
Production history
Designer Škoda Works
Designed 1906
Manufacturer Škoda Works
Produced 1911
Number built 40
Variants M11, M16
Specifications (M11)
Weight 20830 kg
Crew 12
Caliber 305 mm
Elevation +40 to +70 degrees
Traverse +60 to -60 degrees
Rate of fire 10 rounds/hour
Muzzle velocity 340 m/s
Effective range 9600 m to 11300 m

The Škoda 305 mm Model 1911 was a siege mortar produced by Škoda Works and used by the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I.

Contents

[edit] Development

Development began in 1906 with a development contract being placed by the Austro-Hungarian high command with Skoda-Werke in Pilsen to develop a weapon capable of penetrating the concrete fortresses being built in Belgium and Italy. Development work continued until 1909 when the first prototype was finished and in 1910 fired secretly in Hungary.

The weapon was able to penetrate 2 meters of reinforced concrete with its special armour piercing shell weighing 384 kg. There were a few technical problems with the first piece, but after few reconstructions in 1911 the upgraded piece made another round of testing in Felixdorf and in the mountains of Tyrol. After that Moritz von Auffenberg, the ministry of war, placed an order for 24 of the new weapons.

[edit] Description

The mortar with its transport cart; for transport, the barrel would be removed from the body and placed on the cart
The mortar with its transport cart; for transport, the barrel would be removed from the body and placed on the cart

The weapon was transported in 3 sections by a 15 ton Austro-Daimler road tractor M.12 with 100 horsepower. It could be assembled and readied to fire in around 50 minutes.

The mortar could fire two types of shell, a heavy armour piercing shell with a delayed action fuse weighing 384 kg, and a light 287 kg shell fitted with an impact fuze. The light shell was capable of creating a crater 8 meters wide and 8 meters deep, as well as killing exposed infantry up to 400 meters away.

The weapon required a crew of 15 - 17, and could fire 10 to 15 rounds an hour.

In 1916, M.11 was upgraded and new model M.11/16 was released, the difference was mainly with the traverse of 360 degrees. Also in the same year the new model was released, the M.16. It had longer barrel (d/12) and longer range (12 300 m) .

[edit] History

A shell : note the 5 Serbian dinar coin (24 mm in diameter) near the base for size comparison.
A shell : note the 5 Serbian dinar coin (24 mm in diameter) near the base for size comparison.

The weapon was first fired in action on the Western front at the start of World War I. It was used with the German Krupp 42 cm howitzer ("Big Bertha") to destroy the rings of Belgian fortresses around Liege, Namur and Antverpen (forts Koningshooikt, Kessel and Broechem). The mortar was used on the Western front only at the beginning of the war, but on the Eastern, Italian and Serbian fronts it was used from the beginning until the end.

In 1915, 10 such mortars were used in the Austro-Hungarian-German invasion of Serbia led by German officer August von Mackensen. One of this kind is restored in Belgrade military museum.

By the end of the war 79 of the weapons of all three types were in service. Only 24 were destroyed.

In the period between the world wars, large numbers of mortars were in service in Yugoslavia (4 pieces of M.11 and 6 M.16), Romania, Italy (23 M.11, 16 M.11/16 and 16 M.16), Czechoslovakia (only M.16, 17 pieces) and Hungary (3 M.11 and 2 M.16). In Austria there were only 2 pieces, first in the Arsenal, army museum in Vienna, second as school piece in Innsbruck.

In 1939 Germany bought all 17 pieces from Czechoslovakia and repaired one piece from Arsenal museum, in 1941 they obtained 5 more pieces after the defeat of Yugoslavia. The mortars of the Hungarian Army were employed on the Eastern Front in the 1942/43 battles and used against the Red Army.

Today 4 pieces survive; first M.11 is in Rovereto, Italy (Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra), second M. 11 is displayed in Belgrade's Military Museum and a third M.11 is in Bucharest, Romania with the only surviving M.16.

[edit] Specifications

  • M11
See infobox
  • M16
    • Caliber: 305 mm.
    • Elevation: +40 to +75 degrees.
    • Traverse: 360 degrees.
    • Weight: 23150 kg.
    • Muzzle velocity: 448 m/s.
    • Range: 12200 m.

[edit] External links

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