canon leopold - youtube
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The Germans had always loved big guns. During
WWI the famous German armament manufacturer, Krupp, had built a
huge howitzer (a gun with a relatively short length for the
diameter of its barrel) with the nickname "Big Bertha." It could
toss a 16 ½ inch diameter, 1800 pound, shell almost eight miles.
Krupp also built the so-called "Paris Gun" which was used to
shell the city from March to August of 1918. While the Paris
gun had a relatively small shell - about 9 ½ inches wide and
weighing 210 pounds - its immense 92-foot-long barrel could
send its payload a staggering 81 miles.
Given their earlier experience, Krupp was tasked
by the German military in 1934 with the job of developing another
enormous gun. This one was to be mounted on a railcar and had
a barrel just over 70 feet in length. The gun was to be able
to handle shells weighing 560 pounds and send them a distance
of 40 miles. Krupp would build 25 of these monsters which were
designated with the model name "K5-E."
They were first employed during WWII along the
coast of France to harass shipping along the English Channel.
With their range, the guns stationed at Calais, France, could
also hit targets in Dover, England. Using special rocket-assisted
projectiles to increase the range, the Germans could even target
London.
When the battle at Anzio started, the German commander
General Albert Kesselring had "Leopold" and "Robert," two of
the K5-Es, sent by rail to a town named Ciampino. This location
was in the Albano hills about 19 miles from the Anzio beachhead.
(http://www.unmuseum.org/anzio_annie.htm)
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