1940 Karl-Gerät 600mm Siege Mortar "Sledgehammer" (1.7)

Karl-Gerät (040/041) (lit. 'Karl-device' in German), also known as Mörser Karl, was a World War II German self-propelled siege mortar (Mörser) designed and built by Rheinmetall. Its heaviest munition was a 60 cm (24 in) diameter, 2,170 kg (4,780 lb) shell; the range for its lightest shell of 1,250 kg (2,760 lb) was just over 10 km (6. 2 mi). Each gun had to be accompanied by a crane, a two-piece heavy transport set of railcars, and several modified tanks to carry shells. In March 1936 Rheinmetall made a proposal for a super-heavy howitzer to attack the Maginot Line. Their initial concept was for a weapon that would be transported by several tracked vehicles and assembled on site, but the lengthy preparation time drove them to change it to a self-propelled weapon in January 1937. Extensive driving trials took place in 1938 and 1939 using the first Neubaufahrzeug tank prototype and a scale model to investigate the extremely high ground pressure and steering of such an enormous vehicle. Firing trials took place in June 1939. The full-scale driving trials were held at Unterlüss in May 1940. General Karl Becker of the Artillery was involved in the development, from whom the huge weapon gained its nickname. Seven guns were built, six of which saw combat between 1941 and 1945. It was used in attacking the Soviet fortresses of Brest-Litovsk and Sevastopol, bombarded Polish resistance fighters in the Warsaw Uprising, participated in the Battle of the Bulge, and was used to try to destroy the Ludendorff Bridge during the Battle of Remagen. One Karl-Gerät has survived; the remainder were scrapped after the war. Press for 10mm Spotting Round Press to send up a spotter plane (Its a camera) Top Speed: 6mph (10 kmh) Weight:274,000 (124 Tonnes) Brick Count:685 Elevation: -3°/55° Reload: 45s Armor Pen (in Bricks): Y e s 21 Rounds Made By U. S. S. Laffey DD-724 Tags: WW2, WWII, Early War, German, Germany Karl Gerat, Karl-Gerat, Military, Conquest, Battle, T