__NOTOC__ The 21 cm Mörser 10 (21 cm Mrs 10) was a heavy

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

used by Germany in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(although classified as a mortar (Mörser) by the German military). It replaced the obsolete 21 cm Mörser 99, which lacked a recoil system. For transport, it broke down into two loads. Some howitzers were fitted with a

gun shield A U.S. Marine manning an M240 machine gun equipped with a gun shield A gun shield is a flat (or sometimes curved) piece of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun, automatic grenade launcher, or artillery piece ...

during the war. As it was also intended for siege use, a concrete-penetrating shell was also used. Unusually, it had two spades: a folding one halfway down the trail and a fixed one at the end of the trail. Before the 21 cm Mörser 10 was commissioned for mass production, a small test series of 21 cm Versuchmörser 06 ("test mortar") was given to the German army. Eight pieces equipped two batteries, but their range of only 7 km was found insufficient, so the range was increased for the production version. Serial number 3 of these rare pieces is now exposed at

Red Cliffs, Victoria Red Cliffs is a town in Victoria, Australia in the Sunraysia region. It is located on the Calder Highway, 16 km south of Mildura and 544 km north-west of Melbourne. At the , Red Cliffs had a population of 5,060. The main industry is t ...

. 216 were in service at the beginning of the war. It was replaced by the

21 cm Mörser 16 The 21 cm Mörser 16 (21 cm Mrs 16), or 21 cm Lange Mörser M 16/L14.5, was a heavy howitzer used by Germany in World War I and World War II (although classified as a mortar (Mörser) by the German military). History It was based ...

, which was also known as the langer 21 cm Mörser since it was merely a lighter 21 cm Mrs 10 with a longer barrel for extra range and other refinements. The specifications provided for this weapon by difference sources are contradictory and, thus, those given here cannot be regarded as authoritative.

Gallery

Cannon Barclay Square Red Cliffs Australia.jpg, 21 cm Versuchsmörser 06 Bundesarchiv Bild 104-0145, Argonnen, Haubitzenstellung.jpg, 21 cm Mörser 10, July 1915 File:Carriage_003_24220847470_o1.jpg, A 21 cm Mörser carriage being transported. File:Barrel_003_24220847470_o2.jpg, A 21 cm Mörser barrel being transported.

References

* Hogg, Ian. ''Twentieth-Century Artillery''. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000 * Jäger, Herbert. ''German Artillery of World War One''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001

Notes

External links

Video clips on YouTube

* The

Spandau Citadel The Spandau Citadel (german: Zitadelle Spandau) is a fortress in Berlin, Germany, one of the best-preserved Renaissance military structures of Europe. Built from 1559–94 atop a medieval fort on an island near the meeting of the Havel and ...

Museum has a
exemplar in travel position
{{DEFAULTSORT:21 Cm Morser 10 World War I howitzers World War I artillery of Germany 210 mm artillery

Gallery

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

References

Notes

Further reading

External links