The 24 cm Theodor Bruno Kanone (E - Eisenbahnlafette (railroad mounting)) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

railroad gun Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

and on coast-defense duties in Occupied France for the rest of the war. Six were built during the 1930s using fifty-year-old ex-naval guns.

Design

As part of the re-armament program initiated by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

after taking power in 1933 the Army High Command ''(

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the Command (military formation), high command of the German Army (1935–1945), Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's German rearmament, rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' t ...

- OKH)'' ordered

Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...

to begin work on new railroad artillery designs, but they would take a long time to develop. Krupp pointed out that it could deliver a number of railroad guns much more quickly using obsolete guns already on hand and modernizing their original

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 ...

mountings for which it still had drawings available. OKH agreed and authorized Krupp in 1936 to begin design of a series of guns between for delivery by 1939 as the Emergency Program (''Sofort-Programm''). Six ancient 24 cm K L/35 C/88 guns originally used by the ''Odin''-class coastal defense ships (''Küstenpanzerschiff'') that had equipped ''Batteries S1'' at

Sylt Sylt (; da, Sild; Sylt North Frisian, Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian ...

and ''Bremen'' at

Norderney Norderney ( nds, Nördernee) is one of the seven populated East Frisian Islands off the North Sea coast of Germany. The island is , having a total area of about and is therefore Germany's ninth-largest island. Norderney's population amounts ...

after those ships were disarmed in 1916 were placed on new mounts beginning in 1937. The gun could traverse only enough on the mount itself for fine corrections (the exact amount is disputed among the sources), coarser adjustments had to be made by turning the entire mount on the Vögele turntable. The turntable (''Drehscheibe'') consisted of a circular track with a pivot mount in the center for a platform on which the railroad gun itself was secured. A ramp was used to raise the railway gun to the level of the platform. The platform had rollers at each end which rested on the circular rail for 360° traverse. It had a capacity of , enough for most of the railroad guns in the German inventory. The gun could only be loaded at 0° elevation and so had to be re-aimed for each shot. All six guns were delivered by 1939.François, p. 84

Ammunition

The shells for this gun were loaded using a four-wheeled ammunition cart to move the shells and powder from the rear of the mount where it was hoisted from the ground or an ammunition car by the on-mount crane. It used the German naval system of ammunition where the base charge was held in a metallic cartridge case and supplemented by another charge in a silk bag which was rammed first.

Combat history

During the

''Theodor Brunos'' equipped ''Batteries 664'' (2 guns), ''721'' (1 gun), and ''722'' (2 guns). Their only known activity was when ''Battery 721'' bombarded French casemates in the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

during June in support of the '' Seventh Army''. From July 1941 two guns spent the rest of the war on coast defense duties assigned to ''Battery 664'' in the vicinity of

Hendaye Hendaye (Basque language, Basque: ''Hendaia'')HENDAIA
Auñamendi Encyclopedia, Auñamendi Eusko Entz ...

and

Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz (; eu, Donibane Lohitzune,Donibane Lohitzune
Auñamendi Ency ...

near the Spanish border with France although sources differ on their arrival date. ''Battery 664'' was able to retreat to Germany by 1 September 1944 after the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

began in June 1944, but nothing is known of its activities afterwards. ''Battery 721'' transferred its one gun to ''Battery 722'' sometime prior to June 1941 when the latter mustered four ''Theodor Brunos''. ''Battery 722'' defended

Cherbourg Naval Base Cherbourg Naval Base is a naval base in Cherbourg Harbour, Cherbourg, Manche department, Normandy. The town has been a base of the French Navy since the opening of the military port in 1813. History Early works Cherbourg had been a stronghold si ...

from 1941 to 1944 until being destroyed when the Americans captured the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

on 30 June 1944.François, p. 62

Notes

References

* Engelmann, Joachim. ''German Railroad Guns in Action''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal, 1976 * Engelmann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst. ''Deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliederung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz''. Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1974 * François, Guy. ''Eisenbahnartillerie: Histoire de l'artillerie lourd sur voie ferrée allemande des origines à 1945''. Paris: Editions Histoire et Fortifications, 2006 * Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. ''Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945''. New York: Doubleday, 1979 * Hogg, Ian V. ''German Artillery of World War Two''. 2nd corrected edition. Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997 * Kosar, Franz. ''Eisenbahngeschütz der Welt''. Stuttgart: Motorbook, 1999

External links

K L/35 at Navweaps.com
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 World War II artillery of Germany Railway guns 240 mm artillery Military equipment introduced in the 1930s