Saturday 19 March 2016

Another Luftwaffe dream: Gerät 104 "Münchhausen" - recoilless cannon

Gerät 104 "Münchhausen" under model of Dornier Do217
German experimental weapon designed to destroy heavy ships. Caliber 356 mm allow to penetrate the hull of the roughest British battleships. It uses a solution, leveling the recoil caused by gas pressure when fired. Shells have a special design husk (holes), and the gun barrel leveling recoil when fired.
Work on the Gerät 104 "Münchhausen" started in 1939 by compny Rheinmetall-Borsig and lasted until 1941. The first test was conducted on September 9, 1940 in Unterlüss with a satisfactory result. But after next year  stopped work on the project because of the inefficient performance and prospects. It has been mounted on a rail chassis and tested on the model of Dornier Do217. Ultimately had to be designed for Junkers Ju88, Dornier Do217 and according to some sources Heinkel He177. Single bullet weighed more than 600 kg, which resulted in the ability to use only once during the mission and accounted for its low efficacy.


















































1 comment:

  1. Wow, this is so cool! Thanks for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete