Schwerer Gustav

There is no doubt that the Schwerer Gustav was a powerful weapon. Adolf Hitler was seeking a way to get through the Maginot Line's defenses in order to invade France. They devised a never-before-seen type of railway-mounted cannon as a remedy. The gun measured 47 meters in length, stood 12 meters high, and was 1,350 tons heavy. It had a barrel that was 30 meters long and could fire ten-ton shells. They called it the Great Gustav.

Even though the Gustav was potentially catastrophic, it proved totally impracticable to employ it frequently. In addition to being too large and visible from the air, which made it a target, it was also too heavy to move along regular railroad rails. Everywhere they wanted it to travel, the Germans had to construct reinforced rails in advance, which would have been impossible even in peacetime.

Each shot required several hours of adjustment before the cannon was ready to fire. That implies that they could only fire a total of 14 rounds per day. The cannon's final assembly required four days once it was installed.

Country of origin: Nazi Germany