Big Italian gun!

[Pzkpfw-e]

 

Never seen this creation before, found it on a Russian website, apparently used to bombard Austrian alpine fortifications.

[steveo578]

The thing is an Obice da 305/17 modele 1916 built by Armstrong works in Italy it was also mounted on a more sensible fixed "octaginal" mount-the Garrone (I assume this refered to the base plate/ pivot plate) as the mounting was a long girder affair -note the fairly modern triple recuperators above the barrel. There was another coastal mount companion piece the ex naval gun Cannone da 152/45 which remained in service on the fixed mount until 1945. There were a number of De Stefano mounts for several calibres during WW1 in 152,210 and 305- a 210/8 mortar on a DS mount is reported to have survived into WW2. Naval cannons survived longer in service than howitzers which were apparent until the end of WW1 for example the US 12inch seacoast howitzers.

 

The wheeled mount seems to have been an attempt to get a 305/17 mobile to use against the Austrians called the Da Stefano mount, it had a huge 3m x 2m x305mm steel base carried on a separate wagon as a tie down (the coastal mounting was fixed in a prepared earth or concrete bed). I think it managed to wreck a Cathedral in a city in the Austrian tirol. I would think the large box beneath the trunnions would allow sufficient recoil without digging a pit. The Austrians had Skoda howitzers of similar calibre the 305/11 and 380/16.

 

There was once a 35th scale resin kit of the 305/17 coastal howitzer by the Italian kit company Kriel, no idea of the price though -probably a ridiculous one:shocked:

 

Steve

Edited December 29, 2010 by steveo578
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