I'm in need of a little data here. Please post all known artillery links and good artillery books (cheap if possible! ) that contain data such as weight in action, ROF, shell weight etc etc.
You beat me to it, charlie. I constantly use Hogg's 'British & American Artillery of WWII' ( A&AP, 1978 ) - this is packed with data. I think Ellis & Chamberlain have also written some good books - will check later.
I looked for Russian artillery sources last week as it definitely needs a section of its own, especially the Reserve of the Main Command ( RGK ) under Marshall Voronov. Unfortunately not much was found. Here´s a story from another forum which seems to sum it all in a "suitable" way. Unfortunately I have no books on the subject so I cannot comment more but : " In 1939 a major plan for upgrading russian artillery was started.In 1941 the red army had the biggest,newest and the most powerfull artillery in the world.They had 82000+ guns and howitzers.Also the number of antitank(54 guns ,45mm,later 57mm or 100mm) and AAA(23&37mm,later 57&85mm) guns for each division was increased.Some of the guns ,like the M-30,122mm howitzer designed in 1938 is still used by some armies even now.Stalin wasn't playing:each infantry division had its own regiment(later 2,but some,like the NKVD-elite divisions had even 5-7) of guns&howitzers&mortars(48),and separatly there were formed independent regiments(900+).The german artillery(second in the world as number and power) had mainly ww1 manufactured guns,many captured(different calibers from 26 countries).There were about 23+ caliber guns,so ammo suply was very difficult.The guns were slow,low rate of fire,too heavy and difficult to transport and maintain.(not to say about the limited range ). The russians had all their guns bright new,used 4 types of guns&howitzers: -the Ml-20 152mm gun-howitzer,had 7t and used 43,6kg projectiles at a range on more than 15(19+) -the Br-2 152mm gun had 18t,used 48,8kg ammo with a range of more than 21(25+) -the M-30 gun,122mm caliber,had 5t,used 31kg ammo at more than 23km -the 107mm gun,3,8t;more than 17km range Of course there were other types of guns,like the heavy 203mm howitzer and many other(57,76mm,85,...) ,but this 4 represent 90% of the artillery,so ammo suply was very simple and effective,In 1941 the germans captured 78000 guns,which they used from N.Africa to italy and Normandy and of course against the russians. The russian artillery was the best in the world(it almost had as the entire world as many guns).When used it was used in mass.They concentrated usually from 70-200guns/km of front were the attack was planned.The germans admitted that hell a piece of cake compared to the hell unlished by the red army's artillery.The defense was pulverized every time.Of course the russians are mercifull:in oriental prusia ,in january 1945 the 381 infantry division of the 2 shock-army used 438 guns/km.... ..the germans never achieved 70,the americans were always under 35.From 1943 the red arme spoked in the language of the nuclear age:for every minute of artillery strike they used 1kt of ammo.In the Vistula -Oder operation 34500 guns were used.The demsity achieved in some areas of the front 420guns/km.In 25 minutes 23kt(kilotone) were used(The Hiroshima had 13kt,so nearly twice-who had the nuclear power first??? ).The ground looked like on the moon. " http://63.99.108.76/ubb/Forum2/HTML/002266.html --------- Pics and stuff on Russian artillery: http://wio.boom.ru/galgrnd/ww2gun.htm http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0JAP/2_10/75478469/p2/article.jhtml?term=voronev+artillery http://www.wargamer.com/articles/bprelude_part2.asp http://www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/bibl/mil/ww2/who/voronov.jpg http://www.astronautix.com/astros/vorkolai.htm ------- Additions, comments are welcome.
A very good site on the Royal Artillery is: http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.html It has some links to other artillery related sites.
Actually, Friedrich, NO! By the way, Friedrich, I notice you have changed somehow. Wonder what it is? Oh, you have taken your cap off... Nice avatar!
- Well, allow me to comment it slightly. The man posting with the name Savantu, is one of the "Suvorov"-lovers, and the data of his ramblings are from Suvorov's books. Ie. not very credible. I, for instance, have never seen in any other publication that high density figures for the Red Army artillery. But then of course, Suvorov could've counted all guns, like 45 mm AT-guns and such, which could put the number that high. Still, you should take the information above with a fistful of salt. Cheers, Sami Korhonen
Hello Sami, it was about time for another Finn to show up! Wonder if you got more info on the Russian artillery yourself? My knowledge is limited to the fact that there were lots of it...
Welcome, Sami! (Although I can see that you registered in July 2001...) Whatever! Welcome! I look more handsome and classy now, don't I?
- Thanks, I lost the address of this forum a long while ago and pretty much forgot it until the other day I found it again. I really need to add the link to my website - Some, though my info of the subject is mainly concentrated to the 1939-1940 period. The Red Army artillery made great improvements in their use of fire from those days towards the end of WW2. But still in 1945, the basic method was "mass kicks ass", mass lots of guns, set their targets and fire missions and let it roll. The overall quantity of shells fired were extremely impressive but e.g. the Finnish artillery in July 1944, when it fired, used a higher concentration of fire (that is that more barrels fired on the same area target than the Red Army did on a similar mission). Cheers, Sami
