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305 mm howitzer M1939 (Br-18)
Br-18 howitzer
Br-18 in Saint Petersburg Artillery Museum.
Type Superheavy siege howitzer
Place of origin USSR
Service history
Used by Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
Production history
Designer Škoda
Manufacturer Škoda
Specifications
Mass 45.7 t

Caliber 305 mm
Rate of fire 1 rounds per 3 minutes

The 305 mm howitzer M1939 (Br-18) (Russian: 305-мм гаубица образца 1939 года (Бр-18)) was a Czech superheavy siege howitzer used by the Soviet Union during World War II. After the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939 they took over the Škoda Works, which had been working on this design and a companion 210 mm gun. As a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact the Germans sold both designs to the Soviet Union. It's not entirely clear that Skoda actually built the weapons itself or merely supplied the blueprints. At any rate, very few weapons seem to have built, so much so that there's no record of the Germans capturing any after Operation Barbarossa.

It used the same carriage as 210 mm gun M1939 (Br-17) as well as the same firing platform and control mechanism. It was transported in three loads.

It was most famously used to defend Leningrad during the Siege of Leningrad.

References[]


All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at 305 mm howitzer M1939 (Br-18) and the edit history here.
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