21 cm Mörser 10

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{{Infobox weapon

|name=21 cm Mörser 10

| image=Victoria-Barracks-21-cm-Morser-10-2.jpg

| image_size = 300

|caption=21 cm Mörser 10 near Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, Australia.

|origin=German Empire

|type=Howitzer

|is_ranged=

|is_bladed=

|is_explosive=

|is_artillery=yes

|is_vehicle=

|is_UK=

|service=1910

|used_by=German Empire

|wars=World War I

|designer=Krupp

|design_date=1907–1910

|manufacturer=

|production_date=1910

|number=

|variants=

|weight={{convert|15,496|lb|kg|abbr=on}}

|length=

|part_length={{convert|2.57|m|ftin|abbr=on}} L/12

|width=

|height=

|crew=

|cartridge={{convert|252|lb|kg}}

|caliber={{convert|211|mm|in|abbr=on}}

|action=

|rate=

|velocity=335 m/s (1,101 ft/s)

|range=

|max_range={{convert|9,400|m|yd|abbr=on}}

|feed=

|sights=

|breech=horizontal sliding-wedge

|recoil=hydro-pneumatic

|carriage=box trail

|elevation=-6° to +70°

|traverse=4°

|blade_type=

|hilt_type=

|sheath_type=

|head_type=

|haft_type=

|diameter=

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}}

The 21 cm Mörser 10 (21 cm Mrs 10) was a heavy howitzer used by Germany in World War I (although classified as a mortar (Mörser) by the German military). It replaced the obsolete 21 cm Mörser 99, which lacked a recoil system. For transport, it broke down into two loads. Some howitzers were fitted with a gun shield during the war. As it was also intended for siege use, a concrete-penetrating shell was also used. Unusually, it had two spades: a folding one halfway down the trail and a fixed one at the end of the trail. Before the 21 cm Mörser 10 was commissioned for mass production, a small test series of 21 cm Versuchmörser 06 ("test mortar") was given to the German army. Eight pieces equipped two batteries, but their range of only 7 km was found insufficient, so the range was increased for the production version. Serial number 3 of these rare pieces is now exposed at Red Cliffs, Victoria.{{Cite web|url=http://canonspgmww1guns.canalblog.com/archives/2011/01/13/20119317.html|title = §§- 21cm VersuchsMorser nr3 1906 en Australie - Canons survivants de la Grande Guerre / WW1 surviving guns|date = 13 January 2011}} 216 were in service at the beginning of the war.Jäger, p. 29 It was replaced by the 21 cm Mörser 16, which was also known as the langer 21 cm Mörser since it was merely a lighter 21 cm Mrs 10 with a longer barrel for extra range and other refinements. The specifications provided for this weapon by difference sources are contradictory and, thus, those given here cannot be regarded as authoritative.

Gallery

Cannon Barclay Square Red Cliffs Australia.jpg|21 cm Versuchsmörser 06

Bundesarchiv Bild 104-0145, Argonnen, Haubitzenstellung.jpg|21 cm Mörser 10, July 1915

File:Carriage_003_24220847470_o1.jpg|A 21 cm Mörser carriage being transported.

File:Barrel_003_24220847470_o2.jpg|A 21 cm Mörser barrel being transported.

=Weapons of comparable role, performance and era=

BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk I – V British equivalent firing slightly lighter shell

References

Hogg, Ian. Twentieth-Century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000 {{ISBN|0-7607-1994-2}}
Jäger, Herbert. German Artillery of World War One. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001 {{ISBN|1-86126-403-8}}

Notes

External links

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3uZB1CL4Mw Video clips on YouTube]
[http://www.passioncompassion1418.com/Canons/english_CanonsIndex_Nation.html List and pictures of WW1 surviving 21cm morsers 10]
[http://lagranguerra1914-1918.blogspot.com/2008/12/210-mm-mrser-m10-16.html Obús Krupp 210 mm 10/16 La Gran Guerra 1914-1918]
The Spandau Citadel Museum has an [http://canonspgmww1guns.canalblog.com/archives/2009/11/23/15905610.html exemplar in travel position]

Category:World War I howitzers

Category:World War I artillery of Germany

Category:210 mm artillery