The imperialist projects of Nazism entailed a series of armaments improvements. It is a known fact that adolfhitler mobilized engineers and scientists in an attempt to build bombsatomic (a project that was only effectively carried out by the United States) and in the construction of model super rockets V1 and V2. In addition, its armored division, like tanks panzer, became notorious for the devastation wrought on the battlefields. However, among the warlike inventions of Nazism, one of the most striking was that of the CannonGustav.
The Gustav Cannon was commissioned from the German industry in the city of Essen called Krupp. The name given to the cannon mentions the patriarch of the Krupp family, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen. The objective of the Nazis was, with “Gustav”, to penetrate the borders of France, which were guarded by fortresses with heavy artillery. This strategic action was not carried out, as Hitler mobilized his troops through Belgian territory without having to immediately break the borders with France.
The cannon, however, was completed in 1941. Its use was applied in other situations, such as the Nazi action in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol, where he fired 300 shots. Sevastopol, being a fortress city, required a type of weapon that would cause overwhelming destruction. The "Gustav" was also used by the Nazis to suffocate the RevoltinWarsaw in Poland.
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The “Gustav” cannon weighed 1,344 tons, distributed over six meters in height and forty-three meters in length. It took 500 men to operate it, mainly to prepare it on the railroad tracks, where it traveled. The “mouth” of the cannon had a diameter of 800 millimeters and around 1360 kg of gunpowder was needed to trigger the detonation of the projectiles.
There were two types of projectiles (cannonballs) that reached a distance varying between 37 and 47 km beyond the firing site, under a maximum elevation of 48 degrees. The projectiles weighed about five tons and could penetrate up to eighty meters of reinforced concrete.
“Gustav” was destroyed by Allied troops in 1945. There was another cannon of the same hue, called “Dora”, which was destroyed by the Nazis themselves so that it would not be in the possession of Soviet troops at the end of the war.
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By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
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FERNANDES, Claudio. "Gusta Cannon"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/canhao-gustav.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.