Austro-Hungarian Mortars during WW1

Austro-Hungarian Mortars in WW1

Introduction

This is, quite obviously, not an exhautive listing of all mortars used by the K.u.K. Army during WW1, but just some of the most important or interesting types. (Filippo Capellano in his fine book on the Austro-Hungarian Artillery lists no less than 21 different types.) The guns shown here are to be seen either in the fine Heeresgesichtliches Museum in Wien or in the Army Museum in Budapest. (For the British 9.45 inch Mortar "Flying Pig", see the bottom of this page!)

7.5cm Minenwerfer M.17 Kolben

The 7.5cm Kolben Minenwerfer M.17 is typical of the simple, small, lightweight mortars that virtually all the countries that participated in WW1 experimented with and used during the middle stages of the war. (Notice that the 7.5cm Kolben was not the standard Austro-Hungarian light mortar. If any type should be given that title it should be the 9cm Minenwerfer M.14, which was the mainstay of the mortar squads in the Infantry Regiments Heavy Coy's.) It was pretty heavy, though: 128kg emplaced, and could be elevated to a maximum of +85°. It could throw a 6kg heavy grenade some 860 meters (minimum 90 meters). It was aimed sideways by simply moving the whole lavette, and lengthways using a quadrant. The rate of fire was slow.

12cm Luftminenwerfer M.16

This mortar was original in that it didn't use explosives but pressurized air to propell the projectile. It used the so called System Spitz which meant that the projectile was loaded through a special breech at the bottom of the tube. During the time the bulbous air chamber was filled with pressurized air, the projectile was held in place using a sort of clutch, which was released when the pressure was correct (max 35 atmospheres) and the aiming was done. Then the projectile (4.5 kilos heavy, of which 1 kilo was explosives) was forced out, reaching a maximum range of some 1.100 meters. The maximum rate of fire was some two rounds per minute. It required a crew of three.

20cm Luftminenwerfer M.16

This was another mortar that didn't use explosives but pressurized air to propel the projectile. Like the 12cm Luftminenwerfer the 20cm variant also used the so called System Spitz-Bartelmus, which meant that the projectile was loaded through a special breech at the bottom of the tube, but above the air chamber. The 3 meter long barrel was fixed at a elevation of 45º. During the time the bulbous air chamber was filled with pressurized air, the projectile was held in place using a sort of clutch, which was released when the pressure was correct (max 55 atmospheres) and the aiming was done. Then the projectile (22.6 or 34.4 kilos) was forced out, reaching a maximum range of some 1.460 meters. It weighed some 725 kilos emplaced, and required a crew of five.

24cm Minenwerfer M.16 (9.45 inch Mortar "Flying Pig")

The 24cm Minenwerfer M.16 was in fact a French Dumezil -Batignolles design, which was subsequently made under license in Britain and then Italy after its initial appearance in the Champagne Offensive of September 1915. There were two versions, short and long: Le matériel de 240mm court de tranchée (240mm C.T.) and the later long model called: Le matériel de 240mm long de tranchée (240mm L.T.). The Brits seemed to have copied only the short one; on the other hand the Italians used both models and even made longer versions unique to them. The Austro-Hungarians captured some of these mortars, that were copied by the firm of Böhler. It was a quite powerful mortar, but it was not too accurate: the British nicknamed the grenades "Flying Pigs". The maximum range was some 1.600 meters. The barrel was some 155.5cm, and it could be elevated between +45 and +75 degrees. It weighed some 1.000 kilos emplaced, and required a crew of nine. For movement, it was disassembled into four parts, that could be loaded directly onto horses, or loaded onto carts.

(Thanks to Wesley Thomas for contributing on this one)

26cm Minenwerfer M.16/17

This heavy mortar of traditional design (Böhler) weighed some 1.6 tons when emplaced, but was still pretty mobile, as it was broken down into four parts for movement, parts that could then be loaded onto horses. It could be elevated to a maximum of +80° and depressed to a minimum of +34º. It could throw a 82 kilo heavy projectile up to a maximum of 2.400 meters. This mortar required a crew of six. It was produced in some 300 copies, and was used after the war by the Austrian Army.