The 210 mm gun M1939 (Br-17) (russian: 210-мм пушка образца 1939 года (Бр-17)) was a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

heavy siege gun used by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939 they took over the

Škoda Works The Škoda Works ( cs, Škodovy závody, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century, founded by Czech engineer Emil Škoda in 1859 in Plzeň, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire. It is the predece ...

, which had been working on this design and a companion 305 mm howitzer. As a result of the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those powers to partition Poland between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ri ...

the Germans sold both designs to the Soviet Union. It is not entirely clear that Škoda actually built the weapons itself or merely supplied the blueprints. The Br-17 could be broken down into three loads for transport and it used the same carriage, firing platform and control mechanism as the

305 mm howitzer M1939 (Br-18) The 305 mm howitzer M1939 (Br-18) (russian: 305-мм гаубица образца 1939 года (Бр-18)) was a Soviet superheavy siege howitzer used by the Soviet Union during World War II. After the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia in ...

. By 1941, three Br-17's were in Soviet service, and this number increased to nine by 22 June 1941, when production ceased. These guns were operated by the Soviet army, spread in four artillery regiments together with Br-2 guns. Each regimental battery consisted of six 152 mm Br-2 guns and two Br-17's. The Germans assigned the Br-17 a designation of ''K 251(r)'', but there is no record of the Germans capturing any during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

. Firing 133 kg 53-F-643 high-explosive shells, the Br-17 had a range of up to 28.65 km.

References

World War II artillery of the Soviet Union Artillery of the Soviet Union 210 mm artillery Artillery of Czechoslovakia Siege artillery Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1941 Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations {{artillery-stub

See also

References