The Mortaio da 210/8 was a

siege howitzer A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterize ...

which served with Italy during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

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 ...

History

The Mortaio da 210/8 was a multi-purpose weapon that could be used in a number of roles such as fortress,

coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

and

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

artillery. Despite the name ''Mortaio,'' the weapon was not a mortar, but rather a short-barreled howitzer (a Mörser in German terms). The 210/8 was fairly conventional for its time and most nations had similar weapons such as the

Mortier de 220 mm modèle 1880 History The Mortier de 220 mm L mle 1880 was one of a series of heavy artillery pieces designed by Charles Ragon de Bange, Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange. On 11 May 1874 three de Bange heavy cannons (120 mm, De Bange 155 mm cannon, 155 ...

8-inch mortar M1877 The 8-inch mortar M1877 was a Russian coastal, fortress and siege mortar that was used in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. History The M1877 was first designed and produced by the Obukhov State Plant in Saint Petersburg and was fairly ...

and 21 cm Mörser 99.

World War I

The majority of military planners before the First World War were wedded to the concept of fighting an offensive war of rapid maneuver which in a time before mechanization meant a focus on cavalry and light horse artillery firing

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

shells. Although the majority of combatants had heavy field artillery prior to the outbreak of the First World War, none had adequate numbers of heavy guns in service, nor had they foreseen the growing importance of heavy artillery once the Italian Front stagnated and

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became ar ...

set in. Since aircraft of the period were not yet capable of carrying large diameter bombs the burden of delivering heavy firepower fell on the artillery. The combatants scrambled to find anything that could fire a heavy shell and that meant emptying the fortresses and scouring the depots for guns held in reserve. It also meant converting coastal artillery and

naval guns A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

to siege guns by either giving them simple field carriages or mounting the larger pieces on rail carriages. It was in these conditions that the 210/8 was deployed to give the army high-angle heavy firepower they needed to deal with Austro-Hungarian troops who occupied fortified positions in the mountains. The photos in the commons link show a number of 210/8's were captured by Austrian and German forces following the

Battle of Caporetto The Battle of Caporetto (also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, the Battle of Kobarid or the Battle of Karfreit) was a battle on the Italian front of World War I. The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Central ...

but what use they made of them is unknown.

World War II

Some 210/8's were still in service during World War II mainly in the coastal defense role, but played little part in the war, never leaving Italy.

Design

The 210/8 was a short barreled breech-loading howitzer. The barrel was a typical

built-up gun A built-up gun is artillery with a specially reinforced barrel. An inner tube of metal stretches within its elastic limit under the pressure of confined powder gases to transmit stress to outer cylinders that are under tension.Fairfield (1921) p. ...

of the period with reinforcing hoops which was built from steel. The mortar had an interrupted screw breech and it fired separate-loading, bagged charges and projectiles. The 210/8 could be mounted on one of three different garrison mounts.

PIAT

The PIAT mount consisted of a U-shaped cradle which held the trunnioned barrel and a slightly inclined rectangular metal firing platform with a hydro-gravity recoil system. When the howitzer fired two hydraulic buffers at the sides of the platform slowed the recoil of the cradle which slid up a set of inclined rails and then returned the howitzer to position by the combined action of the buffers and gravity. The firing platform could traverse 30°. For transport, the howitzers on PIAT mounts could be broken down into two wagon loads, one for the howitzer/cradle and another for the wooden base. Each was towed by an

artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked. Traction There are two ...

and then reassembled for use once a spot had been leveled and the base had been assembled.

De Angelis

The De Angelis (D.A.) mount consisted of a U-shaped cradle which held the trunnioned barrel and a slightly inclined rectangular metal firing platform with a hydro-gravity recoil system. When the howitzer fired two hydraulic buffers at the sides of the platform slowed the recoil of the cradle which slid up a set of inclined rails and then returned the howitzer to position by the combined action of the buffers and gravity. The firing platform had two small wheels at the front and two larger wheels at the rear which rotated on a crescent-shaped steel rail that was fixed to a wooden base and gave 90° of traverse. For transport, the howitzers on De Angelis mounts could be broken down into two wagon loads, one for the howitzer/cradle and another for the metal firing platform. Each was towed by an artillery tractor and then reassembled for use once a spot had been leveled and the wooden firing base had been assembled.

De Stefano

The De Stefano (D.S.) carriage consisted of a U-shaped cradle which held the trunnioned barrel. The cradle then sat on top of a 4-wheeled box-trail carriage with two non-steerable wheels at the front and two castering wheels at the rear. The De Stefano carriage had a type of double-recoil system. When the howitzer fired the recoil was partially absorbed by two hydraulic recoil buffers at the front of the cradle with the remaining recoil transmitted to the wheels of the carriage which rolled up a set of inclined steel rails and then back into firing position by gravity. For travel, the howitzers on De Stefano mounts could be broken down into two loads. A tow bar could was attached to the castoring wheels on the rear of the carriage and towed in one piece by an artillery tractor. The wheels could be fitted with detachable grousers designed by the Italian major Crispino Bonagente for traction on soft ground and these consisted of eight rectangular plates connected with elastic links and are visible in many photographs of World War I artillery from all of the combatants. The second wagon load was for the wooden base and the steel rails for the firing platform. This was also towed by an artillery tractor and then reassembled once a spot had been leveled and the wooden firing base had been assembled. The wooden base and rails allowed 360° of traverse. This same basic De Stefano carriage was scaled to mount a variety of large caliber fortress, coastal and naval artillery pieces as large as .

Photo Gallery

File:WWI - Italian 210 A mortar position in the Val Dogna (cropped).jpg, 210/8 D.A. mortars in the Val Dogna during World War I. File:Lot-6941-10 (28768798386).jpg, The details of the D.A mount. File:20.2 cm Mörser.S.Marco-Höhe.Mitte April 1918. (BildID 15664677).jpg, A 210/8 D.S. in traveling position with Bonagente groussers that was captured after the Battle of Caporetto. File:Mortaio 210-8 D.S..jpg, The details of the D.S mount. File:Obice_30517_traino.jpg, An Obice da 305/17 on a De Stefano carriage. Notice the similarity in concept.

References

External links

Mortaio da 210/8 DS on Landships II

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortaio da 210 8 D.S. World War I howitzers World War I artillery of Italy World War II artillery of Italy 210 mm artillery Siege artillery Gio. Ansaldo & C. artillery