Mortaio da 210/8 D.S.

Mortaio da 210/8 D.S.
Type	Siege howitzer
Place of origin	Kingdom of Italy
Service history
In service	1900-1945
Used by	Italy  Poland
Wars	World War I, Polish-Soviet War, World War II
Specifications
Weight	5,500 kg (12,100 lb)
Barrel length	2.048 metres (6 ft 9 in) L/9.7
Shell	101.5 kg (224 lb)
Caliber	210 mm (8.26 in)
Recoil	none
Carriage	box trail
Elevation	-15° to +70°
Traverse	360°
Rate of fire	1 round per 7-8 minutes
Muzzle velocity	340 m/s (1,115 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	8,450 metres (9,240 yd)

210/8 D.S. mortars in the Val Dogna during World War 1

The Mortaio da 210/8 D.S. was a siege howitzer which served with Italy during World War I and World War II. It was an old-fashioned weapon when introduced around 1900. It was mounted on a timber firing platform and lacked a recoil system of any kind. It was mounted on a De Stefano carriage which attempted to handle the weapon's recoil by mounting the weapon on a series of inclined ramps. The barrel and cradle had their own inclined ramp as did the carriage. When the weapon fired the cradle would move up the inclined ramp while the carriage would also recoil up a set of inclined rails. Gravity and springs would return the howitzer to its firing position. Despite the name the weapon was not a mortar, but rather a short-barreled howitzer (a Mörser in German terms).

Some of these were still in service during World War II, but played little part in the war, never leaving Italy.

References

• Chamberlain, Peter & Gander, Terry. Heavy Artillery. New York: Arco, 1975 ISBN 0-668-03898-5

External links

• Mortaio da 210/8 DS on Landships