21 cm Mörser 10 | |
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![]() 21 cm Mörser 10 near Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, Australia. | |
Type | Howitzer |
Place of origin | German Empire |
Service history | |
Used by | German Empire |
Wars | World War I |
Production history | |
Designer | Krupp |
Specifications | |
Mass | 15,496 lb (7,029 kg) |
Barrel length | 2.57 m (8 ft 5 in) L/12 |
| |
Shell | 252 pounds (114 kg) |
Caliber | 211 mm (8.3 in) |
Breech | horizontal sliding wedge |
Recoil | hydro-pneumatic |
Carriage | box trail |
Elevation | -6° to +70° |
Traverse | 4° |
Muzzle velocity | 335 m/s (1,101 ft/s) |
Maximum firing range | 9,400 m (10,300 yd) |
The 21 cm Mörser 10 (21 cm Mrs 10) was a heavy howitzer used by Germany in World War I. It replaced the obsolete 21 cm Mörser 99, which lacked a recoil system. For transport, it broke down into two loads. Some howitzers were fitted with a gun shield during the war. As it was also intended for siege use, a concrete-penetrating shell was also used. Unusually, it had two spades: a folding one halfway down the trail and a fixed one at the end of the trail.

21cm Versuchsmörser 06
Before the 21 cm Mörser 10 was commissioned for mass production, a small test series of 21 cm Versuchsmörser 06 ("test mortar") was given to the German army. Eight pieces equipped two batteries, but their range of only 7 km was found insufficient, so the range was increased for the production version. Serial number 3 of these rare pieces is now exposed at Red Cliffs, Victoria.[1]

21 cm Mörser 10, July 1915
216 were in service at the beginning of the war.[2] It was replaced by the 21 cm Mörser 16, which was also known as the langer 21 cm Mörser since it was merely a lighter 21 cm Mrs 10 with a longer barrel for extra range and other refinements.
The specifications provided for this weapon by difference sources are contradictory and, thus, those given here cannot be regarded as authoritative.
See also[]
- BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk I – V British equivalent firing slightly lighter shell
References[]
- Hogg, Ian. Twentieth-Century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000 ISBN 0-7607-1994-2
- Jäger, Herbert. German Artillery of World War One. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001 ISBN 1-86126-403-8
Notes[]
Further reading[]
- (French) Guy François, "Le Mörser de calibre 21 cm", Tank Zone, issue 11/2010, June–July, pp. 46–53, Hachette Histoire et Collections
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 21 cm Mörser 10. |
- Video clips on YouTube
- 21 cm Mörser 10/16 on Landships
- List and pictures of WW1 surviving 21cm morsers 10
- Obús Krupp 210 mm 10/16 La Gran Guerra 1914-1918
- The Spandau Citadel Museum has an exemplar in travel position
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The original article can be found at 21 cm Mörser 10 and the edit history here.