21 cm Kanone 39: Difference between revisions

The story of the gun's development by the Germans is contradictory in the available sources. Hogg claims that the ''K 39/40'' had only slight changes made, but that the ''K 39/41'' added a [[muzzle brake]] to control recoil.<ref name=h>Hogg, p. 100</ref> Gander and Chamberlain say that the ''K 39/40'' and ''K 39/41'' both had muzzle brakes with better performance than the original ''K 39'' and that the ''K 39/41'' was introduced to simplify production.<ref name="g"/> Sixty were built for the Germans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sturmvogel.orbat.com/GermWeapProd.html |title=German Weapon and Ammunition Production 1 Sep 39-1 Apr 45 |accessdate=31 May 2009 |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302080523/http://sturmvogel.orbat.com/GermWeapProd.html |archivedate=2 March 2009 }}</ref>

During the war, nine of these guns were sold to Sweden, where they were used to equip three heavy mobile coastal batteries. The guns were part of the Swedish war organization until 1982, although training on them ceased in 1972.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beredskapsmuseet.com/21an.html |title=Beredskapsmuseet 21an |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301154846/http://www.beredskapsmuseet.com/21an.html |archivedate=1 March 2014 }}</ref>

The ''K 39'' and its variants served as mobile artillery only with ''Artillery Battalions (Artillerie-Abteilungen) 767'' and ''768'', each battalion being organized with 3 batteries, each with two guns. Both battalions were raised in April—May 1940, but it is unknown if either participated in the Battle of France.<ref name="u">{{cite web|url=http://sturmvogel.orbat.com/artillery.html#701 |title=Heeres Independent Artillery Units of WW II |accessdate=31 May 2009 |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321120330/http://sturmvogel.orbat.com/artillery.html |archivedate=21 March 2009 }}</ref> For [[Operation Barbarossa]] ''767'' was assigned to the [[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|Sixth Army]] of [[Army Group South]]<ref name=n1>Niehorster, Leo W. G. ''German World War II Organizational Series, Vol. 3/II: Mechanized GHQ units and Waffen-SS Formations (22 June 1941)'', 1992, p. 22</ref> where it participated in the sieges of [[Siege of Odessa (1941)|Odessa]] and [[Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942)|Sevastopol]]. ''768'' was initially assigned to [[4th Army (Wehrmacht)|4th Army]] of [[Army Group Center]],<ref name="n1"/> but it was quickly transferred to [[Army Group North]] to aid in the [[siege of Leningrad]].<ref name="u"/> By the start of [[Case Blue]] in late June 1942, ''Artillery Battalion 767'' had been converted to smaller guns, but ''768'' was assigned to the [[18th Army (Wehrmacht)|18th Army]] of [[Army Group North]].<ref>Niehorster, Leo W. G. ''German World War II Organizational Series, Vol. 4/II: Mechanized GHQ units and Waffen-SS Formations (28 June 1942)'', 2004, p. 24</ref>