Gustav Cannon: A Nazi Super Cannon on Rails

Nazi Germany placed much of its confidence in the concept of Wunderwaffe or 'wonder weapons'. The idea of a revolutionary technological development that could turn the war around 180 degrees lasted until the end, but the German army did not hesitate to apply the purest brute force when it deemed necessary. A striking example was the so-called 'Gustav Cannon', a monster on rails that fired seven-ton projectiles 38 kilometers away...

A Cannon to Break the Line

History tells us that in 1934, the German Army High Command (read "Oberkommando des Heeres" a year later) requested Krupp (now ThyssenKrupp) to design a weapon powerful enough to pierce the fortified positions of the Maginot Line. In other words, they wanted a beast that could penetrate seven meters of reinforced concrete or one meter of steel armor, while staying out of range of French artillery.

Krupp engineer Erich Müller quickly made the calculations: he needed a cannon 30 meters long and with a caliber of 80 centimeters, capable of firing seven-ton projectiles. A true steel titan weighing over 1,000 tons, which could only be moved using rails.

The Gustav Cannon

Its approval was delayed until early 1937, and Krupp managed to present a prototype in 1939, which met the original requirements without a hitch. In mid-1940, Krupp finished the development of the carriage, and in early 1941 the weapon received formal acceptance, with Adolf Hitler present. Two cannons were built: the first was known as the Gustav Cannon or Schwerer Gustav, in honor of the director Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. The second was called Dora, the same name as the engineer's wife.

In February 1942, the Gustav Cannon began its long journey to Crimea. The train carrying it was a kilometer and a half long and consisted of 25 cars. The German army had to build special tracks as Gustav advanced, delaying its movement for several weeks. The cannon's first test of fire was the Siege of Sevastopol.

Its construction began in early May. The work involved in preparing the cannon was chilling: two anti-aircraft artillery battalions to protect it, 4,000 men and five weeks just to put it in firing position, and between 250 and 500 men to fire it. One of Gustav's most impressive achievements in combat was the destruction of an ammunition depot hidden 30 meters underwater, with a protection of 10 meters of concrete.

By the end of the siege, Gustav had fired 48 projectiles, exhausting the durability of its barrel (it had already fired about 250 during tests). From there it was moved to Leningrad, but the attack was canceled, and it spent the entire winter of 1942/43 30 kilometers from the city.

The Fate of Gustav and Dora

In the case of Dora, the cannon was placed 15 kilometers west of Stalingrad in August 1942. It was ready to fire in September, but the situation in that city deteriorated rapidly for the Nazi army. Dora was withdrawn before Soviet forces could surround the Germans. Available information suggests that it never fired a projectile in combat.

Data on both cannons becomes very scarce until the end of the war. On April 14, 1945, Gustav was destroyed to prevent its capture. The remains were found eight days later in a forest 15 kilometers from Auerbach. In contrast, Dora was moved to Grafenwöhr, and destroyed there on April 19. Gustav's metal went to Soviet hands, while Dora remained under control of American troops, and part of the 52-centimeter version was located at the Krupp plant in Essen.