Want to know about the big guns of Austria during WW1? Find out about the sophisticated Austrian artillery from WW1 as we uncover the most important weapons used by Austria during the war.
The world scenario right after the first decade of the 1900’s was that many regions were on the brink of war. Austria was one of those countries that were in a very sensitive position at that time. The Austrians had to invest a lot of time and money into the production of military artillery in order to adequately equip it in the case of a war. Since the threat of war was getting all the more intense the need to develop arms and equip the army was of urgency. Wars soon broke out between the major nations of the world at that time and this also led to an arms race between the participating nations.
Austria was one of the foremost nations in the war and it played a very significant role in the outcome of the First World War. Amongst the many different kinds of military artillery used during WW1 the M11 was by far the biggest achievement made during the warring years.
So what exactly is the M11? It is the most sophisticated weapon that the Austrians possessed during those years. In the initial years it was used as a secret weapon which escaped the watchful eye of the Italians and also managed to bring down the Belgian forts to rubble.
The M11 specifics
As the name suggests the M11 had a remarkably long range of over 11km. Even over the long distance the M11 was known to possess amazing precision. It would shoot out a 305 mm 384 kg shell that was deemed to hit the target. The M11 could be disassembled and reassembled as per demand as it consisted of three separate parts. It would take the army men 50 minutes to assemble the M11.
The M11 was so precious to the Austrians that they had actually developed special tractors which were used to carry these guns. The carrier tractors were known as Skoda Diamler and they were an equally important part of the military gear because without them there would be no means of transporting the M11.
The heavy Austrian mortar 305 cm/M11
This was yet another fundamental weapon for the Austrian military. Prior to the intensive arms race that took place during the war it was considered to be the most sophisticated weapon of its time. The mortar has seen action on all the fronts from the east to the west during WW1.
Mortar 30,5cm/M11
This amazing weapon was a mixture of the above mentioned guns which served during the years of war. The Austrians began working on this innovation in 1906 on the order of the Austro-Hungarian high command. The high command needed a weapon powerful enough to penetrate and destroy the new concrete fortresses that were being built in Belgium and Italy.
It wasn’t until 1911 that the weapon was perfected and secretly tested in Hungary. On realizing the amazing potentials of the weapon the Austrian army instantly incorporated its use in battles.
