No, this isn't a modern weapon as may have guessed from these images, but rather one from 1941, the year after France fell. It was at this time German steelmaker and arms manufacturer Friedrich Krupp A.G. company began construction on Hitler's Gustav Gun, which was four-stories tall, 155-feet-long, and weighed in at a massive 1,350 tons, while being able to shoot 10,000-pound shells from its mammoth 98-foot bore.
Gustav was later employed in the Soviet Union at the siege of Sevastopol during Operation Barbarossa, where among other things, it destroyed a munitions depot buried in the bedrock under a bay.
On 14 April 1945, one day before the arrival of US troops, the Gustav gun was destroyed to prevent its capture. On 22 April 1945, its ruins were discovered in a forest 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of Auerbach and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) southwest of Chemnitz. In summer 1945 Schwerer Gustav was studied by Soviet specialists and in autumn of the same year was transferred to Merseburg, where the Soviets were gathering German military material. Thereafter, the trail of the gun was lost.
Gustav was later employed in the Soviet Union at the siege of Sevastopol during Operation Barbarossa, where among other things, it destroyed a munitions depot buried in the bedrock under a bay.
On 14 April 1945, one day before the arrival of US troops, the Gustav gun was destroyed to prevent its capture. On 22 April 1945, its ruins were discovered in a forest 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of Auerbach and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) southwest of Chemnitz. In summer 1945 Schwerer Gustav was studied by Soviet specialists and in autumn of the same year was transferred to Merseburg, where the Soviets were gathering German military material. Thereafter, the trail of the gun was lost.
