30,5cm Küstenmörser Beta 97/09 & Schwere Kartaune Beta-M-Gerät
Cartridge Casing
30,5cm cartridge casing for the Krupp Küstenmörser 97/09 Gerät (Coastal Mortar Model 1897/1909) & the 1918 Schwere Kartaune Beta-M-Gerät . To illustrate the size, the casing is photographed with an original Model 1894 2. Garde-Fußartillerie -Regt. (Foot Artillery) Mannschaften issued Pickelhaube which would have been worn by the troops firing this weapon.

30,5cm Cartridge Casing Data:
  • Height - 457mm (17.99 inches)
  • Actual Calibre - 315mm (12.40 inches)
  • Base Diameter - 341mm (13.42 inches)
  • Weight - 17.60 kg (38.80 lbs.)
  • Manufacturer - Polte Magdeburg
  • Date - October 1914
A close-up of the head stamping on the base.
A close up of the manufacturer's stamp and date.

Marked: POLTE MAGDEBURG (cartridge factory) manufactured "OKT 1914" (October 1914).

The right side of the "T" on "OKT" does not show as it was a poor strike when stamped.
A close up of the primer which has been struck indicating that this casing was fired.

The primer is the small 16mm Mörser (howitzer) pattern marked: Schlgzdschr. 14 (Schlagzündschraube 14 = Impact ignition screw 14)
The 341mm (13.42") base of this 30,5cm cartridge casing shown with an original period model 1894 2. Garde-Fußartillerie -Regt. (Foot Artillery) Mannschaften issued Pickelhaube. The 30,5cm M97/ 09 Beta Gerät and the 1918 Schwere Kartaune Beta-M-Gerät were manned by gunners of the the 2. Garde-Fußartillerie-Regiment.
2. Garde-Fußartillerie -Regt.

The 2. Garde-Fußartillerie -Regt. was formed during the mobilization of 1914 from the Lehrregiment der Fussartillerie-Schiessschule (instructional regiment of the Foot Artillery Shooting School) but retained the shoulder strap of the Fussartillerie-Schiessschule (show on the left as worn on the Dunkelblau Waffenrock).

In the center, the M10/Vereinfacht strap for 2. Garde-Fußartillerie -Regt. and on the right, the M15 strap when the exploding grenade was replaced by crossed flaming projectiles.
 
30,5cm Krupp Schwere Küstenmörser (Heavy Coastal Mortar)
Under the ruse of being Küstenmörser (Heavy Coastal Mortar), Krupp under the direction of the German General Staff developed a heavy 30,5cm siege mortar to be used against permanent fortifications in Belgium and France. Whereas previous munitions for coastal mortars had been developed by the Kaiserliche-Marine (Imperial German Navy), the munitions for the 30,5cm Küstenmörser were developed by the Army Artillerieprüfungskommission (Artillery test Commission). This explains why cartridge casings for a weapon designated as a Küstenmörser (Heavy Coastal Mortar), do not have the crown M stamping for the Kaiserliche-Marine. The first to be developed was the M97 Beta Gerät Küstenmörser built between 1899 and 1906 of which nine were built. Six M97 Küstenmörser were fielded in the spring of 1899, followed by another three in 1904. However only two of the following model, the 30,5cm Beta 09 Gerät (shown above) were built before the German General Staff ordered a larger calibre howitzer - the 42cm Gamma Gerät Howitzer. This exact 30,5cm cartridge casing can clearly be seen sitting on the deck of the 30,5cm Beta 09 Gerät above.

Of interest, Krupp, who religiously utilized a sliding-wedge breech block, utilized for the first time on the Beta 09 Gerät an interrupted screw breech (clearly seen in the above photo) which was common for large calibre weapons used by most world powers. Although an interrupted screw breech does not require a cartridge casing and functions perfectly well with bagged charges, Krupp continued to use a brass cartridge casing as it reduced corrosion on the breech interior.

30,5cm Krupp Beta 09 Gerät Data:

  • Weight - 43.15 metric tons (95,130 lbs)
  • Range - 10.88 km (6.76 miles)
  • Manufacturer - Krupp
  • Barrel Length - 4.95 meters (16 ft 4 inches)
  • Projectile - 390 kg (861 lbs) Armour Piercing High Explosive
Deployment

There were five Schw. Küst. Bt. (Schwere Küstenmörser Batterie = Heavy Coastal Mortar Battery ) known to have been deployed in 1914: Schw. Küst. Bt. 1 to 4 employed the nine M97 Beta Gerät and the two Beta 09 Gerät were assigned to Schw. Küst. Bt. 5 commanded by Hauptmann Scharf and attached to the Second Army.
  • Schw. Küst. Bt. 1: 2. Armee - Hauptmann Neumann
  • Schw. Küst. Bt. 2: 6. Armee - Hauptmann v. Theobald
  • Schw. Küst. Bt. 3: OHL - Hauptmann Grzybowski
  • Schw. Küst. Bt. 4: OHL - Hauptmann Prin
  • Schw. Küst. Bt. 5: 2. Armee - Hauptmann Scharf


 
 
30,5cm Krupp Schwere Kartaune Beta-M-Gerät
In 1918 the short range of the 42cm L/12 M-Gerät Dicke Bertha (Big Bertha) was found to be inadequate, so a L/30 30.5cm barrel was fitted to a number of 42cm M-Gerät (Dicke Berta) cradles and carriages. It was called the 30,5cm Schwere Kartaune Beta-M-Gerät.

A Schwere Kartaune is a heavy howitzer with the barrel length of a cannon. Beta referred to the calibre of 30.5cm from the Krupp Beta 09 Gerät, while M-Gerät was part of the official designation for the Dicke Berta. To stabilize the extremely long barrel, large equilibrators were mounted on either side on the front of the carriage.

This photograph clearly shows the late-war Buntfarbentarnung (multiple colour) camouflage which consisted of white, brown, and possibly green hand applied brush strokes.
 
Like its predecessor the 42cm M-Gerät Dicke Bertha, the immense weight of the 30,5cm Schwere Kartaune Beta-M-Gerät required that it be moved broken down into components and hauled by tractors to the staging area where it would be assembled. In this photograph the incredibly long barrel and breech assembly is being fitted into the cradle which has already been secured to the carriage.