K5(E) Leopold

Historical information

The Krupp 28-cm-Kanone 5 (E), in short K5 with the (E) signifying Eisenbahnlafette (railway car gun-mount), was a heavy railway gun used by Germany throughout World War II.

Krupp's K5 series were consistent in mounting a 21.5 metres (71 ft) long gun barrel in a fixed mounting with only vertical elevation of the weapon. This gondola was then mounted on a pair of 12-wheel bogies designed to be operated on commercial and military rails built to German standards.

This mounting permitted only two degrees of horizontal traverse. The carriage had to be aligned on the rails first, with only minimal fine leveling capable once halted. Hence the gun could only fire at targets tangential to an existing railway track.

The main barrel of the K5 is 283 mm (11.1 in) in calibre, and is rifled with twelve 7 mm (0.28 in) grooves. These were originally 10 mm (0.39 in) deep, but were shallowed to rectify cracking problems.

A K5(E) is preserved at the United States Army Ordnance Museum in Fort Lee (Petersburg, Virginia). It is composed of parts from two guns that shelled Anzio beachhead during World War II. They were named Robert and Leopold by the Germans, but are better known by their Allied nicknames — Anzio Annie and Anzio Express.