Hitler created the largest gun ever, and it was a total disaster

Eager to invade France, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler demanded a new weapon that could easily pierce theconcrete fortifications of the French Maginot Line ' the only major physical barrier standing between him and the rest of western Europe.In 1941, German steelmaker and arms manufacturerKrupp A.G.built Hitler the "Gustav Gun,"the largest gun ever used in combat, according toMilitary Channel's "Top Secret Weapons" documentary.The four-story, 155-foot-long gun, which weighs 1,350 tons, shot 10,000-pound shells from its mammoth 98-foot bore.Here's what the gun looked like when fired:The massive weapon was presented to the Nazi's free of charge to show Krupp's contribution to the German war effort, according to historian C. Peter Chen.In the spring of 1942, the Germans debuted the mighty "Gustuv gun"at the Siegeof Sevastopol. The 31-inch gun barrel fired300 shells on Sevastopol.However, as the Nazi's would soon find out, the ostentatiousgun had some serious disadvantages:Its size made it an easy target for Allied bombers flying overheadIts weight meant that it could only be transported via a costly specialized railway (which the Nazi's had to build in advance)It required a crew of2,000 to operateThe 5-part gun took fourdays to assemble in the field and hours to calibrate for a single shotIt could only fire 14 rounds a dayWithin a year, the Nazi's discontinued the "Gustav gun," and Chen notes that Allied forces eventually scrapped the massive weapon.SEE ALSO:Here's what US intelligence thought could happen to Hitler in 1943Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: This 26-year-old from Baltimore took a 35,000-mile road trip and ended up fighting in the Libyan revolution
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