Militär Aktuell recently traveled to the north of Norway to research three exciting military history topics. Our series begins with a report on the largest surviving guns in the world – the legendary “Adolf guns” from the Second World War. Second World War.
On the Trondenes peninsula, just three kilometers north of Harstad on the island of Hinnøy – the largest of the Lofoten islands – there is an impressive relic from the Second World War: a super-heavy coastal battery built by the German occupying forces in 1942/43.
The monumental building houses four C34 fast-loading cannons with a caliber of 40.6 centimetres. These are considered to be the largest land-based cannons in the world that have survived to this day.
By comparison, the German railroad guns Dora (also known as “Schwerer Gustav”) with an incredible caliber of 80 centimetres and the main artillery of the Japanese battleships “Musashi” and “Yamato” with their nine 46-centimetre barrels surpassed these guns in their striking power. However, one of the Dora guns was blown up shortly before the end of the war in 1945 and the other was melted down in 1960; the two Japanese super battleships were sunk by US naval aircraft. The “Adolf cannons” on Hinnøy, on the other hand, have stood the test of time.
The massive 40.6-centimetre guns were originally intended for the German navy. They were to be installed on six planned “H-class” battleships, which were planned as part of the Nazi naval plan “Z” at the end of the 1930s. These battleships, with an impressive displacement of 56,000 tons each, were planned for the period up to 1948.
The keel of the first ship of the class was laid on July 15, 1939 at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg. However, just one month after the start of the Second World War, the ambitious program was discontinued in favour of submarine armament. By this time, however, eight of the powerful guns had already been manufactured at Krupp, and three more were built during the war.
Of the eleven guns produced, three were installed in the “Lindemann” battery near Calais. These guns fired around 5,500 shells at southern England until the installation was captured and destroyed by US troops in 1944. The remaining eight guns were relocated to northern Norway, where they were to secure the approach to the strategically important ore port of Narvik – a key region for the German armaments industry. However, one of the guns was lost during transportation by sea, meaning that only seven of the colossi arrived in Norway. Of these, four were installed on the Trondenes peninsula as part of the coastal battery known today.
The German leadership – above all Adolf Hitler – was almost obsessed with the idea that the Allies would undertake a large-scale landing in occupied Norway. This fear, although unfounded and never part of Allied plans, led to an enormous military and logistical effort in the region. Even remote places such as Harstad and numerous islands and fjords were converted into strategic hubs in the German defense plans.
-> Apple Podcasts
-> Spotify
-> Podigee
-> Deezer
-> Youtube version
The construction of the super-heavy coastal batteries, including the “Adolf guns”, was led by the Todt organization. Under the command of Eugen Ruff and with the expertise of German engineers and technicians from companies such as Krupp, Zeiss, AEG, MWM and Siemens, a monumental World War II relic was created here. Like so many Nazi construction projects, however, the construction work, some of which reached several stories deep underground, was carried out using large numbers of forced laborers and prisoners of war.
In Trondenes, around 3,200 Russian prisoners of war were housed in a camp located near the historic church. The working conditions were brutal and around 800 prisoners died during the construction work. After the war ended, the camp was burned down in 1946, but today a memorial with a red star commemorates the victims of this inhumane treatment.
In addition to the four powerful guns of the MAA 5th/511 battery on Trondenes, three more were installed in the “Dietl” battery (MAA 4th/516) on Engeløya at the southern end of the Vestfjord. These two locations were intended to secure strategically important access routes such as the entrance to the ore port of Narvik.
Preparations for the construction of the batteries began in the fall of 1941, but before the gigantic cannons could be transported from Germany to their destination, stone quays first had to be built. These made it possible to unload the guns, which were transported on confiscated railroad ferries. At the same time, extensive bunker facilities were built at the previously completely natural sites, which included ammunition depots, power stations, supply facilities and accommodation for the crews. Each gun emplacement was looked after by a 68-strong operating crew, 20 of whom worked in the turret alone.
The individual gun barrels, each weighing around 110 tons, were transported to their positions using 12-axle trailers and seven coupled 18-ton tractor units. They were then placed in the specially constructed concrete towers via ramps. The concrete foundations that were used for this purpose can still be seen today behind the “Barbara” tower on Trondenes.
Of the four cannons on Trondenes, the “Barbara” tower has been preserved to this day and is maintained by the Norwegian military as a functioning museum piece – theoretically it would even still be operational. Two of the other three towers can also be seen from there.
The huge guns that were installed both in Trondenes and on Engeløya are now known by the nickname “Adolfkanonen” – a name already used by the German occupiers.
The first test firings of the “Adolfkanonen” were carried out in May 1943 – just one year after the start of construction. These tests reached impressive distances of up to 56 kilometers. In order to ensure precise control of the guns, the entire area up to the Lofoten Islands was equipped with 4-meter rangefinders and a large number of reporting points. All measuring points and positions were precisely calibrated so that the battery was finally ready for military use.
In addition, it was possible to take direct bearings and measure distances from the control center, which was located on a hill about 150 meters above the “Barbara” gun turret. Once the extensive tests and installations had been completed, the battery was officially handed over to the Wehrmacht.
Interestingly, the history of the battery remained alive even after the end of the war: Eugen Ruff, who was in command of the “Theo” battery for two years after the construction phase, visited Trondenes again in 1990. During this visit, he handed over photos from his personal war service album, which provide valuable insights into the operation and construction process of the battery at the time.
Not a single shot in battle
Despite the gigantic effort and immense resources invested in the construction of the German coastal defense in Norway, it remained without actual combat deployment. An Allied landing in Norway – as feared by the German leadership – never took place.
The figures speak for themselves: a total of 280 coastal batteries, manned by 65,000 soldiers, comprised 1,100 guns with calibres from 10.5 centimetres – including heavier variants such as 15.5 centimetres, 21 centimetres, 38 centimetres and the monumental 40.6 centimetre guns. However, none of these guns sank a ship and their use was limited to regular practice firing.
The idea of a thousand-year “Fortress Norway”, as propagated by the Nazi leadership, proved to be illusory. On May 8, 1945, just three years after the installation of these colossal concrete and steel defensive structures, the era of megalomania was over – an abrupt end to Hitler’s supposedly impregnable bastion.
While in the days after the end of the war, Nazi naval and chief field judges continued to pass court martial sentences – some of them against soldiers of Austrian origin – and there were still summary executions for alleged desertion or murder of comrades, the liberated Norwegians began to document and evaluate the unloved legacy of the German occupation.
In Harstad, however, the German occupation had burned all the manuals, operating instructions and firing tables before the surrender. As all the inscriptions were in German, it was initially impossible for the Norwegians to operate the then “high-tech” system with its numerous electric motors and hydraulic system for aiming and loading. Some of the interned German crew were then deployed by the British and Norwegians to instruct their soldiers in the operation of the guns. With the beginning of the “Cold War”, the Norwegians finally decided to continue using some of the installations for coastal protection. This was made easier by the fact that the Germans had left behind large quantities of ammunition in three variants when they withdrew. The “Theo” battery also remained in operation. In contrast, the “Dietl” battery on Engeløya to the south was scrapped in 1956 and the material melted down.
“The scrapped steel was used to make all the nails and staples in our roof trusses in the 1950s and 60s,” says Mr. Herman, who today guides visitors through the battery. It took until 1951 for the Norwegians to carry out their first live firing with the system. According to Herman, they were impressed by the accuracy of the mechanical fire control system, even over long distances.
The guns had a maximum range of 56 kilometers, with the projectile reaching a height of 21 kilometers at its highest point (apogee) and taking around 130 seconds to cover this distance. During a test firing, it is said to have succeeded in hitting a fishing trawler anchored 32 kilometers away with the second shot – the first shot landed just 150 meters off target.
The high rate of fire was also remarkable: up to a barrel elevation of 20°, the battery could fire one shot per minute. Thanks to the charging system, reloading was possible in any position; the barrel only had to be lowered for charging.
The cannons at Fort Trondenes played an important role from 1949, when Norway became a founding member of NATO played an important role in the Norwegian defense. The last shot was fired in 1957, but it was not until 1961, in the age of missiles, that they were taken out of service. One reason for this was the heavy barrel wear – around 0.6 kilograms of material was lost per shot. In order to reduce wear, they were often fired with a smaller insert barrel.”
Condition today and possibility to visit
The “Adolf Cannons” museum is located on the Norwegian military grounds in the Harstad barracks of the Kystjegerkommandoen. Access is not free, visitors must register at the Harstad tourist office and make an appointment. At the parking lot, about three kilometers from the town, you meet your guide, who takes care of registration, registers the guests at the guardhouse and leads them to the “Barbara” tower, about one kilometer away. First, the multi-storey supply facilities under the tower are shown, including generators, ammunition elevators, diesel tanks, accommodation and control and measuring equipment. The tour then moves to the surface and around the gun.
Impressive technical data:
- Caliber: 40.6 centimeters
- Range: 42,800 meters with explosive grenades and 56,000 meters with so-called “Adolf grenades”
- Explosive grenade: 1,020-1,030 kilograms, 87 kilograms of TNT
- Recoil force: 580 tons at 0° elevation and 635 tons at 20° elevation.
- Weight of the pipe: 158,664 kilograms
- Weight of the locking block: 3,650 kilograms
- Pipe length: 21.5 meters
- Recoil length: 105 centimeters
- Firing rate: 1 shell per minute at 20° elevation
- Altitude: 21,800 meters (with “Adolf grenade”)
- Flight duration: 2 minutes and 10 seconds (with “Adolf grenade”)
