15 cm sFH 02

15 cm sFH 02

A German 15 cm sFH 02 howitzer from 1917
Type Heavy field howitzer
Place of origin German Empire
Service history
In service 1903–1918
Used by German Empire
Wars World War I
Production history
Designer Krupp
Designed 1902
Manufacturer Krupp
Specifications
Weight 2,035 kg (4,486 lb)
Barrel length 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Height 1.23 m (4 ft)

Shell 40.5 kg (89 lb)
Caliber 149.1 mm (5.87 in)
Recoil hydro-spring
Elevation 0° to +45°
Traverse
Muzzle velocity 325 m/s (1,070 ft/s)
Maximum firing range 7,450 m (8,150 yd)

The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 1902 was a German heavy field howitzer cannon introduced in 1903 and served in World War I.

Design and history

It was the first artillery piece to use a modern recoil system in the German Army. Some 416 were in service at the beginning of the WW1.[1] Its mobility, which allowed it to be deployed as medium artillery, and fairly heavy shell gave the German army a firepower advantage in the early battles in Belgium and France in 1914[2] as the French and British armies lacked an equivalent. France had a Canon de 65 M with a recoil system, but used it only as a mountain howitzer.[3]

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Notes

  1. Jäger, p. 29
  2. Farndale 1986, page 59
  3. lovettartillery.com, Development of German Heavy Artillery, by CW2 Ralph Lovett

References

External links

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