Landships II

PS

1. I've found another photo taken at the same time, with the same Tommies posing.

2. If you look closely in the background, you can see that among all the FK16's and sFH13's
there is also a British QF 4.5inch Howitzer!

There is no need for a Kingdom: it probably IS a 8.8cm FLAK, the grandfather of the famous "88". I'll see what I have for material on that one, and maybe I could post an article... I know I have at least 2 pics of it!

/PK

Hello again. This time I would like to dispel some of the confusion about the weapons seen in this excellent photo (one which I have been looking for for my photo collection of artillery, and if anyone could send me a copy of it with proper attribution I would be much appreciative). Someone seems to have said somewhere in the postings (and in this I could be in error, ie: the right answer to the wrong question) that the third weapon to the right was a 15cm sFH-13 lang, when, if you look very closely the weapon is in fact a Krupp 15cm sK-16 (schwere Kanone M-1916) as stated previously by several others. The SK-16 was the most modern long range, heavy counter battery field piece in the German Imperial Army's inventory from 1917 until the introduction of the new Rheinmetall 15cm K-18 in the summer of 1939, just in time for four to six of them to be used in the invasion of Poland (where, by the way the sK-16 also served; it was also used in small quantities post WW1 by Belgium). It was the direct replacement for the two weapons that appear in the foreground. There seems to be some widespread confusion (but not necessarily on this site) about Germany's extemporised 15cm guns. The closest one in the photo is the, by far, less common 15cm slK i.RL L/45 (or schnell-lade Kanone im Rad Lafette, caliber 45, or a barrel 6750 mm long). Note that the barrel on this gun, and incidentally the one of the weapon at the museum in Varna, have multiple steps at the chase (the part of the ordnance just ahead of the breech ring) and that the the barrels are slightly longer than that of the piece directly behind the first in this photo. This second gun has only one long step in the barrel if you examine it closely. If you will also look closely at the rear of the barrel of the first gun you will notice that the recoil recuperator cylinders are not visible due to their being obscured by the shield, this was because on the L/45 version they were farther forward along the barrel just behind the shield. The rear part of the L/45 barrel was somewhat longer than that of its closely related shorter cousin, the 15cm slK i.RL L/40 of which I will speak presently. This last piece is the far more commonly seen 15cm slK i.RL L/40 (barrel was 6000mm long), for which its longer cousin is often confused due probably to the 15cm slK i.RL L/45s relative rarity and the paucity of photos of the longer gun. The photo of the weapon in Varna shows probably the only extant example of these cobbled together counter battery weapons that used redundant 15cm L/30, L/40 and L/45 naval guns mounted on erzatz carriages. They were all the Germans had in the way of long range 15cm guns until the appearance on the Western Front of the purpose built sK-16 around the time of the Arras Offensive in April 1917. Finally, I believe it goes without saying that these weapons should not be confused with the various 15cm howitzers also used by the Germans. By the way, I have looked in vain for the aforementioned British 4.5 inch howitzer. There are several 10.5cm leFH-98/09 field howitzers, however, which could be "cornfused" with the 4.5 inch howitzer at a distance. There are also several examples of the following equipments: a 21cm lang Mörser 16 (in immediate foreground), a 15cm sFH-13 L/17 (lange schwere Feld Haubitze) right behind the 15cm slK i.RL L/45, several 15cm sFH-02s, at least one Rheinmetall 10.5cm leFH-16, at least one 15cm sFH-13 L/14, another 15cm sFH-13 L/17, a couple of 10cm K-14s, another 21cm lang Mörser 16 (in the far left background), numerous 7.7cm FK-16s and even a captured French 75mm Mle. 1897 field gun converted to an anti-aircraft gun. The anti-aircraft gun at elevation in the background that someone said was possibly an 8.8cm was apparently one of the earlier Krupp 8cm K. FlaK L/45 M-1916 due to the known existence of such a captured gun being in this gun park (there are several close ups of this gun being examined by several Commonwealth soldiers [Australians?] with several of the above mentioned field pieces in the background). The 8cm K. FlaK L/45 M-1916 had a more slender barrel than that of its replacement, the Krupp 8.8cm K. FlaK L/45 M-1917, which looked stubbier and thicker. Only 78 8cm K. FlaK L/45 M-1916 were ever built. Thank you, SASH155        

The SK L/40 survives today at a number of locations.  ( in German normanclature a lower-case "s" means heavy, while an upper-case "S" usually means "ship", thus "sK" would be heavy cannon, while "SK" would mean ship's cannon.)  These weapons were secondary armament of German capital ships.   They were pressed into service to provide expedient "reach" for interdiction fire.  This naval weapon came in two basic forms; the earlier version carried the hydraulic buffer(recouperator) cylinders on either side of the receiver; while later models have them located atop.  There are minor variations of the splinter-sheild and it's bracing. The navy's last 15cm version, the L/45 is the rarer of the bunch.

Two examples of the 15cm SK L/40 are displayed in Ontario, Canada.  I have pics, and will forward them to Peter if anyone is interested in seeing the other end of the guns.

* Photos have been Emailed to Peter.