Landships II

If you scroll down about ten rows on this link you will see images on the 13cm K, its gun limber, and its barrel wagon:

http://www.lovettartillery.com/German_Foot_Artillery_ID_Drawings.html

You can click onto each image for more detail.

R/

Ralph Lovett

 

Care - there were/are other pieces at Glencorse, though as I have not been in since the latest rebuild (and not for some years) I am not sure what remains there now. You should ask when you go there.

From memory the Archangel gun was in fact another gun, a Russian piece from the intervention period - memory seems to suggest a M1902 three-inch divisional gun. And I think the third was a Boer War piece. However, a friend of mine lives near there and will doubtless remember the details. I will ask him.

The barracks used to have a museum in the clock tower with such things as a Mauser Gewehr 1918 antitank rifle (the single shot brontosaurus gun, I forget the precise designation) and a tank or trench periscope, but it went long ago - decades probably. No idea where the contents went, apart from the usual suspects such as regimental museums or the National War Museum in the Castle in Edinburgh. Midlothian has no museum service at all.

The 13cm is a fairly rare gun - there are only a few survivors around the world - often in obscure places:

Wellington, New Zealand

Entebbe, Uganda

2 x St Peters Port, Guernsey

Easton, PA (Rohrwagen only)

Regards,

Charlie

 

Well, I got to see it eventually.  What a beast! In generally good condition apart from the wheels (expected) and the trail end of carriage(also expected).Interesting metallic silver paint job though. Some definite battle damage on right side of recoil box and rear view shows a misalignment of trail and cradle/barrel assembly. Marked Krupp Nr 41 1915.

Would anyone have pics of 13cm kanone showing damage similar to this that might help add to the story of this gun?

Please note that the barracks is fully operational so don't expect to turn up and get access! I am still trying to get to see the 76.2mm Putilov that is the 'Archangel gun' but it is at another site.

I visited Dreghorn Barracks nr Edinburgh today to see the Archangel Gun. Pics below. Compare with 1919 pics at http://www.staffshomeguard.co.uk/L6-1RedfordBarracks.htm The gun is in good condition. Missing its breech mechanism and (I think) the contents of the recuperator. Damage in 1919 pic matches damage on barrel/recuperator.  Shield is held with obviously new bolts and it is difficult to tell how much of it is original. It has been 'refurbished' at least twice by the army in 2000 and 2011.

Can anyone tell me why the number '103' and date '1916' along the top of the barrel differs from the number '1346' and the date '1907' across the top of the barrel under the shield? A wartime refurbishment? Part of the axle assembly is marked '1915'.

Interesting discrepancy between the date of capture on the 1919 plackard in the website above - 14 Sept 1918 and the plaque on the gun shield - 15 Sept 1918. An account of the campaign shows single 3" guns captured on both the 14th and the 15th! The one captured on the 14th is described as 'damaged'.

Is this the only Putilov in the UK? EDIT: [To answer my own question - no. The IWM seems to have one (and a limber) Ref ORD 130 - no provenance given in the online catalogue]

It is likely that the gun will move when 1 Scots move barracks in the future. Meanwhile I need to stress that it is situated in a working barracks so don't expect to wander in for a look see!

-- Edited by mtaylor on Monday 10th of March 2014 06:23:45 PM

Tightrope between hi-res and being able to upload in a reasonable time. Attached is image of part of top of tube inscription. One further back will follow.

earlier part of top of barrel inscription (one to follow)

Thank you very much! The barrel inscription means "Tube inserted on Bryansk Arsenal in 1916".

mtaylor wrote:

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Thank you very much for that information - I would never have translated it! Can you read the inscription that is written across the barrel under the shield that has the date '1907'?

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 Of course, piece of cake! It means that the jacket was made for a gun No. 1346 on the St. Petersburg Ordnance Plant. This industrial facility has already been mentioned on this forum. Here's an extract from a private message which I sent to JamesH 13 months ago:

Artillery workshops of the Arsenal plant were named "Peterburgskiy orudiynyy zavod" in 1882, but they remained section of it until 1905 when they were formally isolated. This "plant" was quite small compared to Obukhov and Putilov plants.Petrograd Ordnance Plant only machined ordnances (literally "gun bodies", a term for barrel and breechblock), getting forgings from other plants, and it couldn't produce carriages. It specialized in 57-mm Nordenfelt guns (probably M1892), 3-inch QF field gun (M1902), 3-inch QF mountain gun (probably M1909), 4.2-inch QF gun (M1910) and 4.8-inch howitzer models 1909 and 1910.In 1918 this factory was evaquated to Mytishchi town near Moscow and becames a part of Moscow Ordnance Plant, later Factory No. 8.

-- Edited by ain92 on Wednesday 12th of March 2014 11:31:10 AM

mtaylor wrote:

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Ilya- many thanks once more for the very helpful information.

Mike

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You're welcome. =)

For one's reference: according to David Kozlovskiy, 3-inch gun M1902 of pre-WWI productions aerved approximately 3,000 shots, the each one lasting 6 ms gives ~20 seconds of net barrel life.