One experimental battery tested 1917/18 in France. Results positive, gun was hitting farther, harder and more precisely than FK 16. Plans to introduce 50 batteries not executed because of deteriorating supply situation in 1918. All four guns lost because of shell failures in 1918.
Explosive load of shell: 1.095 kg. Range: 8,700 m/9,900 m (shrapnel)/11,200 m (chemical).
The data above refers to the L/30 model. The L/31 model was ready for testing at the end of the war but wasn't and had to be destroyed on order of the Entente powers. One battery of four guns and two reserve guns had been constructed. Range: 10,000 m/ 9,500 m shrapnel/ 11,000 m chemical shell
-- Edited by mad zeppelin on Sunday 7th of January 2018 04:49:41 PM
One experimental battery tested 1917/18 in France. Results positive, gun was hitting farther, harder and more precisely than FK 16. Plans to introduce 50 batteries not executed because of deteriorating supply situation in 1918. All four guns lost because of shell failures in 1918.
Explosive load of shell: 1.095 kg. Range: 8,700 m/9,900 m (shrapnel)/11,200 m (chemical).
The data above refers to the L/30 model. The L/31 model was ready for testing at the end of the war but wasn't and had to be destroyed on order of the Entente powers. One battery of four guns and two reserve guns had been constructed. Range: 10,000 m/ 9,500 m shrapnel/ 11,000 m chemical shell
-- Edited by mad zeppelin on Sunday 7th of January 2018 04:49:41 PM
Very interesting, thanks for that info. Trust this is from Muther as well?
Hiding weapons from the Entente inspectors became a national German sport after 1921 so I suspect not all specimens of these weapons were destroyed. In fact the weapon was marketed by Solothurn (bought by Rheinametall to continue working on some designs in a neutral country) in the 1920s and it reappeared in China, where it was probably built in a small series, just like the 10,5cm mountain howitzer designed by Rheinmetall.
The gun reminded me of the WW2 British 25 Pounder which also combined the attributes of a small howitzer and
field gun.
Regards,
Charlie
I have always suspected a connection with the 25 pdr. As I wrote in another post, Rheinmetall offered the design of the 9cm gunhowitzer commercially through Solothurn in the 1920s and it may have reached and "inspired" the Brits. After all, there was a history of buying Ehrhardt/Rheinmetall designs, like the case of the 15pdr proves.
Yes, information drawn from Muther Vol. I. It may be of interest that he calls the L/30 'Rheinmetall 9 cm MI' and the L/31 'Rheinmetall 9cm MII', indicating a development of the type, although the processes that led to such a development are completely left out of the narrative.
German gun designations did not always interpret to bore calibrations. A clear example is the 9cm c73. The bore was 8,7cm and designated as such by the Russians when they acquired the piece. A variation of the weapon used by the German navy was termed 8,8 cm. Similarly, the Skoda 8 cm M05 field gun as used by KuK forces was actually 7,6 cm.
