12 cm field howitzer 1912/39 L14

12 cm field howitzer 1912/39 L14
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General Information
Military designation:	12 cm field howitzer 1912/39 L14
Manufacturer designation:	12 cm field howitzer 1912
Manufacturer country:	Germany
Developer / Manufacturer:	Friedrich Krupp AG Essen , 1939 modified the Federal Construction Workshop
Development year:	1912
Model variants:	3
Weapon Category:	howitzer
Team:	7th
Technical specifications
Pipe length:	1.675 m
Caliber :	12 cm
Caliber length :	L / 14
Twist :	progressive right twist
Cadence :	10 rounds / min
Elevation range:	−5 to +43 degrees
Side straightening area:	± 2 ° = 36 0/00
Furnishing
Closure Type :	Crank lock

The 12 cm field howitzer 12/39 L 14 (F Hb 12/39 L 14) was a field gun of the Swiss Army .

history

The 12 cm howitzer made by Friedrich Krupp AG , Essen , had a hydromechanical braking and recovery device for the launch tube, which was new at the time, instead of the conventional feathered spur guns in which the barrel was still rigidly mounted in a mount. This new technique of gun construction prevented the gun from rearing up with each shot because of the recoil and had to be realigned.

The 12 cm howitzer was introduced by the Swiss Army in 1912 and was part of the divisions' heavy artillery. The then six divisions each had a howitzer division with two batteries. The Swiss Army bought 86 guns from Krupp.

In 1939, 63 guns were converted by the Federal Construction Workshop (K + W) in Thun . The barrel, cartridge chamber, hold (from 1 to 1.9 L), recoil spring, muzzle brake , shot brake and straightening instruments were added or modified for the 12 cm howitzer . This increased the range from 6 to 8.5 kilometers. From then on it was referred to as "F Hb 12/39 L 14". Later, some of these guns were converted for tractors (motor train) with solid rubber wheels with perforated metal discs and spiral axle suspension and equipped with a special two-wheeled chassis ( Protze ).

The 12 cm field howitzer 12/39 was also used in the artillery works built from 1940 ( Ennetberg , Kichlidossen , Gross Tosse , Magletsch etc.). In 1941, a parallel lever mount and a pivot bracket were developed for installation in the fortifications .

After 1945 these 12-cm field howitzers were replaced by 15-cm field howitzers, which became available when the field artillery switched to new guns.

The howitzer with barrel number 4 was revised for the last time by K + W Thun in 1947 and fired a total of 5577 rounds in exercises.

Original howitzer 1912

The original howitzer had a single-arm carriage , a track width of 148 cm and wooden wheels with 75 mm wide iron tires. She was pulled by six horses and could reach a speed of 10 km / h. The ammunition could be transported in twelve compartments of the guns and the caisson also had a further 24 compartments. Seven men were needed to operate it, whereby the gun chief also acted as judge.

12 cm field howitzer 1912, First World War
12 cm field howitzer 1912
Howitzer 12/39
Motor howitzer 12/39 with limber
Fortress cannon 12/41 with lever mount, without muzzle brake

Howitzer battery

During the First World War, the crew of a howitzer battery consisted of a commander (captain), four subaltern officers, 22 noncommissioned officers and 123 corporations and soldiers. The gun and vehicle fleet for each battery comprised four guns and eight caissons, one each with an observation car, a battery car, a supply car, a fort and two provisions cars . All wagons except the food wagons (two-horse) were pulled by six horses. Each gun received a supply of 600 rounds of ammunition. The battery had 21 riding horses (officers and non-commissioned officers) and 100 draft horses for the equipment of the guns and wagons.