15 cm cannon 39
| 15 cm cannon 39 | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Military designation: | 15 cm cannon 39 |
| Manufacturer country: | German Empire |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Croup , food |
| Development year: | 1938 |
| Production time: | 1939 to 1942 |
| Number of pieces: | 61 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Pipe length: | 7,868 m |
| Caliber : |
14.91 cm |
| Caliber length : | L / 55 |
| Cadence : | 2 rounds / min |
| Elevation range: | −3 ° to +45 degrees |
| Side straightening area: | 60 ° mount, 360 ° platform |
The 15 cm cannon 39 was a field cannon of the Wehrmacht in World War II .
history
This cannon, developed by Krupp on behalf of the Turkish army, was delivered to Turkey in only two copies as the war began . The remainder were taken over by the German army and continued to be produced on the production lines in Essen for the Wehrmacht, which put them into service in artillery departments 511, 620, 680, 767 and 800.
description
According to the order, it was a dual-purpose weapon: as a heavy field gun and for coastal defense. Therefore, a combination of expanding carriage and an innovation was used: A transportable, rotatable base plate on which the carriage could be placed in order to guarantee the swivel range of 360 °, which was very useful for coastal defense. The cannon was fully usable in the field and was driven in three loads (base plate, mount and barrel) in the motorized train. The turntable platform was actually not necessary for most purposes, it was mainly used for coastal defense. For this case, small roller carriages were attached to the end of the spar, which ran on the turntable platform and enabled the full swivel range. Normally, the closed expansion carriage was placed on the rotatable base plate and the entire cannon could be moved with a crank mechanism. This platform caught the attention of many design departments, particularly the American one. This served as the basis for the "Kelly Mount", which was used in the 155 mm Gun M1 . The projectiles of the high-explosive grenade weighed 43 kilograms and had a maximum firing range of 24.7 km. The life of a tube was approximately 3000 to 5000 shots.
commitment
Because of the considerable logistical effort due to the actually small number of units, it was mostly used as a coastal gun in later years of the war.
literature
- Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain: Encyclopedia of German Arms. 1939-1945. Special edition, 2nd edition. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02481-0 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chris Bishop (ed.): Weapons of the Second World War . Weltbild, Augsburg 2000, ISBN 3-8289-5385-9 , p. 134 .