17 cm rapid loading cannon L / 40 iRL on railroad cars
| 17 cm rapid loading cannon L / 40 iRL on railroad cars | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| General Information | |
| Military designation: | 17 cm rapid loading cannon L / 40 iRL on railroad cars |
| Manufacturer country: |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Friedrich Krupp AG |
| Production time: | 1916 to 1918 |
| Number of pieces: | 70 |
| Weapon Category: | heavy field artillery / railway gun |
| Technical specifications | |
| Overall length: | 16.75 m |
| Pipe length: | 6.9 m |
| Caliber : |
172.6 mm |
| Caliber length : | L / 40 |
| Cadence : | 1 shot / min |
| Elevation range: | 0 ° to + 45 ° angular degrees |
| Side straightening area: | 26 ° |
| Furnishing | |
| Charging principle: | manually |
| Ammunition supply: | manually |
The 17 cm SK L / 40 iRL on railway wagons ( Schnelladekanone L / 40 - in wheel mount on railway wagon ) was a heavy artillery piece of the field artillery of the German Army , which was used in the First World War and in 1940 by the Belgian Army was used.
description
The barrel of the guns was originally the medium artillery of the ships of the line of the Braunschweig and Deutschland classes , which were decommissioned during the war due to their low combat power, speed and stability. The guns were initially used as field artillery, but had only partially proven themselves due to their weight. For transport they had to be broken down into three loads, each load for the horse-drawn train (and also for the available tractors) had already reached the limits of performance. However, the long range of the guns and the relatively high bullet weight were interesting for combat.
As a solution to the problem, the complete cannon was placed on a four-axle low-loader railway wagon, thereby improving mobility many times over. A special bedding carriage was designed for this purpose. The wheels stood on a platform, the gun itself was fixed to the car at the pivot point via a pivot bolt . The tail of the carriage rested on a semicircular support, so a side straightening area of 26 ° could be covered by pivoting. The side Align has a rack and a gear carried out. The operation took place from outside the car. In order to avoid damage to the bogies during the launch, they were jacked up during use. The elevation range is given as 47.5 °, other sources speak of only 45 °. The return of the pipe was intercepted by a hydraulic return brake, and the mount consisted of a one-piece box - spar mount
Types of ammunition
The grenade and propellant cartridge were loaded separately and rammed in manually. Marine ammunition was used; the main propellant charge was in a brass cartridge . In the case of a heavier charge due to the large range, silk powder bags (the so-called pre-cartridge) had to be inserted in front of this.
| Ammunition type | Weight | Explosive charge | Muzzle velocity | Max. Range of fire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explosive shell L / 3 Kz. Impact fuze | 64 kg | 3.4 kg | 785 m / s | 16,900 m |
| High explosive grenade L / 4.7 Kz impact fuse (with ballistic hood) | 62.8 kg | 6.5 kg | 815 m / s | 24,020 m |
Mission history
At the beginning of 1917, 30 units were used as railway guns in the west. They were set in 15 batteries with two guns each. The railway artillery batteries 423, 462, 478, 521, 536, 551, 642, and 797 are proven. These eight batteries were involved in the German spring offensive in 1918 . Eight of the guns were left behind when the Germans withdrew at the end of the war. Six fell into the hands of the Belgian Army, two to the French. A total of 14 guns went to the Belgian Army, another 14, which were still in the stocks of the German troops, had to be scrapped in 1922 by order of the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission .
Use in the Belgian Army
In 1940 the Belgian Army had 14 of these guns, all of which were part of the 5th Army Artillery Regiment:
- I. Department
- 1st battery: 4 guns
- 2nd battery: 4 guns
- II. Department
- 4. Battery: 2 guns
- 5. Battery: 2 guns
- 6. Battery: 2 guns
There were a total of only 4./I battery twice to fires, including 32 grenades were once on May 25 (with only a cannon) Beveren-aan-de-Lys, and on May 26 an unknown number of shots on Oostrozebeke issued . The 5th / 2nd battery fired 10 grenades at Axel on May 21, 1940 . On May 26th, the guns of the 2./I were blown up in Knokke .
The entire regiment was taken prisoner of war on May 28th, nothing is known about the whereabouts of the guns, nor about the existence of a specimen today.
literature
- Guy François: Railway artillery. Histoire de l'artillerie lourde sur voie ferrée allemande des origines à 1945. Editions Histoire et Fortifications, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-915767-08-4 .
- Herbert Jäger: German Artillery of World War One. Crowood Press, Marlborough 2001, ISBN 1-86126-403-8 .
- Franz Kosar: Railway Gun of the World. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-613-01976-0 .
- Harry W. Miller: Railway Artillery. A Report on the Characteristics, Scope of Utility, Etc., of Railway Artillery ( Ordnance Department Document. No. 2034). Volume 1. Government Print Office, Washington DC 1921, ( digitized ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_675-40_skc04.htm
- ^ François, p. 40
- ↑ http://www.landships.freeservers.com/17cm_schnelladekanone_ir.htm
- ^ Miller, p. 465
- ^ François, p. 10
- ^ François, p. 14
- ^ François, p. 47