8.4 cm Ord 1879 field gun
| 8.4 cm Ord 1879 field gun | |
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| General Information | |
| Manufacturer country: | Germany , Switzerland |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Tube: Krupp, gun carriage: Federal Construction Workshop, Thun |
| Number of pieces: | 400 |
| Weapon Category: | Field gun |
| Technical specifications | |
| Overall length: | 3.5 m |
| Caliber : |
84 mm |
| Side straightening area: | firmly |
| Furnishing | |
| Ammunition supply: | Breech loader |
The 8.4 cm Ord 1879 field gun replaced the 8.4 cm Ord 1871/74 field gun. While this one still had a bronze pipe, the pipe was made of steel. The pipe was manufactured in Germany by the Krupp-Gussstahlfabrik in Essen . The mount was manufactured at the Swiss Federal Construction Workshop in Thun .
The weapon was the last field cannon used in the Swiss Army without a barrel return. It was replaced by the 7.5 cm cannon 1903 L 30, also manufactured by Krupp . The gun barrel was used in fortresses until the end of the Second World War .
Evaluation, history
The Swiss officer Hans Herzog was appointed Colonel and Chief of the Federal Artillery by the Swiss Federal Council in 1860 . He was responsible for the modernization of this weapon there. The rifled gun barrels were also introduced during his time. In the Franco-Prussian War he was appointed commander in chief of the border troops of the Swiss army in 1870/71. After the end of the war he took over his former position as head of the artillery again, this time the first breech-loading guns, including the 8.4 cm Ord 1871 field cannon, a gun with a bronze barrel and a flat wedge lead shaft lock, were introduced under his leadership. As early as 1874, however, Krupp purchased 2 tubes of the same caliber with solid steel tubes for test purposes, and in 1877 the 7.5 cm Ord 1877 mountain cannon built by the same manufacturer , a breech loader with a steel tube, replaced the outdated Ord 1864 mountain cannon .
These tubes, which were still made of solid steel, showed that they could fire heavier charges with the same weight and were also less worn than bronze tubes. The next step was the acquisition of a ring pipe manufactured by Krupp for test purposes in 1878. Due to the positive reports from the Artillery Commission and the Military Department, the Federal Council decided on April 24, 1878 to modernize the field artillery and to equip the mounts of the 8.4 cm Ord 1871 field cannons with ring tubes made by Krupp. The first fifteen of these 8.4 cm Ord 1879 field cannons were delivered in 1879. They were placed on the no longer used mounts of the 8.4 cm field cannon Ord 1871, the bronze tubes Ord 1871 went to the fortress troops or were cast.
In 1882, two 8.4 cm hard bronze tubes were ordered from Sulzer for testing. Since the tests were positive, it was decided in January 1887 to purchase 56 of these pipes for the reorganized light position artillery. The hard bronze tubes (also called steel bronze) were placed on positioning mounts that also matched the other 8.4 cm tubes. The breech of these 8.4 cm position guns 1887 L 25 corresponded to that of the 8.4 cm field gun Ord 1871, the firing range was slightly higher due to the higher elevation. In order to absorb the recoil, the gun ran after the shot on rising guide rails attached behind the wheels and rolled back into the firing position.
Already after the introduction of the 7.5 cm field cannon 1903 L 30, the barrel of the 8.4 cm field cannon Ord 1879 (1881/93) was handed over to the fortress troops. In August 1940 97 guns were delivered to the troops. At the end of World War II , 18 were still in use.
The gun
The 8.4 cm Ord 1879 field gun (later Ord 1881/93) weighs 1,100 kg ready to fire. The gun barrel manufactured by Krupp, a ring barrel , consists of the inner barrel with the breech block and a steel sleeve shrunk on in the rear area of the barrel. An additional ring was shrunk on at the rear end of the pipe, directly in front of the closure housing, which was perforated across the pipe. The shrunk-on parts served to make the pipe easier to build with the same pressure load. The tube and cap together weigh 425 kg. The tube length is outside 25.6 caliber resp. 2150 mm, inner length up to the lock 1930 mm, the tube has 24 grooves, progressive twist 0 to 4 degrees. The horizontally inserted one-piece round wedge lock is provided by a Broadwell ring. This is pushed forward into the slightly tapering chamber when the bolt is closed and is additionally pressed when the shot is fired by the internal pressure of the gases, which completely prevents the escape of combustion gases.
The tube is placed with its trunnion on the steel riveted single-arm carriage. Total length of the gun 3.5 m, width (axis length) 1.7 m, track 1.4 m. Wheel diameter 1.44 m. The pipe height from the ground is 1.13 m.
Use, transport
The weapon was used from the wheel mount, which did not allow the lateral direction to be corrected. It was judged by shifting the tail of the carriage sideways. For this purpose, one of the rods attached to the left and right of the tube was inserted into a sleeve at the end of the carriage tail. When the gun was being transported, these served as handrails for the two mounted soldiers, one of whom operated the brake. To adjust the elevation, a screw is attached to the mount at the rear end of the barrel, which is operated with a crank attached to the right. The elevation range is plus 300 per thousand, the minus range depends on the load.
The shot was triggered by friction tubes that were inserted into the locking screw on top of the breech block. These were ignited by pulling the line. From 1882 this ignition system was replaced by the percussion system "Gressly". In this case, an ignition cartridge was ignited in a lock (weapon) attached to the side of the breech , the "ignition mechanism" by pulling the leash. An ignition channel installed in the cap conducted the spark through the cap base into the tube. The return of the gun was up to ten meters, through the use of the reverse brake system "Lemoine" it could be reduced to four meters. This worked on the return via two pre-tensioned ropes, if the cannon was pushed back into position, it came loose.
The crew consisted of a gun chief and six men. During use, the judge stood on the right of the loader, who pulled the lanyard on the left of the wheel.
For transport, the gun was attached to a limber, which carries two to three men, accessories and some ammunition. She was drawn by six horses.
In the fortress artillery, the tube was placed on various fortress mountings. Since the elevation of the tube was no longer limited to 300 per thousand, a range of up to 7 km could be achieved with indirect fire and modern ammunition. The 8.4 cm pipes, which were attached to screwed base mounts with protective shields in front of the fortress, were used for close-range defense.
The means of alignment
The direct aiming device consists of the sight carrier in the form of a rod that can be inserted on the right of the breech block and can be adjusted from 0 to 250 per thousand. The visor attached to it can be shifted 25 per mille to the left and 20 per mille to the right. The front sight is a meter in front of the sight. For indirect aiming, a quadrant, from 1895 the Corrodi quadrant, was used, which was placed on a surface milled on the breech block housing parallel to the barrel axis. The angles that can be set on the Corrodi quadrant range from minus 250 to plus 550 per thousand, which, however, does not correspond to the possible firing angles of the gun.
Note regarding the artillery bullet: In 1870, the barrel inclination and horizontal adjustment were changed from angular degrees to artillery bullets . The full circle measures 360 degrees, or 6400 artillery bullets.
ballistics
Using 1400 g of black powder, the initial speed of a 6.7 kg grenade was 485 m / s. The same values were achieved with a smaller amount of flake powder Ord. 1893. The firing range was 5000 m. The shrapnel also reached this initial speed, due to the burning time of the time fuse, the firing range was 3400 m, later it was 4200 m.
Ammunition used
At first, ammunition was loaded separately, after the grenade was introduced, the propellant was loaded in a cloth sack and the breech was closed. Then the friction tube was used, the weapon was ready to fire. From 1882 the propellant charge was ignited with the "Gressly" lock and an ignition cartridge.
The Ord 1879 field cannon fired the Ord 1879/82 ring grenade, weight 6.2 kg, explosive charge 140 g, SP No. 4 (black powder), impact fuse. To increase the splinter effect, 10 iron rings were inserted into the garnet body.
The Shrapnel Ord 1882 weighed 6.7 kg. Filling 150 hard lead balls of 16 g each, later 185 balls of 12.5 g each, the propellant charge filled in at the bottom of the projectile was 65 g of black powder No. 2, the double igniter burned for 10 s.
In 1881 a grape rapier was introduced for close defense. It weighed 5.7 kg and held 325 hard lead balls weighing 15 g. From 1890 unit cartridges were used in which the projectile and load were assembled.
The pointed grenade introduced in 1933 with a momentary fuse of the fortress artillery weighed 6.9 kg, was loaded with 922 g Trotyl, and had a range of 7000 m.
The predecessor, the 8.4 cm Ord 1871 field cannon, located in the Vaud Military Museum, Morges , Switzerland
Ring barrel of the 8.4 cm field gun 1879
8.4 cm field gun with limber
8.4 cm position cannon 1887 L 25 with hard bronze barrel (location Vaudois Military Museum, Morges )
Round wedge breech of the 8.4 cm field gun 1879
8.4 cm field gun, Lemoine reverse brake system
8.4 cm field gun, direct aiming device
Corrodi Quadrant Ord 1895, lanyard on the clasp
8.4 cm ring barrel cannon, model 1880, on a minimally-armed carriage, Fort Airolo
literature
- Jean de Montet: Les Bouches à Feu de l'Artillerie Suisse . Edition du Center d'Histoire, Lausanne 1980.
- Walter Betschmann: Artillery I, artillery guns without mechanical barrel return . Stocker-Schmid Publishing House, Dietikon-Zurich, ISBN 3-7276-7009-6
- Carl Hiltebrand: Zeughaus-Chronik Thun 1857-1982 . Lang Druck AG, Liebefeld / Bern 1982.
- Albert Brunisholz, Carl Hiltebrandt: The history of the war material administration 1850-1975 . Lang Druck AG, Liebefeld / Bern 1975.