kuk military automobile industry

The first truck in 1898

The kuk military automobile industry was an institution of the Austro-Hungarian land forces .

The superordinate office was the "kuk Automobilabteilung" based in the pioneer barracks in Klosterneuburg . It was set up in 1902 and was subordinate to the Austro-Hungarian Transport Troop Brigade . The automobile department was responsible for the training of the driving crew and the administration of the Aryan motor vehicles. The commanding officer in July 1914 was Captain Maximilian Bulla from the 14th Sappeur Battalion

Beginnings

The Austro-Hungarian military leadership recognized early on that supplies in a future war would not be able to be managed by rail and horse-drawn vehicles alone. The boom in the automotive industry in the last years of the 19th century prompted the Austro-Hungarian military administration to purchase a truck as early as 1898 . (This was the first truck with a petrol engine in the military of the great powers and was still in service when the war broke out in 1914.) The experience gained with this first vehicle, especially the considerably increased transport capacities in trailer operation compared to horse-drawn vehicles, prompted the military administration to set up an automobile department as Cadre association.

7 ton trailer truck

Two types of trucks were introduced:

• Type 3.5 t load capacity (2.5 t on the tractor, 1 t on the single-axle trailer, called a trailer truck.) The engine developed 35 hp , the average top speed was 20 km / h

• Type 7 t load capacity (4 t on the tractor, 3 t on the two-axle trailer - called trailer.) The engine developed 40 hp, the average top speed was 16 km / h

After extensive tests by the automotive testing department, the trucks were also used as towing vehicles for e.g. B. guns or used as a military lighting car with an attached headlight cart.

Since it was not possible for the military administration, for reasons of cost and space, to have all of the trucks required for mobilization , the subsidy system was applied. For this purpose, at the request of a private company that wanted to purchase one or more of the 3.5 t vehicle types, the vehicles were handed over fully equipped by the military administration. The new owners had to pay part of the purchase price in installments, in the first to third year of use 3000 crowns each and in the fourth to eighth year of use 2200 crowns each. After that, the vehicle finally became the property of the user.

For the larger model, the military administration raised a purchase price of 26,500 kroner, the vehicles were given to civilian users for 16,500 kroner and immediately became their property.

In return, the smaller trucks had to be kept ready for war for eight years, the larger ones for six years and had to be made available once for a twelve-day peace exercise. In the case of mobilization in 1914, the vehicles were then confiscated without compensation, as contractually stipulated.

Electric train

After it was determined that increasing the engine power alone was not sufficient to pull heavy and heaviest loads, extensive attempts were made to remedy this deficiency. As a result, all-wheel and multi-wheel drive came into consideration. In the latter, each wheel (with the exception of the front axle of the motor vehicle) was individually driven by an electric wheel hub motor. The electric train (multi-wheel drive) consisted of the motor vehicle with a generator powered by a 150 HP petrol engine and five trailers connected to the motor vehicle via drawbars and cables. The total payload to be transported was 30 tons. This vehicle was developed by Ferdinand Porsche .

Lighting trolley

Automotive testing department

The automotive testing department observed all innovations occurring in the automotive sector and checked them for their military usability. She carried out the necessary tests for which the maneuvers taking place were used. It had its seat in Vienna (VI. Bez.) Gumpendorfer Straße 1 (Technical Military Committee Building).

Volunteer Motor Corps

Passenger cars were also used in limited numbers, especially by the higher commanders. Since these would also not have been sufficient in the event of mobilization, the "Voluntary Motor Corps" were set up in 1908. They consisted of:

• kk Austrian Automobile Corps
• k. Hungarian Automobile Corps
• kk motor driver corps

The members of this corps represented a kind of militia and undertook to provide liaison and reporting services with their private vehicles during maneuvers and in the event of war.

literature

• Siegmund Bergmann (Hrsg.): The kuk military automobile system. In: Modern Illustrated Newspaper. Double issue 10/11, Vienna June 1, 1914.
• Austro-Hungarian War Ministry: Dislocation and division of the Austro-Hungarian Army, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Imperial and Royal Landwehr and the Imperial and Royal Landwehr. In: Seidel's small army scheme. Seidel & Sohn, Vienna 1914.
• Captain V. Pech: Army Tables Teaching and Learning Aids for Military Education Institutions and Reserve Officer Schools , Prague 1915

Remarks

1. ^ Military drivers
2. ↑ Emperor Franz Josef I refused to get into a "power automobile" until his death; he always used the carriage or the train.
3. ^ Motorcycle Corps
4. ↑ They had their own uniforms.