10 cm M. 14 Feldhaubitze
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| 10 cm M. 14 Feldhaubitze | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Howitzer |
| Place of origin | Austria-Hungary |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1914–1945 |
| Used by | Austria-Hungary Albania Austria Czechoslovakia Nazi Germany Greece Italy Hungary Poland Russia Yugoslavia |
| Wars | World War I World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Skoda |
| Manufacturer | Skoda |
| Produced | 1914-1918. |
| No.built | 6,458 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 1,350 kg (2,970 lbs) |
| Barrellength | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) L/19 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Shell | Separate loading,cased chargeand projectile 100 x 183mm R 14 kg (31 lb)[1] |
| Caliber | 100 mm (3.93 in) |
| Breech | horizontalsliding-block |
| Recoil | hydro-springvariable recoil |
| Carriage | box trail |
| Elevation | -8° to +50° |
| Traverse | 6° |
| Rate of fire | 6-8 rpm |
| Muzzle velocity | 407 m/s (1,335 ft/s) |
| Maximum firing range | 8,400 m (9,100 yards) |
The10 cm M. 14 Feldhaubitzewas a dual-purpose field and mountain gun used byAustria-HungaryduringWorld War I.Between the wars it was used by Austria, Italy, Russia and Poland. DuringWorld War IIit served as the standard medium howitzer of theRoyal Italian Armywith the designationObice da 100/17 modello 14and after 1943 captured weapons were used byNazi Germany'sWehrmachtunder the designations10 cm leFH 14(ö)and10 cm leFH 315(i).After World War II an updated howitzer remained in service with theItalian Armyuntil 1975.
Design[edit]
It was a conventional design, although the first versions used an obsolescent wrought bronze barrel liner and a cast bronze jacket. Later versions used a standard steel barrel. The spade was in two pieces, one designed for use in icy ground and the other in normal soil.
Two cannoneers sat in seats attached to the shield, as was normal for the period. It was pulled by three pairs of horses when attached to its limber. TheAustro-Hungarian Armyacquired 6,458 10 cm Mod. 14 howitzers for its Field Howitzer Regiments ( "Feldhaubitze-Regiment" ) and 346 10 cm M. 16 howitzers for its mountain troops. The Mod. 16 could be broken down into three loads carried on small carts for transport in rough terrain.
Postwar some weapons were modernized for motor towing with new rubber-tired wheels and the seats on the shield removed. A more extensive postwar update byCzechoslovakiawas designated as the10 cm houfnice vz. 14/19and was exported to Poland, Greece andYugoslavia.
Royal Italian Army[edit]
DuringWorld War ItheRoyal Italian Armyhad captured 1,222 10 cm Mod. 14/16 howitzers from theAustro-Hungarian Army.A further 1,472 were given to Italy as war reparations. In Italian service the guns were designatedObice da 100/17 Mod. 14andObice da 100/17 Mod. 16.The Royal Army Arsenal inTurindeveloped a new series of ammunition for the howitzers which were introduced in 1932 and includedchemical warfaregrenades. At the outbreak of World War II the Royal Army and theGuardia alla Frontierawere fielding 1,325 Mod. 14 in the original Austro-Hungarian configuration and 199 Mod 14, which had their wooden wheels replaced with tires for use in motorized divisions. The artillery of theAlpinimountain troops fielded 181 Mod. 16. howitzers. During theNorth African CampaignItalian forces mounted the 100/17 Mod. 14 ontoLancia 3Roheavy trucks and employed the gun as mobile anti-tank cannon.
Italian Army[edit]
After World War II some of the howitzers were modified by the Military Arsenal of Naples for use as mountain artillery, with the denominations100/17 Mod. 14 mont.and100/17 Mod. 16 mont.In the second half of the fifties the howitzers were further modified for the service in theItalian Armywith the versions100/17 Mod. 14/50for field artillery units and100/17 Mod. 14/16/50for mountain artillery units. The modification of the field artillery version included a circular shooting platform, pneumatic wheels and a gun shield taken from reserveOrdnance QF 25-pounderhowitzers, while the mountain artillery version omitted the circular shooting platform.
In 1961 the weapon was again modified by lengthening the barrel and recalibrating it forNATOammunition, resulting in a barrel to caliber ratio of 105/22. Accordingly the new version was named:105/22 Mod. 14/61.This version equipped the field artillery groups of the army's motorized divisions.
With theItalian Army's 1975 reformthe105/22 Mod. 14/61was taken out of service and stored as reserve until 1984. Today only one105/22 Mod. 14/61remains in service with the Italian Army: located in Rome on theJaniculumit is fired since 1991 at noon every day to indicate the time.
Notes[edit]
- ^"78-100 MM CALIBRE CARTRIDGES".www.quarryhs.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-08-13.Retrieved2017-09-03.
References[edit]
Note: The data for this howitzer differs between sources, also considering how often it was modified, and cannot be considered definitive. Data provided has generally been for a steel-tubed howitzer as given at the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum,Ft. Sill,Oklahoma.
- Englemann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst.Deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliderung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz.Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1974
- Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter.Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945.New York: Doubleday, 1979ISBN0-385-15090-3
External links[edit]
- "M. 14 FH information on Landships".Archived fromthe originalon 2012-02-13.