10 cm houfnice vz. 30 (howitzer)

10 cm houfnice vz. 30
Type	Howitzer
Place of origin	Czechoslovakia
Service history
In service	1930-1945
Used by	Czechoslovakia  Nazi Germany  Romania  Slovakia
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Skoda
Designed	1928-1930
Manufacturer	Skoda
Produced	1932-39
Specifications
Weight	1,766 kg (3,893 lb)
Barrel length	2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) L/25
Caliber	100 mm (3.94 in)
Carriage	split trail
Elevation	-8° to +80°
Traverse	8°
Rate of fire	6-8 rpm
Muzzle velocity	430 m/s (1,411 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	10,600 m (11,600 yd)

The 10 cm houfnice vz. 30 (howitzer model 30) was a Czechoslovak howitzer used in the Second World War. The 158 weapons captured after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 were taken into Wehrmacht service as the 10 cm leFH 30(t). It was used by a variety of German units during World War II, including II. and III./SS-Artillerie-Abteilung 3 between 1939 and 1940^[1] and SS-Artillerie-Abteilung 51 during 1941.^[2] 30 served with the Slovak Army.^[3]

Design and history

It was modified from an earlier Skoda design, the 10 cm houfnice vz. 28, that attempted to combine the field and mountain gun roles into one weapon. The Czechoslovak army decided to adopt it to replace their plethora of aged Austro-Hungarian field guns. They replaced the wheels with modern rubber-tired wheels, but curiously chose to retain the crewman's seat on the gunshield. It used the same carriage that could break down into three pieces for transport as the 8 cm kanon vz. 30. It fired a 16 kilograms (35 lb) shell.

Notes

1. Niehorster, Leo W. G. German World War II Organizational Series, Vol. 2/II: Mechanized GHQ units and Waffen-SS Formations (10 May 1940), 1990
2. Niehorster, Leo W. G. German World War II Organizational Series, Vol. 3/II: Mechanized GHQ units and Waffen-SS Formations (22 June 1941), 1992
3. Kliment and Nakládal, p. 122

References

• Engelmann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst. Deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliederung, 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, 1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3
• Kliment, Charles K. and Nakládal, Bretislav. Germany's First Ally: Armed Forces of the Slovak State 1939-1945. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1997 ISBN 0-7643-0589-1

External links

• page on the two vz. 30 weapons