15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze M 14

15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze M 14
An M.14 in the Heergeschlictes museum, Vienna
Type	Heavy howitzer
Place of origin	Austria-Hungary
Service history
In service	1915-1945
Used by	Austria-Hungary Austria Czechoslovakia Nazi Germany Hungary Italy Romania Slovakia
Wars	World War I, World War II
Production history
Designer	Skoda
Designed	1912-14
Manufacturer	Skoda
Produced	1914-1918
Variants	15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze M 14/16
Specifications
Weight	2,765 kilograms (6,096 lb) (M 14/16)
Barrel length	2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) L/14 (M 14) 2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) L/14.1 (M 14/16)

Shell	41 kilograms (90 lb)
Caliber	149.1 mm (5.87 in)
Breech	horizontal sliding wedge
Recoil	hydro-pneumatic variable recoil
Carriage	box trail
Elevation	-5° to +70° (M 14/16)
Traverse	6° (M 14/16)
Rate of fire	1-2 rpm
Muzzle velocity	336 m/s (1,102 ft/s) (M 14/16)
Maximum firing range	8,760 metres (9,580 yd) (M 14/16)

The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze M 14 was a heavy howitzer which served with Austria-Hungary during World War I.

It had two crew seats mounted on the gun shield. It broke down into two loads for transport. The M 14 was modified to improve elevation and range as well as to strengthen the carriage as the M 14/16. Postwar war modifications were common to make it suitable for motor traction and to address other issues.

M 14 and M14/16 howitzers captured by Italy during the war and received as reparations after the war, when they were put into service with the designation of Obice da 149/13. Some 490 were on hand in 1939 and weapons captured by the Germans after the Italians changed sides in 1943 were used as the 15 cm sFH 400(i). Surviving weapons were impressed into German service after 1943 as the 15 cm sFH 401(i). Czech and Slovak weapons were known as the 15 cm hrubá houfnice vz. 14 and 14/16.

An Italian Obice 149/13

References

Chamberlain, Peter & Gander, Terry. Heavy Artillery. New York: Arco, 1975 ISBN 0-668-03898-5
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
Ortner, M. Christian. The Austro-Hungarian Artillery From 1867 to 1918: Technology, Organization, and Tactics. Vienna, Verlag Militaria, 2007 ISBN 978-3-902526-13-7

External links

Austro-Hungarian artillery of World War I

Infantry and mountain	7 cm Gebirgsgeschütz M 99 7.5 cm Gebirgsgeschütz 15 10 cm Gebirgshaubitze M 99 10 cm Gebirgshaubitze M 8 10 cm Gebirgshaubitze M 16

Mortars	8 cm Luftminenwerfer M 15 9 cm Minenwerfer M 14 9 cm Minenwerfer M 17 10.5 cm Luftminenwerfer M 15 12 cm Minenwerfer M 15 12 cm Luftminenwerfer M 16 14 cm Minenwerfer M 15 15 cm Luftminenwerfer M 15 M. E. 20 cm Luftminenwerfer M 16 22.5 cm Minenwerfer M 15 26 cm Minenwerfer M 17

Field, medium and heavy	8 cm FK M 99 8 cm FK M. 5 8 cm FK M. 17 8 cm FK M 18 9 cm FK M 75/96 10 cm FH M 99 10 cm Feldhaubitze M. 14 10.4 cm Feldkanone M. 15 15 cm sFH M 94 15 cm sFH M 14 15 cm sFH M.15 15 cm Autokanone M. 15/16

Superheavy and siege	12 cm Kanone M 80 15 cm Mörser M 80 15 cm Kanone M 80 18 cm kurze Kanone M 80 21 cm Mörser M. 16/18 24 cm Mörser M 98 24 cm Kanone M. 16 30.5 cm Mörser M. 11 30.5 cm Mörser M. 16 35 cm Marinekanone L/45 M. 16 38 cm Belagerungshaubitze M 16 42 cm Haubitze M. 14/16

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze M 14.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, September 02, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.