15 cm Kanone 16

15 cm Kanone 16
A 15 cm Kanone 16 on display outside the Australian War Memorial in 2016
Type	Heavy field gun
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
In service	1917–45
Used by	German Empire Belgium Nazi Germany
Wars	World War I World War II
Production history
Designer	Krupp
Designed	1917
Manufacturer	Krupp
Produced	1917–18
Variants	15 cm K 16 im Mrs. Laf.
Specifications
Weight	10,870 kilograms (23,960 lb)
Length	6.81 metres (20 ft)
Barrel length	6.41 metres (21 ft 0 in) L/43
Shell	separate-loading, cased charge
Shell weight	51.4 kilograms (113 lb) (HE)
Caliber	149.3 mm (5.88 in)
Breech	horizontal sliding block
Carriage	box trail
Elevation	-3° to +43°
Traverse	8°
Rate of fire	3 rpm
Muzzle velocity	757 metres per second (2,480 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	22,000 metres (24,000 yd)

The 15 cm Kanone 16 (15 cm K 16) was a heavy field gun used by Germany in World War I and World War II. Guns turned over to Belgium as reparations after World War I were taken into Wehrmacht service after the conquest of Belgium as the 15 cm K 429(b). It generally served on coast-defense duties during World War II.

Design

15 cm Kanone 16 in transport configuration. Photo taken in the Middle East.

The K 16 was a thoroughly conventional design for its day with a box trail, steel wheels for motor transport and a curved gunshield. The axle was suspended on a traverse leaf spring. For transport the barrel was generally detached from the recoil system and moved on its own trailer. In 1941 a small number of K 16 barrels were placed on 21 cm Mrs 18 carriages to become the 15 cm K 16 in Mrs Laf.

Ammunition

It fired 2 types of high-explosive shells, which differed only in which fuzes they could accept. It used a three part charge in its cartridge case. Charge 1 yielded a muzzle velocity of 555 metres per second (1,820 ft/s). Charge 2 replaced Charge 1 in the cartridge case and propelled the shell with a velocity of 696 metres per second (2,280 ft/s). Charge 3 was added to Charge 2 and raised the muzzle velocity to 757 metres per second (2,480 ft/s).^[1]

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

• BL 6 inch Gun Mk XIX British equivalent
• Canon de 155mm GPF French equivalent

Notes

1. Hogg, pp. 82-3

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
• Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. 2nd corrected edition. Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X

External links

• the K 16 on Landships
• List and pictures of World War I surviving 15cm K 16 guns