| 7.5 cm Gebirgskanone M. 15 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Mountain gun |
| Place of origin | Austria-Hungary |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1915-1945 |
| Used by | Austria-Hungary Austria Bulgaria Czechoslovakia German Empire Nazi Germany Hungary Italy Romania Turkey |
| Wars | World War I World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Skoda |
| Designed | 1911-1914 |
| Manufacturer | Skoda |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 613 kg (1,350 lb) |
| Barrel length | 1.15 m (3 ft 9 in) L/15.4 |
| Crew | 6 |
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| Shell | 6.35 kg (14.0 lb) |
| Caliber | 75 millimetres (3.0 in) |
| Breech | horizontal semi-automatic sliding wedge |
| Recoil | hydro-pneumatic |
| Carriage | box trail |
| Elevation | -10° to +50° |
| Traverse | 7° |
| Rate of fire | 6-8 rpm |
| Muzzle velocity | 349 m/s (1,150 ft/s) |
| Maximum range | 8,250 m (9,020 yd) |
The Skoda 7.5 cm Gebirgskanone M. 15 was a mountain gun used by Austria-Hungary in World War I. In German service it was known as the 7.5 cm GebK 15. The Italians designated them as the Obice da 75/13 and the Wehrmacht would designate captured guns as 7.5 cm GebK 259(i) after the surrender of Italy in 1943.
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Its development was quite prolonged as the Austrians couldn't decide on the specifications that they wanted. Initially they wanted a gun that could be broken-down into no more than 5 pack-animal loads to replace the various 7 cm mountain guns in service, but prolonged trials proved that the 7.5 cm M. 12 prototype to be the best gun. However the commander-in-chief of Bosnia-Hercegovina believe it to be too heavy and demanded a reversion back to the old 7 cm caliber to save weight. Skoda dutifully built enough guns for a test battery in the smaller caliber and tested them during the spring of 1914 where they were judged inferior to the 7.5 cm guns. This cost the Austrians heavily as the 7.5 cm guns were delivered beginning in April 1915 instead of the planned date of April 1914.[1]
For transport, the gun could be dismantled into 6 parts, generally carried in 4 loads. In addition, there was a gun shield fitted on some (perhaps many) such guns. A revised version of this gun was released as the Skoda 75 mm Model 1928.
The Germans bought some guns during World War I, but used them as infantry guns in direct support of the infantry where their light weight would allow them to move with the infantry. They complained that the guns were too fragile and didn't have a high enough muzzle velocity to act as an anti-tank gun. Considering that the guns were designed to be disassembled it's not too surprising that they couldn't stand the abuse moving through the shell-pocketed front lines on the Western Front.
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