10.4 cm Feldkanone M. 15

10.4 cm Feldkanone M. 15

10.4 cm Feldkanone M. 15 at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien.
Type Field gun
Place of origin Austria-Hungary
Service history
In service 1916-1945
Used by  Austria-Hungary
 Nazi Germany
 Italy
Wars World War I
World War II
Production history
Designer Skoda
Designed 1909-1914
Manufacturer Skoda
Produced 1914-1918
Number built 577?
Variants Cannone da 105/32
Specifications
Weight 3,030 kg (6,680 lb)
Barrel length 3.64 m (11 ft 11 in) L/35

Shell 16.1 kilograms (35 lb 8 oz)
Caliber 105 mm (4.13 in)
Carriage box trail
Elevation -10° to +30°
Traverse
Rate of fire 3-4 rpm
Muzzle velocity 668 m/s (2,191 ft/s)
Maximum firing range 16,200 m (17,700 yd)

The 10.4 cm Feldkanone M. 15 was a heavy field gun used by Austria-Hungary in World War I. Guns captured or turned over to Italy as reparations after World War I were taken into Italian service as the Cannone da 105/32 and were bored out to 105 mm to fit Italian ammunition. It was one of the principal Italian long-range guns in World War II and saw service in North Africa and Russia. Those few guns that were captured from the Italians by the Germans after the Italian surrender in 1943 were designated as 10.5 cm Kanone 320(i). It doesn't seem to have seen service with any of the Austro-Hungarian successor states after World War I.

For transport it broke down into the customary two loads. And it carried the customary two seats on the gun shield for crewmen. All data given herein is for the Italian version of the gun.

A rusting 10.4 cm Skoda was found in the Presanella mountains in the year 2000, where it supposed it was dueling an Italian 149/23 during the First World War.[1][2] Found at 3171 meters altitude, the gun came completely out of the glacier in the very warm summer of 2003. Because it was located on a 45 degree slope, the risk of it sliding down was considered too great, so the gun was relocated by lifting it with a Superpuma helicopter.[3]

References

  1. Il grande cannone della Presanella - di Mauro Zattera
  2. Restauro Cannone Skoda 10.4, Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra, Provincia autonoma di Trento
  3. Il recupero del cannone 10.4 Skoda, Museo della Guerra Bianca in Adamello

External links