The 7.7 cm Feldkanone 16 (7.7 cm FK 16) was a field gun used by Germany in World War I. Most surviving examples in German service were rebarreled after the war as the 7.5 cm FK 16 nA (neuer Art, meaning "new model"). A total of 298 guns of the old type were still in German army service in 1939, making it the oldest field artillery piece in German inventory at the beginning of the Second World War.
The older 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A. field gun was very mobile, but, once the war settled into trench warfare, its lack of range became a serious disadvantage. The FK 16 was intended to remedy this problem. The barrel was lengthened and it was given a box carriage to allow for greater elevation, which increased the range. It was also given separate-loading ammunition to reduce powder consumption and barrel wear at short ranges, although this had the drawback of reducing the rate of fire compared to the older gun.
It was prematurely rushed into production in 1916 and early guns suffered from a number of defects, mainly stemming from the German use of substitute materials to reduce consumption of strategic metals. It also suffered from a large number of premature detonations of its shells during 1916. These were traced to poor quality control of its shells, which were sometimes too large in diameter, and problems with the picric acid used as high explosive filler in lieu of TNT. The picric acid would form very sensitive picric salts within days of filling the shells and would often detonate from the shock of firing. Lacquering the insides of the shells and spraying them with a turpentine/starch solution neutralized the picric acid and prevented it from forming picric salts.
Jäger, Herbert. German Artillery of World War One. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001 ISBN1-86126-403-8
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to 7.7 cm FK 16.
7.7 cm FK 16 on Landships
List and pictures of World War I surviving guns
December 27, 2022
feldkanone, field, used, germany, world, most, surviving, examples, german, service, were, rebarreled, after, neuer, meaning, model, total, guns, type, were, still, german, army, service, 1939, making, oldest, field, artillery, piece, german, inventory, beginn. The 7 7 cm Feldkanone 16 7 7 cm FK 16 was a field gun used by Germany in World War I Most surviving examples in German service were rebarreled after the war as the 7 5 cm FK 16 nA neuer Art meaning new model A total of 298 guns of the old type were still in German army service in 1939 making it the oldest field artillery piece in German inventory at the beginning of the Second World War 7 7 cm Feldkanone 16TypeField gunPlace of originGerman EmpireService historyIn service1916 1945Used byGerman EmpireBulgariaChinaFinland 1 WarsWorld War ISpanish Civil WarWorld War IIProduction historyDesignerKruppManufacturerKruppProduced1916 1918No built3 020 SpecificationsMass1 318 kg 2 906 lb Barrel length2 695 m 8 ft 10 in L 35ShellSeparate loading cased charge and projectile77 x 230mm R 2 Caliber77 millimetres 3 0 in Breechhorizontal sliding blockRecoilhydro springCarriagebox trailElevation 10 to 40 Traverse4 Muzzle velocity545 m s 1 790 ft s Effective firing range9 100 m 10 000 yd 7 2 kg 16 lb HE shell Maximum firing range10 700 m 11 700 yd gas shell Contents 1 History 2 References 3 Publications 4 External linksHistory EditThe older 7 7 cm FK 96 n A field gun was very mobile but once the war settled into trench warfare its lack of range became a serious disadvantage The FK 16 was intended to remedy this problem The barrel was lengthened and it was given a box carriage to allow for greater elevation which increased the range It was also given separate loading ammunition to reduce powder consumption and barrel wear at short ranges although this had the drawback of reducing the rate of fire compared to the older gun It was prematurely rushed into production in 1916 and early guns suffered from a number of defects mainly stemming from the German use of substitute materials to reduce consumption of strategic metals It also suffered from a large number of premature detonations of its shells during 1916 These were traced to poor quality control of its shells which were sometimes too large in diameter and problems with the picric acid used as high explosive filler in lieu of TNT The picric acid would form very sensitive picric salts within days of filling the shells and would often detonate from the shock of firing Lacquering the insides of the shells and spraying them with a turpentine starch solution neutralized the picric acid and prevented it from forming picric salts The barrel of this gun was mounted on the carriage of the 10 5 cm Feldhaubitze 98 09 as the 7 7 cm Kanone in Haubitzelafette i e cannon on howitzer carriage to allow it greater elevation and range 3 Belgium modified the guns it received as post war reparations as the Canon de 75 mle GP II and the Canon de 75 mle GP III After the war some guns were retained by Germany re barreled into 75mm caliber and used in World War II as the 7 5 cm FK 16 nA References Edit Chamberlain Peter 1975 Light and medium field artillery Gander Terry New York Arco p 25 ISBN 0668038209 OCLC 2067331 77 77 MM CALIBRE CARTRIDGES www quarryhs co uk Retrieved 2017 09 03 7 7 cm FK 16 Landships freeservers com Retrieved 2012 03 01 Publications EditHogg Ian Twentieth Century Artillery New York Barnes amp Noble Books 2000 ISBN 0 7607 1994 2 Jager Herbert German Artillery of World War One Ramsbury Marlborough Wiltshire Crowood Press 2001 ISBN 1 86126 403 8External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to 7 7 cm FK 16 7 7 cm FK 16 on Landships List and pictures of World War I surviving guns Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 7 7 cm FK 16 amp oldid 1036368786, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
