Landships II

Pzkpfw-e · Commander in Chief

German 77mm, Museum of Lincolnshire Life, walkround.

Rob · Legend

That's a surprisingly large decoration - then again I was surprised when I saw the 4.5 inch howitzer barrel at the Royal Artillery Museum that there was quite a large King George V stamp on it - i'm used to seeing it on small arms such as my SMLE and Webley, but not something as big as an artilery piece

CharlieC · Legend

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The cipher looks like the state cipher of Prussia - you can see the first part of the motto - "Pro Gloria et Patria". There should also be a cipher of

Kaiser Wilhelm II on the barrel towards the breech although this is often hard to see because it's often in low relief and underneath the gun shield.

Many of the early FK 96 n.As had both the state and imperial ciphers on the barrels.

If you thought the Prussian cipher was elaborate - try the Wurtemberg cipher...(attached)

Regards,

Charlie

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Pzkpfw-e · Commander in Chief

There are markings on the barrel in the gunshield area and further decoration by the muzzle.

Does the "1906" on the towing eye, indicate the date of manufacture and the "Fr Kr" on the breach mean it was made by (Friedrich) Krupp?

-- Edited by Pzkpfw-e on Wednesday 16th of January 2013 10:30:55 AM

CharlieC · Legend

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The cipher underneath the gun shield will be the cipher of Kaiser Wilhelm II (attached). The decoration around the muzzle seems to be limited to the Prussian guns only -

I don't know what it means.

The FK 96s up to about serial no. #4500 started out as FK 96 a.As without recoil absorption. In 1905-07 they were rebuilt with recoil absorption and new carriages. The 1906 marking

on the lunette (towing ring) is the build date of the carriage - in this case built by AWL (I should know what AWL stands for but my memory isn't cooperating).�

Yes - Fr.Kp. is Friedrich Krupp AG Essen. - there should be two lines of text under the loading port which should look like:

gef. 1896...8 Fr. Kp. - "gef." is the abbreviation for "adopted"

abg. 1905...7 Fr.Kp. or Gg. Sp. - "abg." - "modified"

The rebuilds were carried out by Krupp (Fr. Kp.) and the Spandau Arsenal (Gg. Sp.) - the early ones like this gun seem to have been rebuilt by Krupp, the later (higher serials) by Spandau.

Regards,

Charlie

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-- Edited by CharlieC on Wednesday 16th of January 2013 12:15:18 PM

Ralph Lovett · General

Prussian, Saxon, Bavarian, and W�rttemberg pre-war manufactured artillery pieces are often marked with their lander (State) coat-of-arms near the muzzle end and the cipher of their monarch near the breech end.� As the war went on, pre-war guns were often re-manufactured.� If you see a gun, for example, that only has the cipher of the monarch; this is because the outer banding and breech ring have been fitted to a new barrel mantel. (and that new barrel mantel was never�given a cipher due to wartime stress on the manufacturing process)� Also, many 7,7cm lFK 1896 were originally produced as non-recoil guns.� Around 1906 most were rebuilt�to incorporate a recoil mechanism, shield, axel tree seats, and a spade.� In order to fit the barrel to the recoil cradle, the barrel was laved down and bands to hold the recoil guides to the barrel were added.� This is why some 7,7cm lFK 1896 n/A have part of the monarchs cipher cut away.�

One of the two 7,7cm lFK 1896 n/A in my collection has this cut cipher (look five photos down the page) :

http://www.lovettartillery.com/7.7cm_leichte_Feld_Kanone_(l.F.K.)_1896_n_A.html

To see a Prussian Eagle and the William I cipher see the 9cm Kanone 1873 in my collection (look down the page 10 photos) :

http://www.lovettartillery.com/9cm._C_1873_Kanone.html

�

R/

Ralph Lovett

http://www.lovettartillery.com/

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-- Edited by Ralph Lovett on Wednesday 16th of January 2013 04:02:49 PM