Landships II

CharlieC · Legend

Fortress Howitzer - Ottoman

CharlieC · Legend

In the list of Ottoman artillery imports there are 3 types of short barrelled guns made by Krupp imported in 1885

20 - 12cm L/6,3 Krupp Ms
20 - 15cm L/6,4 Krupp Ms
20 - 21cm L/6,4 Krupp Ms

Perhaps the mystery fortress howitzer is one of these. I haven't been able to find anything about these guns

either data or images.

Regards,

Charlie

-- Edited by CharlieC on Tuesday 24th of March 2020 10:05:10 PM

-- Edited by CharlieC on Tuesday 24th of March 2020 10:05:35 PM

CharlieC · Legend

Found an image on Wikimedia commons of a 15cm 1881 Krupp Morser. The carriage isn't the same as the Turkish gun but the barrel

has similarities. The caption on the 1881 images say it was photographed in April 1918.

Regards,

Charlie

kkfj1 · Major

Hi,

See attachment of some photos of 15cm and 21cm Krupp Morsers from 1880s. The surviving 15cm Morser is from the History Museum of Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok, which I believe was used by Chinese army in Port Arthur before 1895 and later recycled by the Russians. For 12cm Morser I havent seen photos but as the barrel length is similar I doubt if they could be much different.

My own two cents is, perhaps this had something to do with the Turkish 12cm M1892 howitzers mentioned on AHF forum (https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=109440&start=210; https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=109440&start=195)?

Regards,

Yichuan

28juni14 · Hero

I would agree this is a Krupp piece. The ring counter-weight forward of the trunnions was likely installed for it's new roll a a mobile piece. ( perhaps 12cm ?) You will note the carriages in the first two pics are similar in design yet different in detail. The small diameter 8 spoke wheels don't lend themselves to serious road travel either. An expedient example for sure, and most interesting. Thanks for posting.

CharlieC · Legend

Found another Krupp Morser - 24cm M1892.

This was displayed at the Chicago Exhibition of 1892. The text says it was a replacement for the 21cm Morser.

The basic carriage and controls look like developments of the earlier fortress Morsers.

The muzzle velocity was quoted as 200 m/sec and max. range of 4000m.

The BOCN people (http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/downloads.php) have a Krupp catalogue from the 1880s in their downloads but I don't think I've posted enough on their forum to download it. Anyone help?

Regards,

Charlie

kkfj1 · Major

Hi,

Try to search "Krupp" on http://bibliotecavirtualdefensa.es/ , there are two sets of Krupp albums from 1892 and 1896 respectively. In the 1892 albums there are a number of 1880s Krupp Morsers, among which I have just found the 12cm Morser and the 24cm Morser that you've mentioned.

There are certainly more Krupp albums out there on the Internet, but this one seem to cover the most Morsers.

Regards,

Yichuan

CharlieC · Legend

Thanks for that. It seems that Krupp made fortress mörsers in many different calibres.

The Turkish example seems to have a carriage so it can be moved around reasonably easily.

There is a howitzer in Shirokorad's Encyclopedia which looks very similar to the Turkish carriage - it was designed

so that the howitzer could be fired with limited preparation by running the wheels up inclined ramps to absorb the recoil.

I'd still like to view the 1880s Krupp catalogues - they might have the alternate form of the carriage.

Regards,

Charlie