9 cm Kanone C/73

9 cm Kanone C/73
A 9 cm Kanone C/73 at the Museo Histórico Militar de Valencia.
Type Field gun
Place of origin German Empire
Service history
In service 1873-1922
Used by See users
Wars See wars
Production history
Designer Krupp
Designed 1873
Manufacturer Krupp
Produced 1873-1891
Variants 9 cm K C/79 (bronze barrel)
9 cm K C/73-88 (light barrel)
9 cm K C/73-91 (nickel-steel)[1]
Specifications
Weight Travel: 2,515 kg (5,545 lb)
Combat: 1,210 kg (2,670 lb)
Barrel length 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) L/24[2]
Shell Separate-loading, bagged charges and projectiles
Shell weight HE: 7.2 kg (15 lb 14 oz)
Shrapnel: 8.1 kg (17 lb 14 oz)
Caliber 88 mm (3.5 in)
Breech Horizontal sliding-block
Recoil None
Carriage Box trail
Elevation -15° to +16°
Traverse None[2]
Rate of fire 10 rpm
Muzzle velocity 464–442 m/s (1,520–1,450 ft/s)
Effective firing range 6.5 km (4 mi)
Maximum firing range 7.1 km (4.4 mi)[2]

The 9 cm Kanone C/73 was a field gun developed after the Franco-Prussian War and used by Germany before and during World War I.

History

After the Franco-Prussian War, the German Army began to study replacements for its existing C/61 and C/64 breech loaded cannons. Although the C/64 had outclassed its French rivals during the war its breech was weak and there was a tendency for barrels to burst due to premature detonation of shells. The new gun designated the C/73 would retain the same 88 mm (3.5 in) ammunition as the C/64 and was assigned to the field artillery regiments of the Army, while a smaller 78.5 mm (3.09 in) 8 cm Kanone C/73 gun would replace the C/61 and equip cavalry artillery regiments.[3]

In addition to the German Army, C/73's also armed the Ottoman Empire and a number of the Balkan states. The Balkan states either bought them from Germany or they inherited Ottoman guns after they left the region. Although largely replaced by the German Army before the First World War a combination of higher than expected losses and insufficient ammunition production led to the C/73 being brought out of reserve and issued as replacements to field artillery regiments. Some are C/73's believed to have been used by Turkey as late as 1922.[1]

Once adequate numbers of new field guns such as the 7.7 cm FK 16 were being produced obsolete types such as the 9 cm Kanone C/73 and captured guns such as the 76 mm divisional gun M1902 and Canon de 75 modèle 1897 were withdrawn from front-line service and issued to anti-aircraft units. At first, all of the combatants employed field guns on improvised anti-aircraft mounts, which were typically earthen embankments or scaffolds to get the muzzle pointed skyward. Later in the war, specialized anti-aircraft mounts were developed. In 1918 it was estimated that there were still 614 C/73's and C79's deployed in that role.[2]

Design

Although made of steel like its predecessor the C/73 was of built-up construction with a central rifled tube, a reinforcing hoop from the trunnions to the breech and a larger propellant chamber for higher muzzle velocities and greater range. The C/73 featured a new breech which although similar to the breech of the C/64 had a semi-circular face which allowed the gun to avoid the stress fractures which caused catastrophic failures in its predecessor. This type of breech was known as a cylindro-prismatic breech which was a predecessor of Krupp's horizontal sliding-block and the gun used separate-loading, bagged charges and projectiles.[3]

The C/73 had a box trail carriage built from bolted steel plates instead of wood. The C/73 did not have a recoil mechanism or a gun shield. For transport, the gun was attached to a limber for towing by a horse-team. The limber also had seats for crew members plus ammunition and supplies. There were also seats attached to the axle of the gun carriage for the crew.[3]

In addition to the original steel barrel a hardened bronze barrel was introduced in 1879 and was that gun was designated the 9 cm Kanone C/79. A change from black powder to smokeless powder propellant was addressed during 1888 by adopting a new barrel with the designation C/73-88. Later a new nickel-steel barrel was introduced in 1891 to address premature barrel explosions by shells filled with picric acid. These were given the designation C/73-91.[3]

Users

Wars

References

  1. 1 2 "9cm Kanone 1873 (/1891)". www.passioncompassion1418.com. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Fleischer, Wolfgang. German artillery:1914-1918. Barnsley. pp. 19 & 92. ISBN 9781473823983. OCLC 893163385.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Jäger, Herbert (2001). German artillery of World War One. Marlborough: Crowood Press. pp. 11–15. ISBN 1861264038. OCLC 50842313.
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