7.7 cm FK 96 n.A.

The 7.7 cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art (7.7 cm FK 96 n.A.) was a field gun used by Germany in World War I.

7.7 cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art
A captured FK 96 n.A. on display at the War memorial of Pébrac, Loire
TypeField gun
Place of originGerman Empire
Service history
In service1905
Used byKingdom of Bulgaria
Estonia
Finland
German Empire
Latvia
Lithuania
Second Polish Republic
Ottoman Empire
WarsWorld War I
Production history
Designed1904
Produced1905
No. built5,086
Specifications
Mass1,020 kg (2,250 lb)
Barrel length2.080 m (6 ft 10 in) L/27
Width1.53 m (5 ft)
Crew5
ShellSeparate loading, cased charge and projectile
77 x 234mm R[1]
Shell weight6.8 kilograms (15 lb)
Caliber77 mm (3 in)
Breechhorizontal sliding-wedge
Recoilhydro-spring
CarriagePole trail
Elevation-12° 56' to +15° 8'
Traverse7° 15'
Rate of fire10 rpm
Muzzle velocity465 m/s (1,530 ft/s)
Effective firing range5,500 m (6,000 yd)
Maximum firing range8,400 m (9,200 yd)
with trail dug in

Description

The gun combined the barrel of the earlier 7.7 cm FK 96 with a recoil system, a new breech and a new carriage. Existing FK 96s were upgraded over time. The FK 96 n.A. was shorter-ranged, but lighter than the French Canon de 75 modèle 1897 or the British Ordnance QF 18 pounder gun; the Germans placed a premium on mobility, which served them well during the early stages of World War I. However, once the front had become static, the greater rate of fire of the French gun and the heavier shells fired by the British gun put the Germans at a disadvantage. The Germans remedied this by developing the longer-ranged, but heavier 7.7 cm FK 16.

As with most guns of its era, the FK 96 n.A. had seats for two crewmen mounted on its splinter shield. Guns taken into service by Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia upon independence in 1919 served until replaced during the 1930s.

Ammunition
  • Feldgranate 96: a 6.8 kilogram (15 lb) high-explosive shell filled with .19 kg (0.45 lbs) of TNT.
  • FeldkanoneGeschoss 11: A 6.85 kilogram (15.1 lb) shell combining high explosive and shrapnel functions. It contained 294 10 gram lead bullets and .25 kilograms (0.55 lb) of TNT.
  • A 6.8 kilogram (15 lb) pure shrapnel shell filled with 300 lead bullets.
  • An anti-tank shell
  • A smoke shell
  • A star shell
  • A gas shell

It mainly used the K.Z. 11 time fuze or the later L.K.Z. 16 contact fuze.

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era
  • Ordnance BLC 15 pounder : British equivalent : similar upgrade of an older gun
  • 3-inch M1902 field gun : US equivalent

References
  1. "77-77 MM CALIBRE CARTRIDGES". www.quarryhs.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  • Hogg, Ian. Twentieth-Century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000 ISBN 0-7607-1994-2
  • Jäger, Herbert. German Artillery of World War One. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001 ISBN 1-86126-403-8
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