15 cm L/40 Feldkanone i.R.

Infobox Weapon
name=15 cm L/40 Feldkanone i.R.


caption=
origin=Germany
type=heavy field gun
is_ranged=
is_bladed=
is_explosive=
is_artillery=yes
is_vehicle=
is_UK=
service=1915-1918
used_by=flag|German Empire
wars=World War I
designer=Krupp
design_date=
manufacturer=Krupp
production_date=
number=
variants=
weight=convert|11820|lb|kg
length=
part_length=convert|5.96|m|in (L/40)
width=
height=
crew=
cartridge=convert|44.2|kg|lb
caliber=convert|149.1|mm|in
action=
rate=
velocity=750 m/s (2,460 ft/s)
range=
max_range=convert|18700|m|yd
feed=
sights=
breech=horizontal sliding wedge
recoil=
carriage=box trail
elevation=-5° to +20°
traverse=0°
blade_type=
hilt_type=
sheath_type=
head_type=
haft_type=
diameter=
filling=
filling_weight=
detonation=
yield=
armour=
primary_armament=
secondary_armament=
engine=
engine_power=
pw_ratio=
suspension=
vehicle_range=
speed=

The 15 cm L/40 Feldkanone in Raderlafette (15 cm 40 caliber Field Gun on Wheels) was a heavy field gun used by Germany in World War I.

The Germans were desperate for long-range artillery by 1915 and were forced to adapt a number of ex-naval guns for Army use, details of which are often lacking. The SKL (Schnellladungskanone or fast-loading cannon) L/40 was an obsolete gun used by pre-Dreadnoughts as secondary armament. The gun could not traverse on the mount and had to be mounted on a firing platform that weighed convert|7450|kg|lb to give it 60° traverse. For transport purposes it was broken down into three loads, barrel, carriage and firing platform.

While details are unclear it seems that this gun was also adapted for land use complete with its armored gunhouse as the KiSL (Kanone in Schirmlafette). It was mounted on a central pivot which was in turn mounted on a firing platform. It was transported by rail or by road to its firing location in one piece and then offloaded onto the firing platform by crane.

It retained the Kriegsmarine's semi-fixed ammunition where one bag of powder was loaded before the brass cartridge containing the rest of the propellant and the primer.

References

* 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