7.7 cm FK 96 n.A.

Infobox Weapon
name=7.7 cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art


caption=A FK 96 n.A. at the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum, Ft. Sill, OK
origin=Germany
type=field gun
is_ranged=
is_bladed=
is_explosive=
is_artillery=yes
is_vehicle=
is_UK=
service=
used_by=flag|German Empire
flag|Poland
flag|Lithuania
flag|Estonia
flag|Latvia
wars=World War I
designer=
design_date=
manufacturer=
production_date=
number=5086
variants=
weight=1,020 kg (2,249 lbs)
length=
part_length=2.080 m (6.82 ft) (L/27)
width=1.53 m (5 ft)
height=
crew=5
cartridge=separate loading, cased charge
caliber=77 mm (3 in)
action=
rate=10 rpm
velocity=465 m/s (1,525 ft/s)
range=5,500 m (5,958 yards)
max_range=8,400 m (9186 yds)
with trail dug in
feed=
sights=
breech=horizontal sliding wedge
recoil=hydro-spring
carriage=pole trail
elevation=-12° 56' to +15° 8'
traverse=7° 15'
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=

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. The gun combined a 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 as the Germans placed a premium on mobility, which served them well during the early stages of WW 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 that 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. .

Ammunition

* Feldgranate 96: a convert|6.8|kg|lb high-explosive shell filled with convert|.19|kg|lb of TNT.
* FeldkanoneGeschoss 11: A convert|6.85|kg|lb shell combining high explosive and shrapnel functions. It contained 294 10 gram lead bullets and convert|.25|kg|lb of TNT.
* A convert|6.8|kg|lb pure shrapnel shell filled with 300 lead bullets.
* An anti-tank shell
* Smoke
* Starshell
* Gas shell

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

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

ee also

*Ordnance BLC 15 pounder

External links

* [http://www.landships.freeservers.com/feldkanone_96_na.htm 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A. on Landships]
* [http://www.lovettartillery.com/7.7cm_leichte_Feld_Kanone_(l.F.K.)_1896_n_A.html A gun of the Lovett Collection undergoing restoration]
* [http://www.lovettartillery.com/7.7cm_leichte_Feld_Kanone_(l.F.K.)_1896_n_A_(1917).html A 1917 model of the Lovett Collection undergoing restoration]