The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 1902 was a German heavy field

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

introduced in 1903 and served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Design and history

It was the first artillery piece to use a modern recoil system in the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

. Some 416 were in service at the beginning of the World War I. Its mobility, which allowed it to be deployed as medium artillery, and fairly heavy

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

gave the German army a firepower advantage in the early battles in Belgium and France in 1914 as the French and British armies lacked an equivalent. France had a Canon de 65 M with a recoil system, but used it only as a mountain howitzer.lovettartillery.com, Development of German Heavy Artillery, by CW2 Ralph Lovett
/ref> File:SFH 02 Howitzer Kei Mouth.jpg, The remains of a German sFH 02 howitzer located in

Kei Mouth Kei Mouth (Afrikaans: ''Keimond'') is a resort town on the southeast coast of South Africa, situated in the Wild Coast region of the Eastern Cape Province, situated 94 kilometres from the city of East London. The town is situated on the Indian ...

, South Africa. It was captured from German forces in

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

during World War I. Like other such German weapons of the time, it was cast with the markings ''R II Ultima Ratio Regum'' ("last argument of kings"). File:1905 World War I Krupp Cannon 150mm SM CA.jpg, Another sFH 02 howitzer, this one confiscated by the US after World War I and now located in

Sierra Madre Memorial Park Sierra Madre Memorial Park is a historic landmark park in Sierra Madre, California. The public park is dedicated to Sierra Madre residents who have served in the U.S. Armed forces. The park has monuments, a band shell, tennis court, playground ...

. File:15cm-sFH02-howitzer-001.jpg, A German 15 cm sFH 02 howitzer from 1917

Notes

References

* General Sir Martin Farndale, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Western Front 1914–1918''. The Royal Artillery Institution, 1986. . * Jäger, Herbert. ''German Artillery of World War One''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001. .

External links

Lovett Artillery Collection
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:15 Cm Sfh 02 150 mm artillery World War I artillery of Germany World War I howitzers

Design and history

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Notes

References

External links