The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 36 or sFH 36 (German: "heavy field howitzer, model 36"), was a shortened lightweight version of the earlier
15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 that was produced in limited numbers from 1938-1942 and used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
History
In 1935 the army drafted a requirement for a lightened version of the 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 which could be towed by a single horse team in one piece. After testing in 1938 a design from
Rheinmetall
Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange.
History
Rheinmetall was founded in 1889. Banker and investor Lorenz Zuckermandel
L ...
was selected to meet the requirement. The new design consisted of a shortened sFH 18 barrel with a prominent
muzzle brake with four rows of 13 baffles and a
split trail
A gun carriage is a frame and mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be maneuvered and fired. These platforms often had wheels so that the artillery pieces could be moved more easily. Gun carriages are also use ...
carriage made largely of light alloys.
The carriage had two pressed steel wheels with solid rubber tires and for travel the barrel could be disconnected from the
hydro-pneumatic recoil system and pulled back to lie on top of the closed trails for towing. A
limber with a tow bar was provided for the horse team for towing. The sFH 36 used the same
separate loading cased charges and projectile as the sFH 18 and it used the same
sliding-block breech as the sFH 18.
However, the sFH 36 used up to 7 bagged charges to vary velocity and range, while the sFH 18 used up to 8. Production of the sFH 36 ceased in 1942 due to increased mechanization of the army, limited supplies of light alloys and the prioritization of their use for aircraft production.
sFH 18 and sFH 36 comparison
See also
*
152 mm howitzer M1938 (M-10)
152-mm howitzer M1938 (M-10) (russian: 152-мм гаубица обр. 1938 г. (М-10)) was a Soviet 152.4 mm (6 inch) howitzer of World War II era. It was developed in 1937–1938 at the ''Motovilikha Mechanical Plant'' by a team headed by ...
– Soviet 152 mm howitzer
*
M114 155 mm howitzer - US howitzer of similar size
References
External links
* https://en.valka.cz/topic/view/66993/15-cm-sFH-36
{{DEFAULTSORT:15 cm sFH 36
150 mm artillery
World War II field artillery
World War II artillery of Germany
Rheinmetall
World War II howitzers
Military equipment introduced in the 1930s