42-line fortress and siege gun M1877 (russian: 42-линейная крепостная и осадная пушка образца 1877 года) was a siege gun used by the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

in late 19th and early 20th centuries. The word "line" in the designation refers to a

measurement unit A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multip ...

which equals 0.1 inch. Curiously, the "model year" was not the year when the weapon was designed or standardized, but the year when a new rifling system was adopted.

History

The gun was initially developed by the German arms manufacturer

Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...

and was based on an earlier 105 mm piece and would have a typical Krupp horizontal sliding-block breech block. The 105 mm weapon was demonstrated to a group of Russian Army officers along with a 120 mm design. The delegation liked the 105 mm weapon, but wanted Krupp to change the caliber to a traditional Russian caliber of "42 lines" (106.7 mm). Later the weapon entered production in Russia; it remained in production until 1903. The 42-line siege gun M1877 could fire high explosive (HE) or

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

shells of 15.6 kg (34.3 lbs) weight at a distance of 9.6 km (6 miles). Notice in the image on right top of page the equipment around wheels used to reduce recoil.

Employment

The gun saw action in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

like in the defense of the Nanshan Hill during the

battle of Nanshan The was one of many vicious land battles of the Russo-Japanese War. It took place on 24–26 May 1904 across a two-mile-wide defense line across the narrowest part of the Liáodōng Peninsula, covering the approaches to Port Arthur and on th ...

. The

Japanese Army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

successfully attacked the hill and captured several 42-line siege guns. Due to the lack of heavy artillery the Japanese took the guns in service during the rest of the conflict. Montenegro used a few guns of this type up to

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 ...

and Finland used weapons of this type until the

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 ...

Era. Many of the 42-line siege guns were captured by the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

and reissued to nine Landwehr Foot Artillery Battalions, equipping 22 Batteries. The 42-line siege gun M1877 should not be confused with the 42-line field gun M1877, a field gun version which had a shorter barrel and lower muzzle velocity.

Literature

*Shirokorad A. B. - ''Encyclopedia of the Soviet Artillery'' - Mn. Harvest, 2000 (Широкорад А. Б. Энциклопедия отечественной артиллерии. — Мн.: Харвест, 2000., )

External links

Images of a 42-line siege gun M1877

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 107 mm artillery World War I artillery of Russia Russo-Japanese war weapons of Russia World War I artillery of Germany