The 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 (10 cm sK 18) was a field gun used by Germany in

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 ...

. The German army wanted a new 10.5 cm gun as well as 15 cm howitzer which were to share the same carriage. Guns are heavier than howitzers due to the longer barrel. This also led to the 15 cm sFH 18. As such both weapons had a similar weight and could be carried by a similar carriage. By 1926 Krupp and Rheinmetall had specimen designs, and prototypes were ready by 1930, but was not fielded until 1933–34. Both

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

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 ...

competed for the development contract, but the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

compromised and selected Krupp's carriage to be mated with Rheinmetall's gun. It sometimes equipped the medium artillery battalion (with the 15 cm sFH 18) of German divisions, but generally was used by independent artillery battalions and on coast defense duties. Some were used as anti-tank guns during the early stages of war on the Eastern Front, as well as on the prototype self propelled gun "Dicker Max". Around 1,500 guns were produced until 1945. After the war it served with the Albanian and Bulgarian armies.

Gallery

File:National Museum of Military History, Bulgaria, Sofia 2012 PD 126.jpg, Front of 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 at National Museum of Military History, Bulgaria, Sofia. File:National Museum of Military History, Bulgaria, Sofia 2012 PD 127.jpg, Side of 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 at National Museum of Military History, Bulgaria, Sofia. File:National Museum of Military History, Bulgaria, Sofia 2012 PD 129.jpg, Back of 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 at National Museum of Military History, Bulgaria, Sofia. File:German 10,5 cm squeeze bore.png, 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 fitted with an 8,8 cm squeeze-bore adapter attached to the muzzle.

References

Sources

* Engelmann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst. ''Deutsche Artillerie 1934–1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliederung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz''. Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1974 * Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. ''Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939–1945''. New York: Doubleday, 1979 * Hogg, Ian V. ''German Artillery of World War Two''. 2nd corrected edition. Mechanicsville, Stackpole Books, 1997

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20170726164134/http://historywarsweapons.com/10-5-cm-kanone-18/
"Notes on German Divisional Artillery"
''Tactical and Technical Trends''. 27 August 1942. Retrieved 21 July 2010 World War II artillery of Germany 105 mm artillery Krupp Rheinmetall Military equipment introduced in the 1930s {{Germany-WWII-stub