History of creation
Versailles is a name that in the 1920s. was associated primarily not with a luxurious palace complex in the vicinity of Paris, but with the peace treaty of 1918. One of the results of the First World War was the elimination of the military might of Germany. The winners took care of this. Special attention was paid to artillery. Germany was prohibited from having heavy artillery, and only two types of artillery systems were left in the field park - the 77-mm F. K. 16 and 105 mm le. F. H. light howitzers 16. At the same time, the number of the latter was limited to 84 units (at the rate of 12 units for each of the seven divisions of the Reichswehr), and the ammunition for them was not to exceed 800 rounds per barrel.
Howitzer le. F. H. 18, manufactured in 1941.
This decision was contrary to the experience accumulated by the German army during the Great War. By the beginning of hostilities, the field artillery of the German divisions (as well as of the French and Russian) consisted mainly of light cannons, ideally suited for mobile warfare. But the transition of hostilities to the positional phase revealed all the shortcomings of these artillery systems, primarily the flat trajectory of fire and the low power of the projectile, which together did not allow effectively hitting field fortifications. The German command quickly learned lessons, quickly equipping the troops with field howitzers. If the ratio of the number of guns to howitzers in 1914 was 3: 1, then in 1918 it was only 1.5: 1. The Versailles treatise meant a rollback not only in the absolute number of howitzers, but also in the proportion of these guns in the Reichswehr artillery park. Naturally, this situation in no way suited the military leadership of Germany. Already in the mid-1920s. the need for, if not quantitative, then qualitative improvement of artillery was clearly realized, especially since the le. F. H. 16 howitzer was gradually becoming obsolete.
The Versailles Treaty allowed Germany the current production of a number of artillery systems to compensate for losses due to wear and tear. With regard to 105-mm howitzers, this number was determined at 14 guns per year. But it was not quantitative indicators that were important, but the very fundamental possibility of preserving the artillery industry. Under the firms "Krupp" and "Rheinmetall" there were design bureaus, but their activities were constrained by the presence of inspectors of the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission. This commission officially completed its work on February 28, 1927. Thus, the path to the creation of new artillery systems was opened, and on June 1 of the same year, the Army Armaments Department (Heerswaffenamt) decided to start developing an improved version of le. F. H. 16.
The work on the howitzer was carried out by the Rheinmetall concern. Almost immediately it became clear that the gun would be truly new, and not just a modification of the previous model. The main improvements were dictated by the requirements of the military to increase the firing range and horizontal guidance. To solve the first problem, a longer barrel was used (initially 25 calibers, and in the final version - 28 calibers). The second task was solved by using a carriage of a new design, based on a similar unit of the 75-mm long-range cannon WFK that did not go into series.
By 1930, the development of a new howitzer was completed and testing began. Both design and testing were carried out in strict secrecy. In order to disguise the creation of a new artillery system, she was given the official name 10, 5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 18 - 10, 5-cm light field howitzer mod. 1918, or abbreviated le. F. H. eighteen. Officially, the gun was put into service on July 28, 1935.
First option
Gross production of le. F. H. howitzers 18 began in 1935. Initially, it was carried out by the Rheinmetall-Borzig plant in Düsseldorf. Subsequently, the production of howitzers was established at factories in Borsigwald, Dortmund and Magdeburg. By the beginning of World War II, the Wehrmacht received over 4000 le. F. H. 18, and the maximum monthly production was 115 units. It seems interesting to compare the labor intensity of manufacturing and the cost of field implements produced at that time in Germany.
As you can see, le. F. H. 18 significantly surpassed not only the heavier artillery systems (which is quite logical), but even the 75-mm cannon.
The barrel of the new howitzer was longer than that of its predecessor (le. F. H. 16), by 6 calibers. Its length was 28 calibers (2941mm). That is, according to this indicator le. F. H. 18 can be easily attributed to howitzers-guns. Structurally, the barrel was a monoblock with a bolted bolt. The shutter is wedge horizontal. Right-hand cutting (32 grooves). Recoil device - hydraulic (reel - hydropneumatic).
Thanks to the longer barrel, it was possible to significantly improve the ballistic characteristics: the muzzle velocity of the projectile when using the most powerful charge was 470 m / s versus 395 m / s for le. F. H. 16. Accordingly, the firing range has also increased - from 9225 to 10675 m.
As noted, le. F. H. 18 used a carriage with sliding beds. The latter had a riveted structure, rectangular section and were equipped with openers. The use of such a gun carriage made it possible to increase the horizontal guidance angle in comparison with the le. F. H. 16 to 14 (!) Times - from 4 to 56 °. The horizontal guidance angle (as in the text, we are talking about the vertical guidance angle, approx. Air Force) increased slightly - up to + 42 ° versus + 40 °. In the pre-war years, such indicators were considered quite acceptable for howitzers. As you know, you have to pay for everything. So we had to pay for the improvement of firing data. Mass le. F. H. 18 in the stowed position increased in comparison with its predecessor by more than six centners and reached almost 3.5 tons. For such an instrument, mechanical traction was the most suitable. But the automotive industry could not keep up with the growing Wehrmacht by leaps and bounds. Therefore, the main means of transportation for most of the light howitzers was the six-horse team.
Crossing le. F. H. howitzer 18 over a pontoon bridge, Western Europe, May-June 1940
The first serial le. F. H. 18 were completed with wooden wheels. Then they were replaced by cast alloy wheels with a diameter of 130 cm and a width of 10 cm, with 12 relief holes. The wheel travel was sprung and equipped with a brake. The wheels of howitzers towed by horse traction were equipped with steel tires, over which rubber bands were sometimes worn. For batteries on mechanical traction, wheels with solid rubber tires were used. Such a gun was towed (without the front end) by a semi-tracked tractor at a speed of up to 40 km / h. Note that horse-drawn artillery needed a whole day of march to overcome the same 40 km.
In addition to the basic version, an export modification was prepared for the Wehrmacht, ordered in 1939 by the Netherlands. The Dutch howitzer differed from the German one by slightly less weight and even more increased angles of fire - up to + 45 ° in the vertical plane and 60 ° in the horizontal plane. In addition, it was adapted for firing Dutch-style ammunition. Due to the workload of the Rheinmetall enterprises, the production of howitzers for export was carried out by the Krupp plant in Essen. After the occupation of the Netherlands in 1940, about 80 howitzers were captured by the Germans as trophies. After changing the barrels, they were adopted by the Wehrmacht under the designation le. F. H. 18/39.
Ammunition
For firing the 105-mm le. F. H. howitzer. 18 used six charges. The table shows data when firing a standard high-explosive fragmentation projectile weighing 14, 81 kg.
The ammunition of the howitzer included a fairly wide range of shells for various purposes, namely:
- 10.5 cm FH Gr38 - a standard high-explosive fragmentation projectile weighing 14.81 kg with a charge of trinitrotoluene (TNT) weighing 1.38 kg;
- 10, 5 cm Pzgr - the first version of an armor-piercing projectile weighing 14, 25 kg (TNT weight 0, 65 kg). Charge No. 5 was used for firing. The initial speed was 395 m / s, the effective range of a direct shot was 1500 m;
- 10, 5 cm Pzgr rot - modified armor-piercing projectile with a ballistic tip. Projectile weight 15, 71 kg, explosive - 0, 4 kg. When firing charge No. 5, the initial speed was 390 m / s, armor penetration at a distance of 1500 m at a meeting angle of 60 ° - 49 mm;
- 10, 5 cm Gr39 rot HL / A - cumulative projectile weighing 12, 3 kg;
- 10, 5 cm FH Gr Nb - the first version of a smoke projectile weighing 14 kg. Upon explosion, it gave a cloud of smoke with a diameter of 25-30 m;
- 10, 5 cm FH Gr38 Nb - improved smoke projectile weighing 14, 7 kg;
- 10, 5 cm Spr Gr Br - incendiary projectile weighing 15, 9 kg;
- 10.5 cm Weip-Rot-Geshop - an agitational shell weighing 12.9 kg.
The calculation of the German howitzer 10, 5 cm leFH18 is shelling the Konstantinovsky Fort, which defended the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay. In the far right is the Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos. The houses around are the Radiogorka microdistrict.
Advanced modifications
The experience of the first months of World War II clearly showed that the le. F. H. 18 light howitzers are quite effective weapons. But at the same time, in the reports from the front, there were complaints about the insufficient firing range. The simplest solution to this problem was to increase the initial velocity of the projectile by using a more powerful propellant charge. But this made it necessary to reduce the force of the rollback. As a result, in 1940 the production of a new version of the howitzer, equipped with a two-chamber muzzle brake, began. This system was designated le. F. H.18M (M - from Mündungsbremse, i.e. muzzle brake).
The barrel length of the le. F. H. 18M with muzzle brake was 3308 mm versus 2941 mm for the base model. The weight of the gun also increased by 55 kg. A new high-explosive fragmentation projectile 10.5 cm FH Gr Fern weighing 14.25 kg (TNT weight - 2.1 kg) was developed especially for firing at maximum range. When firing charge No. 6, the initial speed was 540 m / s, and the firing range was 12325 m.
Manufactured by le. F. H. 18M lasted until February 1945. A total of 6933 such guns were produced (this number also included a number of howitzers of the base model, released after the outbreak of World War II). In addition, le. F. H. howitzers received a new barrel with a muzzle brake during repairs. eighteen.
The appearance of the next option was also dictated by the experience of hostilities - this time on the Eastern Front, where, in off-road conditions, the relatively heavy le. F. H. 18 lost their mobility. Even three- and five-ton half-track tractors were far from always able to overcome the autumn thaw of 1941, let alone horse-drawn sleds. As a result, in March 1942, a technical assignment was formulated for the design of a new, lighter gun carriage for a 105-mm howitzer. But its creation and implementation into production took time. In this situation, the designers went for an improvisation, placing the barrel of the le. F. H.18M howitzer on the carriage of the 75-mm anti-tank gun Rak 40. The resulting "hybrid" was adopted under the designation le. F. H.18 / 40.
The new gun had almost a quarter of a ton less weight in firing position than the le. F. H. 18M. But the carriage of the anti-tank gun, due to the small diameter of the wheels, did not allow the introduction of fire at maximum elevation angles. I had to use new wheels of larger diameter. The design of the muzzle brake was also changed, since the old one, "inherited" from the le. F. H.18M, was badly damaged when firing the new 10, 5 cm Sprgr 42 TS sabot projectiles. All this delayed the start of mass production of the le. F. H. 18/40 until March 1943, when the first batch of ten units was produced. By July, 418 new howitzers had already been delivered, and a total of 1,0245 le. F. H. 18/40 had been manufactured by March 1945 (only in 1944, 7807 such guns were produced!). The le. F. H.18 / 40 was produced by three factories - Schichau in Elbing, Menck und Hambrock in Hamburg and Krupp in Markstadt.
Preparing to fire the German 105-mm leFH18 howitzer. On the reverse side of the photo there is a stamp of a photo studio with the date - October 1941. Judging by the date and caps on the members of the crew, the artillery crew of the jaeger unit is probably inscribed in the photo.
Estimated replacement
The adoption of the le. F. H. 18/40 howitzer was considered a palliative: after all, the carriage used in it was developed for a gun weighing 1.5 tons, and with the imposition of a howitzer barrel it turned out to be overloaded, which led to numerous damage to the chassis during operation. The designers of the Krupp and Rheinmetall-Borzig firms continued to work on the new 105 mm howitzers.
The prototype of the Krupp howitzer, designated le. F. H. 18/42, featured a barrel extended to 3255 mm with a new muzzle brake. The firing range increased slightly - up to 12,700 m. The horizontal angle of fire also increased slightly (up to 60 °). The Armaments Department of the Ground Forces rejected this product, noting the absence of a fundamental improvement in fire performance compared to the le. F. H. 18M and an unacceptable increase in the weight of the system (over 2 tons in a combat position).
The Rheinmetall prototype looked more promising. The le. F. H. 42 gun had a range of 13,000 and a horizontal angle of fire of 70 °. At the same time, the weight in the combat position was only 1630 kg. But in this case, the Armaments Department decided to refrain from serial production. Instead, the development of even more "advanced" projects of the firms "Krupp" and "Skoda" continued. In these howitzers, completely new gun carriages were used, providing circular fire. But in the end, the Krupp system was never embodied in metal.
In Pilsen, at the Skoda plant, the work was more successful. A prototype of the new le. F. H.43 howitzer was built there, but they did not manage to introduce it into production. Thus, le. F. H. 18 and its modifications were destined to remain the basis of the Wehrmacht field artillery until the end of the war.
Combat use
As already noted, deliveries of le. F. H. 18 to combat units began in 1935. In the same year, a fundamental decision was made to withdraw cannons from divisional artillery. From now on, artillery regiments of the divisions were armed only with howitzers - 105-mm light and 150-mm heavy. It should be noted that this decision seemed by no means indisputable. On the pages of the specialized press, there was a heated discussion on this matter. Supporters of guns cited, in particular, the argument that, with the same caliber, howitzer shells are much more expensive than cannon shells. The opinion was also expressed that with the withdrawal of the guns, divisional artillery would lose tactical flexibility. Nevertheless, the leadership listened to the opinion of the "howitzer faction", striving to standardize weapons, to avoid multitype in production and in the troops. A significant argument in favor of howitzers was the desire to provide a fire advantage over the armies of neighboring countries: in most of them, the basis of divisional artillery was 75-76 mm cannons.
In the pre-war period, each Wehrmacht infantry division had two artillery regiments in its composition - light (three divisions of 105-mm horse-drawn howitzers) and heavy (two divisions of 150-mm howitzers - one horse-drawn, the other motorized). With the transition to wartime states, heavy regiments were withdrawn from the divisions. In the future, almost the entire war, the organization of the infantry division's artillery remained unchanged: a regiment consisting of three divisions, and in each of them - three four-gun batteries of 105-mm horse-drawn howitzers. The staff of the battery is 4 officers, 30 non-commissioned officers and 137 privates, as well as 153 horses and 16 carts.
The le. F. H. 18 howitzer in position.
Ideally, the infantry division's artillery regiment consisted of 36 105-mm howitzers. But in the course of hostilities, not every division had so many guns. In some cases, some of the howitzers were replaced with captured Soviet 76, 2-mm guns, in others, the number of guns in the battery was reduced from four to three, or some of the howitzer batteries were replaced with batteries of 150-mm Nebelwerfer 41 rocket launchers. Therefore, it should not be surprising that that, despite the mass production of the le. FH18, it could not completely oust its predecessor, the le. FH16, from the troops. The latter was used until the end of World War II.
The organization of the artillery regiments of the Volksgrenadier divisions, which had been formed since the summer of 1944, was somewhat different from the standard organization. They had only two divisions of two-battery composition, but the number of guns in the battery was increased to six. Thus, the Volksgrenadier division had 24 105-mm howitzers.
In motorized (from 1942 - panzergrenadier) and tank divisions, all artillery was mechanically powered. The four-gun motorized battery of 105-mm howitzers required significantly less personnel - 4 officers, 19 non-commissioned officers and 96 privates, and a total of 119 people against 171 in a horse-drawn battery. The vehicles included five half-track tractors (of which one was a spare) and 21 vehicles.
German light field howitzer of 105 mm leFH18 in ambush, delivered for direct fire.
The artillery regiment of the motorized division on the eve of the war and during the Polish campaign corresponded in structure to the regiment of the infantry division - three three-battery divisions (36 howitzers). Later it was reduced to two divisions (24 guns). The tank division initially had two divisions of 105-mm howitzers, since its artillery regiment also included a heavy division (150-mm howitzers and 105-mm guns). Since 1942, one of the divisions of light howitzers was replaced by a division of self-propelled artillery with Vespe and Hummel installations. Finally, in 1944, the only remaining division of light howitzers in the tank divisions was reorganized: instead of three four-gun batteries, two six-gun batteries were added to it.
In addition to divisional artillery, part of the 105-mm howitzers entered the artillery of the RGK. For example, in 1942, the formation of separate motorized divisions of 105-mm howitzers began. Three divisions of light howitzers (a total of 36 guns) were part of the 18th Artillery Division - the only formation of this type in the Wehrmacht, which existed from October 1943 to April 1944. Finally, when the formation of the Volksartillery corps began in the fall of 1944, one of the options for the staff of such a corps provided for the presence of a motorized battalion with 18 le. FH18.
German light field howitzer of 105 mm leFH18, view from the breech. Summer-autumn 1941
The standard type of tractor in the motorized divisions of 105mm howitzers was the three-ton Sd. Kfz.11 (leichter Zugkraftwagen 3t), less often the five-ton Sd. Kfz. 6 (mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 5t). The divisions of the RGK, formed since 1942, were equipped with RSO tracked tractors. This machine, simple and cheap to manufacture, was a typical wartime "ersatz". The maximum towing speed of howitzers was only 17 km / h (versus 40 km / h for half-track tractors). In addition, the RSO had only a two-seater cockpit, so the howitzers were towed with the front end, which housed the crew.
As of September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht had 4,845 105 mm light howitzers. The main mass was the le. F. H. 18 guns, with the exception of a few old le. F. H. 16 systems, as well as former Austrian and Czech howitzers. By April 1, 1940, the fleet of light howitzers increased to 5381 units, and by June 1, 1941 - to 7076 (this number already includes le. F. H. 18M systems).
By the end of the war, despite huge losses, especially on the Eastern Front, the number of 105 mm howitzers continued to be very large. For example, on May 1, 1944, the Wehrmacht had 7996 howitzers, and on December 1 - 7372 (although in both cases not only towed guns were taken into account, but also self-propelled 105-mm Vespe howitzers).
In addition to Germany, le. F. H. 18 and its variants were in service with several other countries. It was already mentioned above about the supply of modified guns to Holland. The rest of the foreign customers received standard howitzers. In particular, the baptism of fire le. F. H. 18, like many other models of weapons and military equipment, took place in Spain, where a number of these guns were delivered. Even before the start of the war, such howitzers were delivered to Hungary, where they received the designation 37M. During the war, le. F. H. 18 ended up in Finland and also in Slovakia (the latter received 45 le. F. H. 18 howitzers for horse-drawn batteries and eight le. F. H. 18/40 for motorized batteries in 1943-1944).
After the war, the le. F. H.18, le. F. H.18M and le. F. H.18M and le. F. H.18 / 40 howitzers were in service in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Albania and Yugoslavia for a long time (until the early 1960s). It is interesting that in the artillery units of the same Hungary until the end of the 1940s. horse traction was used. In Czechoslovakia, the German howitzers were modernized by placing the barrel le. F. H.18 / 40 on the carriage of the Soviet 122 mm M-30 howitzer. This weapon received the designation le. F. H.18 / 40N.
Overall score
The le. F. H.18 light howitzers and their improved versions undoubtedly played a huge role in the Wehrmacht's fighting during World War II. It is difficult to name at least one battle in which the divisions of these guns would not take part. The howitzer was distinguished by its reliability, great barrel survivability, amounting to 8-10 thousand rounds, and ease of maintenance. At the beginning of the war, the ballistic characteristics of the gun were also satisfactory. But when the Wehrmacht faced more modern enemy weapons (for example, British 87.6 mm howitzers-guns and Soviet 76.2 mm divisional guns), the situation was improved by the deployment of mass production of le. FH18M howitzers, and then le. FH18 / 40.
A Soviet T-34-76 medium tank crushed a German leFH.18 field howitzer. He could not continue moving further and was captured by the Germans. Yukhnov district.
A Red Army soldier on Kalvaria ter square in Budapest. In the center is an abandoned German 105mm leFH18 (Kalvaria ter) howitzer. The author's title of the photo is "A Soviet military intelligence officer is monitoring the quarters of Budapest occupied by the Nazis."
An American soldier near a German RSO tractor, captured on the west bank of the Rhine during Operation Lumberjack, towing a 10.5 cm leFH 18/40 howitzer. The corpse of a German soldier is visible in the cockpit.
