The 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 (10cm sK 18) was a German field gun, which was designed and produced by Krupp. Entering service in 1934, it saw combat action in every military campaign of World War II. Although it was only a 100-mm caliber gun, it was considered a heavy piece of artillery because of its long barrel and weight. Since its performance on the battlefield was not satisfactory for the Wehrmacht, production of this field gun was stopped at the end of 1943, with more than 1,400 units built. During Fall Weiss, it was pulled by horse teams, but later in the war, it was towed by half-track vehicles or trucks.
Technical Characteristics
The 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 was fitted with a 5.46-m-long barrel (L/52). It was mounted on a split trail carriage, featuring horizontal, sliding block breech. It fired separate loading shell, with the projectile and the charge being separate, not in one piece as was the case in smaller caliber guns. It had an effective range of 19 km and a muzzle velocity of 840 m/s. Since it was not a howitzer, it did not have much elevation, which ranged from 0° to only +48°. Transverse was 64°.
Below, the 10 cm sK 18 with its crew in 1942.
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