15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18

The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 was a 149-mm-caliber heavy field howitzer employed by the Wehrmacht during World War II. It fired separate cased shells, which weighed 43.5 kg, up to a maximum distance of 13.4 km. Massively produced by Krupp and Rheinmetall, it entered service in 1934 and it became the standard heavy howitzer of the divisional artillery for the German Army in this armed conflict. Although the conversion of 15 cm is 150-mm, the gun caliber was exactly 149-mm.

The 15-cm sFH 18 saw combat action from the very beginning of the war on every front. At the end of the conflict, it was still used in very large number in a desperate attempt to stop the advance of the Russian forces. As the war raged on, it would also be mounted on a self-propelled carriage, which was called the Hummel, becoming part of the artillery component of some Panzer divisions. Although it was a reliable piece of artillery, it was outranged by the Soviet 152-mm howitzer. It was usually towed to the battlefield by half-track vehicles.

Specifications

Type: heavy field howtizer

Caliber: 149 mm

Weight: 6.3 tons

Barrel Length: 4.44 m (14 ft 6.8 in)

Recoil: hydro-pneumatic

Breech: horizontal, sliding block

Elevation: -3° to +45°

Traverse: 60°

Below, German artillery batteries fielding the 15-cm sFH 18 howitzer in Italy, in late 1943.

Below, the 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 in the Summer of 1944, on the Western Front.