The 13.5 cm Kanone 09 (13.5 cm K 09) was a heavy

breech-loading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a muzzleloader, in which the user loads the ammunition from the ( muzzle ...

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

gun used by Germany in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Built by Friedrich Krupp AG, in Essen, Germany, this gun was intended to supplement the

10 cm K 04 The 10 cm Kanone 04 (10 cm K 04) was a field gun used by Germany in World War I. It was the second heavy gun with modern recoil system accepted by the German Army. It was produced as a replacement for the 10 cm K 99 and the 15 cm Ring K ...

. Only four of the sixteen built were in service at the outbreak of the war. It was withdrawn from service in 1915 as it was deemed to be too much gun for too little shell, but it was returned to service later in the war when the Allied blockade began to affect German ammunition production.

Technical details

The breech was a horizontal Krupp guide shaft breech, the shell and propellant charge were separated. The hydraulic recoil brake had a maximum stopping distance of 1.42 m, and the mount was a one-piece box spar mount. The gun fired using wheeled belts and was easily maneuverable off-road.

War trophies

One of these guns was captured during the

Battle of the Canal du Nord The Battle of Canal du Nord was part of the Hundred Days Offensive of the First World War by the Allies against German positions on the Western Front. The battle took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, along an incomplete porti ...

, on 29 September 1918, by the New Zealand Division. Two battalions of the Wellington Regiment were engaged in this action, which was part of an Allied attack on the

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (, Siegfried Position) was a German Defense line, defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in France during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to ...

. At the end of the war, the captured gun, Nr 4, and many other captured German weapons were sent to New Zealand as war trophies. In 1920, Nr 4 was given to the city of

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in honor of its soldiers. The gun, believed to be one of a few remaining in existence, is currently on public display in the

Wellington Botanic Garden Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā is a botanical garden close to central Wellington in New Zealand. It covers of land in a valley between Thorndon, New Zealand, Thorndon and Kelburn, New Zealand, Kelburn, with Glenmore Street as a bounda ...

. In 1921 the Channel Island of

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

received its share of the Allies' spoils of war, four K09 Kanon. Displayed near Victoria Tower in

Saint Peter Port St. Peter Port () is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958. St. Peter Port is a small tow ...

until in 1938 two having badly deteriorated, were scrapped. The remaining two were quickly buried in 1940 before the Island was occupied by German forces. Forgotten about, they were dug up in 1978 and are now again on display next to Victoria Tower.

Notes

References

* Hogg, Ian. ''Twentieth-Century Artillery''. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000 * Jäger, Herbert. ''German Artillery of World War One''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001

External links

Images of the gun in Wellington
World War I artillery of Germany 135 mm artillery {{Artillery-stub