15 Cm SFH 18
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The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 or sFH 18 (German: "heavy field howitzer, model 18"), nicknamed ''Immergrün'' ("
Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
"), was the basic German division-level heavy
howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...
of 149mm during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, serving alongside the smaller but more numerous 10.5 cm leFH 18. Its mobility and firing range and the effectiveness of its 44
kilogram The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (m ...
shell made it the most important weapon of all German
infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
divisions. A total of 6,756 examples were produced. It replaced the earlier,
First World War 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 ...
-era design of the 15 cm sFH 13, which was judged by the
Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...
-
Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...
designer team of the sFH 18 as completely inadequate. The sFH 18 was twice as heavy as its predecessor, had a
muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/ shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately t ...
increase of forty percent, a maximum firing range 4.5
kilometer The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the preferred mea ...
s greater, and a new split-trail gun carriage that increased the firing traverse twelvefold. The secret development from 1926–1930 allowed German industry to deliver a trouble-free design at the beginning of German re-armament in 1933. It was the first artillery weapon equipped with rocket-assisted ammunition to increase range. The sFH 18 was also used in the self-propelled artillery piece ''schwere Panzerhaubitze'' 18/1 (more commonly known as '' Hummel''). The sFH 18 was one of Germany's three main 15 cm calibre weapons, the others being the 15 cm Kanone 18, a
corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...
-level heavy gun, and the 15 cm sIG 33, a short-barreled infantry gun.


Design and development

Development work on the sFH 18 began in 1926 and the gun was ready for production by 1933. The model year was an attempt at camouflage. The gun originated with a contest between
Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...
and
Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...
, both of whom entered several designs that were all considered unsatisfactory for one reason or another. In the end the army decided the solution was to combine the best features of both designs, using the Rheinmetall gun on a Krupp carriage.sFH 18
/ref> The carriage was a relatively standard split-trail design with box legs. Spades were carried on the sides of the legs that could be mounted onto the ends for added stability. The carriage also saw use on the
10 cm schwere Kanone 18 The 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 (10 cm sK 18) was a field gun used by Germany in World War II. 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 howi ...
gun. As the howitzer was designed for horse towing, it used an unsprung axle and hard rubber tires. A two-wheel bogie was introduced to allow it to be towed, but the lack of suspension made it unsuitable for towing at high speed. The only remarkable feature of the sFH 18 was that it was the first weapon to make use of
rocket-assisted projectile A rocket-assisted projectile (RAP) is a cannon, howitzer, Mortar (weapon), mortar, or recoilless rifle round incorporating a rocket motor for independent propulsion. This gives the projectile greater speed and range than a non-assisted Ballistics ...
s (RAP), which in theory would give the howitzer a range equal or superior to the 10 cm sK 18, replacing it and freeing up German production capacity for more important weapons; In practice, the RAP rounds were not entirely successful and were withdrawn from service shortly after being introduced in 1941. Army reports at the time "speak with awe of the voluminous and involved firing instructions that accompanied it," which did nothing to dispel the artillery crews suspicions that the RAP rounds were scarcely out of the experimental stage. The gun was officially introduced into service on 23 May 1935,Haubitzen und Mörser
and by the outbreak of war the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
had about 1,353 of these guns in service. Production continued throughout the war, reaching a peak of 2,295 guns in 1944. In 1944, the howitzer cost 40,400 RM, 9 months and 5,500 man-hours to make.


Variants

Several other versions of the basic 15 cm were produced: *The 15 cm sFH 36 was a version with a greatly reduced weight that was an attempt to improve mobility, but as it used various light alloys to achieve this saving it was considered too costly to continue production. *The 15 cm sFH 40 was another improved version, featuring a slightly longer barrel and a new carriage that was suitable for vehicle towing and allowed the barrel to have wider firing angles and thereby improve range up to 15,400 m. However this version was even heavier than the ''sFH 18'' (at ) and was found to be too difficult to use in the field. *The 15 cm sFH 18/40 was created by fitting the barrel of the ''15 cm sFH 40'' to existing ''sFH 18'' carriages. Roughly 46 howitzers were created. *A further modification was the 15 cm sFH 18/43, which changed to a split breech that allowed for the use of bagged charges instead of requiring the gunners to first put the charges into casings. *Two further attempts to introduce a newer 15 cm piece followed, but neither the 15 cm sFH 43 or 15 cm sFH 44 progressed past the stage of wooden mock-ups.


Combat record

The first field combat for the 15 cm sFH 18 was with the Chinese National Revolutionary Army in the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
. The Chinese planned on purchasing a total of 240 pieces but only 24 were delivered by 1937 due the lack of funds. The few 15 cm sFH 18 units the Chinese did have hopelessly outclassed their Japanese counterparts which were mainly the Type 38 15 cm howitzer and Type 4 15 cm howitzer, forcing the Japanese to introduce the Type 96 15 cm Howitzer. Some earlier pieces (about 24) of sFH18 in China were designed specially with a 32/L barrel, known as sFH18 32/L; the maximum range was increased to 15 km. Against the Soviet Union, the sFH 18 lacked the range of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
152 mm ML-20 gun-howitzer, its maximum range of allowed it to fire counter-battery against the sFH 18 with a advantage. This led to numerous efforts to introduce new guns with even better performance than the ML-20, while various experiments were also carried out on the sFH 18 to improve its range. These led to the 15 cm sFH 18M version with a removable barrel liner and a
muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral (ported barrel) to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter re ...
that allowed a larger "special 7" or 8 charge to be used. The 18M increased range to , but it was found that the liners suffered increased wear and the recoil system could not handle the increased loads in spite of the brake. This led to the introduction of the 15 cm R. Gr. 19 FES ammunition, which used a rocket-assisted round that could reach and give it some level of parity with the ML-20. Several countries continued fielding the sFH 18 after the war in large numbers including
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, Portugal and many
South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
and
Central American Central America is a Subregion#North America, subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Ce ...
countries. Finland bought 48 sFH 18 howitzers from Germany in 1940 and designated them 150 H/40. These guns were modernized in 1988 as the 152 H 88, and they were used by the Finnish Army until 2007.


Versions

*15 cm sFH 18 – standard version *15 cm sFH 36 - lightened version *15 cm sFH 18M – modification of sFH-18 with muzzle brake and replaceable barrel liner *15 cm sFH 18/40 – sFH 40 barrels on sFH 18 carriages *15 cm sFH 18/43 – a sFH 18 development to accept bag charge with sliding-block breech *15 cm sFH 18/32L – Chinese (Republic of China) version with longer barrel and longer range of 15 km *152 mm Howitzer M18/46 – Post-war Czechoslovak modification with a shorter barrel that was rebored to fire Soviet 152 mm ammunition, a straight topped gun shield and a double-baffle muzzle brake * 152 H 88-40 – Finnish modernization with a lengthened 152-mm barrel and a muzzle brake


Operators

* – Post-war use * * − sFH 18M * – Post-war use * *
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
− 24 sFH 18/32L purchased in 1937 *
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
– Modified as the ''Howitzer M18/46''. Kept in reserve as late as 1976 * – 48 pieces, known as ''150 H/40'' * * – Designated as the ''Obice 149/28'' * – Post-war use * − Designated as ''Haub m/39'' * – sFH 18 and sFH 18M


See also

* 152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20) – Soviet 152 mm howitzer * BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun – British gun of similar size *
10 cm schwere Kanone 18 The 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 (10 cm sK 18) was a field gun used by Germany in World War II. 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 howi ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

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External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 150 mm artillery World War II field artillery World War II artillery of Germany World War II artillery of Italy World War II weapons of China Krupp Rheinmetall World War II howitzers Military equipment introduced in the 1930s