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SURVIVING GUN FILE (# 1164)
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Germany
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Light artillery
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Contributor :
(Wikimedia Commons) Bukvoed      http://commons.wikimedia.org/
Charlie Clelland            |
Location :
Israël Avihayil Bet Hagdudim museum
Coordinates :
Lat : 32.35180 / Long : 34.87626
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General comments on this surviving gun :
Charlie Clelland comments : These are ex-Swiss Krupp 75mm M1902 export guns. The carriages were modified in the 1920s to permit higher elevations. The Swiss were getting rid of the Krupp guns after WW2 and Israel bought about 120 of them. The Israelis modified them for vehicle towing by using wheels from old 25 Pounder guns dumped in Italy and modifying the axles so the guns were still balanced on the smaller wheels. A few years ago I had an email exchange with a curator of the Yad Mordecai museum in Israel. He had a complete but rather tatty 75mm gun. After many months we worked out that the Israeli 75mm guns were originally from Switzerland. The Swiss were early (1903) purchasers of the 75mm Krupp export guns, I've never found the exact number but it seems to have been around 200 guns. Initially they operated them as field guns with limbers, as was the practice at the time. In 1922 many of the Swiss 75mm guns were modified to increase the maximum elevation by altering the rear of the trail.The top was cut off the trial and the side rails moved apart to allow the barrel to traverse at maximum elevation. The Swiss Army removed the 75mm Krupp guns from service in 1945 and they were stored in a scrapyard pending disposal. (The Swiss also produced 75mm guns with rear mounted trunnions and fortress guns using the Krupp 75mm barrel and receiver.) The Israelis heard of these guns and purchased about 120 in 1948. They managed to get about 50 usable guns. Although some of the Swiss guns were used by the Israelis with the original wooden wheels most were modified by adding pneumatic tires which could be towed at much higher speeds. The wheels, it is believed, came from the vast dumps of WW2 British equipment in Italy and are wheels from 25 Pounder guns. To fit the smaller diameter wheels plates were welded to the original cut off axles and these were then welded to stub axles on the smaller wheels. The Israeli 75mm guns were used during the War of Independence and, as training guns, into the 1950s. The Israelis had access to disarmed Sherman tanks from the Italian scrapyards and attempted to rearm the Shermans with 75mm Krupp guns. It's believed about 6 were converted but they never solved the problems with fitting tank sights to the gun. Images are of a Swiss 1903 Krupp gun and the 1922 modification.
Identical items in the same location :
2
Items covered by this file : 1 |
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Some experts say these tubes are not coming from German 77 FK96 nA, but indeed from some Krupp export guns |
The barrel and the recuperator have been assembled on a modern carriage |
Markings : 'Fried Krupp AG Essen 1905 - Nr 225' |
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Historic and technical information
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Denomination :     7.7cm FK 96 n/A | Origin :       ( RheinMetall)             ( Krupp )           | ||||
Historic context :
Faced to the sudden obsolescence of its new but so conventionnal Krupp fieldgun 7.7cm FK 96 ('FK' = FeldKanone = Fieldgun) because of the appearance of the revolutionary new French 75 mle 1897 fieldgun and the demonstration of its capacities on a battlefield in China in 1900, Krupp was ordered to coordinate with its most serious competitor Rheinmetall to engage a costly modernization program that would integrate this company technical innovations. |
Technical data :
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Sources
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