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SURVIVING GUN FILE (# 166)
Version française
Germany

7.7cm Feld Kanone 96 n/A Ballon-Abwehr Kanone
AA Artillery
Contributor :
Bernard Plumier      http://www.passioncompassion1418.com
      
     
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Location :
Belgium
Brussels
Musée Royal de l'Armée
Coordinates : Lat : 50.84260 / Long : 4.39430
General comments on this surviving gun :


Identical items in the same location : 1
Items covered by this file : 1

Another unique surviving weapon (only 44 built) in that wonderful museum !

The centre of gravity of that mounting is probably rather high, and the stability far from perfect...

The 77 FK 96 n/A on the top of that scaffold looks the usual type
Historic and technical information
Denomination :     7.7cm FK 96 n/A Schnetzer Origin :       ( Krupp)             ( RheinMetall )          

Historic context :

Although the German Head Quarters were already interested by the anti-aircraft (and most particularly anti-ballons) weaponry at the very beginning of the 20th century and requested the development of specific weapons, it appeared soon that the available devices were insufficient, in power and in number, to face the growing threat of the military aircrafts. Numerous impovised systems came to help, while new models were designed.

This is how the 7.7cm FK 96 n/A fieldgun was quick converted into a AA weapon, first by digging conventional battery guns tails within circular trenches, then by improvising specific wooden carriages. Severa such systems were made, before a simili standardisation of two scaffold carriages:

  • the 'Koebe-Protze' system, born in 1915,
  • the 'Schnetzler' system that replaced it in 1916
44 pieces of this last model were built during the war.

That solution was far from being perfect because of that scaffold instability, as well as the unsactisfactory operation of the recuperator in a quasi-vertical axis. This latter issue was partially solved by the adjunction of an additional spring linking the breech block and the carriage.

Moreover, the rather low initial speed of the projectile of this short barrel gun probably limited its use to the fight against airships ('Bak' = Ballon-Abwehr Kanone).

Technical data :

  • Complete description : Anti-baloon 7.7cm FK 96 n/A gun on Schnetzer carriage
  • Design year : 1916
  • Calibre : 77.00 mm
  • Weight in firing position : Unknown
  • Weight for transportation : Unknown
  • Tube length in calibres : 27.00 (total tube length) - 21.2 for the rifled part only
  • Grooves : 32 (progressive angle)
  • Projectile weight : 6.85 kg
  • Initial speed : 465 m/s
  • Fire rate :
  • Range : unknown
  • Elevation range : unknown
  • Direction range : 360 degrees with the carriage rotation, then 6 degrees range thanks to the gun commands

Sources
  • German Artillery of World War One           Herbert Jager                   Crowood   2001  
  • La Flak 1914-1918 - Volume N°1       Bernard Delsert       Jean-Jacques Dubois       Christian Kowal       Editions La Plume du Temps   1999  
  • La Flak 1914-1918 - Volume N°2       Bernard Delsert       Jean-Jacques Dubois       Christian Kowal       Editions La Plume du Temps   1999