www.passioncompassion1418.com
SURVIVING GUN FILE (# 230)
Version française

Germany

10cm Kanone 04

Light artillery

Contributor :
Vincent Cnudde     
Bernard Plumier      http://www.passioncompassion1418.com
     
Lien vers post du blog
Location :
Belgium
Transinne
Monument aux Morts
Coordinates : Lat : 50.00050 / Long : 5.20390
General comments on this surviving gun :
An exceptionnal battery of four 10cm K04 cannons are guarding this small and peaceful Belgian Ardennes village monument since 1922, when they have been sent by train from the town of Huy to the station of Poix St Hubert, then trailed to their final destination. These four guns are a good illustration of the continuous production of this 'old' gun throughout the war.


Identical items in the same location : 4
Items covered by this file : 1

Group picture of the Transinne battery

Breech markings 'Nr 243 - 1914 - Spandau'

Breech markings 'Nr 127 - 1907 - Fried Krupp AG Essen). The Nr 127 and 243 guns are marked witrh Prussia arms on the tube (with the sentence 'Ultima Ratio Regis') like many pre-war cannons.


Historic and technical information
Denomination :     10cm K 04 Origin :       ( Krupp)          

Historic context :

Despite its interesting ballistic properties, the 10cm K 99 was quickly overcome by the absence of a modern recuperator mechanism. The German Army therefore asked Ehrardt to design a new gun of the same caliber and properties but equipped with this apparatus and not needing a platform.

The model proposed by Ehrardt in 1902 was not found convincing, but meanwhile the challenge was particularly well accepted by Krupp whose 10cm modern gun was adopted under the name '10 cm K 04' ('K' = Kanone = Canon), inheriting some of the developpments this company made for the modern 15cm sFH 02 howitzer.

The gun used fixed ammunitions and was equipped with a recoil system and a long tube quasi-identical to the one of the 10cm K 99, inclmuding the typical vertical sliding block breech mechanism. There was no shield, at the expenses of the servants safety.

Its precision, range and fire rate made this gun one of the best assets of the German Army, who will use it on all the battlefields for different types of missions, and will continuously manufacture new ones until the end of the war, despite the apparition of the newest versions 10cm K 14 and 10cm K 17. This gun was incorporated in the units of the Fuss Artillerie

Germany entered the war with 182 such guns. At the end of the war, it had 484 10cm K04.

Technical data :

  • Complete description : 10cm gun M 1904
  • Design year : 1904
  • Calibre : 105.20 mm
  • Weight in firing position : 2755 kg
  • Weight for transportation : 3509 kg in one single load
  • Tube length in calibres : 29.80 (total tube length) - 22 calibres grooved length
  • Grooves : 32
  • Projectile weight : 17.8 à 18.75 kg
  • Initial speed : 560 to 583 m/s
  • Fire rate :
  • Range : 9200 to 12700 m/s
  • Elevation range : -5 to +30 degrees
  • Direction range : 4 degrees total range


Sources
  • German Artillery of World War One           Herbert Jager                   Crowood   2001  
  • http://www.lovettartillery.com/      Ralph Lovett                      
  • Das Geraet der Schweren Artillerie vor, in und nach der Weltkrieg       Herman Schirmer                   Bernard und Graefe, Berlin   1937