15cm K18 questions

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Sturm78
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15cm K18 questions

#1

Post by Sturm78 » 13 Sep 2009, 12:01

Hi all,

I'm looking for wartime pictures of 15cm K18 heavy gun. I know very few photos of this gun even though 101 copies were manufactured according to various sources.

Secondly I have a small doubt. I have on my hard drive two photos (from Ebay) showing this gun with different wheels than normal.
Standard wheels had spokes while these two photos show wheels with 8 round holes. The question is: Were these wheels used only in the first production copies or were used two different types of wheels along the time of manufacturing of this gun?

Also, in my third photo these rare wheels with 8 holes can be seen in the barrel trailer (the carriage can not be seen very well), while in my second photo these wheels only are used in the carriage and not in the barrel trailer (with standard wheels). :?

My first photo shows the gun and trailers with standard wheels, to compare.

Thanks in advance. Regards Sturm78
Attachments
15cm K18--.JPG
15cm K18--.JPG (157.3 KiB) Viewed 6997 times
15cm k18 with barrel trailer attached.JPG
15cm k18 with barrel trailer attached.JPG (74.59 KiB) Viewed 6997 times
15cm K18 heavy gun -.jpg
15cm K18 heavy gun -.jpg (26.2 KiB) Viewed 6997 times

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peeved
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#2

Post by peeved » 13 Sep 2009, 12:41

These look rather like K 18 barrel and firing platform transporters to me (Source eBay.de).

Markus
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160360196193.jpg
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160360196644.jpg
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Sturm78
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#3

Post by Sturm78 » 13 Sep 2009, 16:00

Very good pictures, Markus. Thank you very much. :D

However your two images show a 15cm K39: barrel and platform trailers; not 15cm K18.

Regards Sturm78.

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kstdk
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#4

Post by kstdk » 13 Sep 2009, 17:29

Hello

Is this what you are looking for?

I do not know the Type of the actual gun, but it looks like the same?

Scanned picture from the Danish book: "Den lange vej til glæden - Herning-egnen under besættelsen 1940 - 1945"

Illegal photo of the gun during excersise at a schools sportsfield in the town of Herning - Denmark, picture taken in year 1943.

Regards
Kurt
kstdk
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Herning - Vestergades Skole, kanonstilling, øvelse.jpg
Herning - Vestergades Skole, kanonstilling, øvelse.jpg (119.11 KiB) Viewed 6961 times
Herning - Vestergades Skole, kanonstilling, øvelse.1.jpg
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jopaerya
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#5

Post by jopaerya » 13 Sep 2009, 18:21

Hello All

I agree with Sturm78 that the photo's from Markus are 15 cm K 39 and
I think the one's from Kurt the 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette .

Regards Jos

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Manuferey
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#6

Post by Manuferey » 13 Sep 2009, 20:57

Two 15 cm K18 in firing positions plus one trailer ? (from ebay.de)

Image

Emmanuel
Last edited by Manuferey on 15 Sep 2009, 02:21, edited 1 time in total.

Sturm78
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#7

Post by Sturm78 » 14 Sep 2009, 09:14

Thank you very much for your image :D , Manuferey, although is too small to see any detail.
I have these other three pictures (from Ebay and BPK) but also are of poor quality and I can not appreciate the details. Any other better picture will be welcome.

Nobody has any idea about the question of the rare wheels with 8 round holes? As you can see in these latest pictures and Manuferey`s picture, all the guns have standard spoked wheels.

Regards Sturm78
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15cm K18 gun firing in the Eastern Front 1942 ,.JPG
15cm K18 gun firing in the Eastern Front 1942 ,.JPG (110.15 KiB) Viewed 6901 times
15cm K18 battery in Russland ,,.JPG
15cm K18 battery in Russland ,,.JPG (58.51 KiB) Viewed 6901 times
15cm K18 heavy gun ,.JPG
15cm K18 heavy gun ,.JPG (62.28 KiB) Viewed 6901 times

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peeved
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#8

Post by peeved » 14 Sep 2009, 12:50

I'm no arty expert so all I can offer is more confusion:
From Germany's Guns 1939-45 by Terry Gander 15 cm K 18 captured by the British in North Africa (8 small holes) plus K 18 on the Krupp ranges at Meppen with 6 large holes like the K 39 below it and K 39 barrel and platform trailers a few posts up.

Markus

Edit: The Meppen gun seems to have a split trail in which case it's unlikely to be a 15 cm K 18; K 39 seems more probable. Does the Africa gun look like a s. 10 cm K 18 to you?
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15cmK18Africa.jpg
15cmK18Africa.jpg (81.07 KiB) Viewed 6884 times
15cmK18Meppen.jpg
15cmK18Meppen.jpg (86.56 KiB) Viewed 6884 times
15cmK39.jpg
15cmK39.jpg (87.37 KiB) Viewed 6884 times

Sturm78
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#9

Post by Sturm78 » 14 Sep 2009, 14:09

Hi Markus,

First, thank you very much for your photos. :D
Secondly I think your first picture shows a 10.5cm K18, the second a 15cm K39 and the third another 15cm K39 on its platform.

Differences between a 15cm K18 and a 15cm K39:

15cm K18: box trail, mudguards on wheels,spoked/8 round holes wheels :? and firing platform incorporated under the gun carriage. Transported in two loads: carriage trailer and barrel trailer.
15cm K39: split trail, without mudguards, wheels with 6 round holes , and separated firing platform. Transported in three loads: carriage trailer, barrel trailer and platform trailer.

Regards Sturm78.
Last edited by Sturm78 on 15 Sep 2009, 10:16, edited 1 time in total.

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peeved
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#10

Post by peeved » 14 Sep 2009, 15:49

Sturm78 wrote:Secondly I think your first picture shows a 10.5cm K18, the second a 15cm K39 and the third another 15cm K39 on its platform.
Thanks, had noticed that myself too as mentioned in the edited text.

The 15 cm K 18, 15 cm K 18 & 15 cm K 39 IDs were straight from Gander's book. Just goes to show that even respectable writers can be fooled by the generic looks of some German guns.
Sturm78 wrote:Differences between a 15cm K18 and a 15cm K39:

15cm K18: box trail, mudguards on wheels, wheels with 6 round holes and firing platform incorporated under the gun carriage. Transported in two loads: carriage trailer and barrel trailer.
15cm K39: split trail, without mudguards, spoked wheels or with 8 round holes :? , and separated firing platform. Transported in three loads: carriage trailer, barrel trailer and platform trailer.
Shouldn't that be
15cm K18: ... spoked wheels or with 8 round holes...
and
15cm K39: ... wheels with 6 round holes...

As for the eight hole wheels on 15 cm K 18 how about this theory: After 15 cm K 16 barrels were fitted on 21 cm Mrs 18 carriages to create the 15 cm K 16 in Mrs Laf. the Germans were left with surplus K 16 carriages and trailers. Their eight hole wheels were then fitted on 15 cm K 18 carriages and/or trailers to avoid waste according to the best Hausfrau tradition.

Markus

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nuyt
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#11

Post by nuyt » 14 Sep 2009, 19:54

I think the wheel question has also been discussed on this forum related to the sfH18.
AFAIK the 8 hole wheel was the original Rheinmetall wheel, also used on the carriage.

By the way, what other guns can be seen on the Meppen K36 picture?

Sturm78
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#12

Post by Sturm78 » 15 Sep 2009, 10:46

Hi Markus,

As for your theory about 15cm K18 wheels, I'm not so sure that the wheels with 8 holes of 15cm K16 (after her modernization) are the same as the 15cm K18. I think they have different diameter.
Besides, if they reused the wheels I guess that they would also reused the rear smaller wheels of trailers, which also had round holes in the case of K16 guns, but they were solid discs wheels without holes at the K18, as you can see in my third photo posted on 13 Sep.

On the other hand, I have never heard of a 15cm K16 barrel on 21cm Mrs 18 carriage 8O. Ian Hogg mentions a 15cm SK C/28 naval barrel in Morserlafette, but I've never seen any pictures of this gun.
peeved wrote:Shouldn't that be
15cm K18: ... spoked wheels or with 8 round holes...
and
15cm K39: ... wheels with 6 round holes...
Of course you're right. Confused me. I edit my post to correct
nuyt wrote: By the way, what other guns can be seen on the Meppen K36 picture?
I think 8.8cm Flak guns

Regards Sturm78
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15cm K16 gun being towed in one load by SdKfz 8.JPG
15cm K16 gun being towed in one load by SdKfz 8.JPG (133.58 KiB) Viewed 6784 times

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peeved
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#13

Post by peeved » 15 Sep 2009, 17:02

Here's a 15 cm K 18 barrel transporter photo with 8-hole large rims and spoked dolly wheels (apparently the variations were many) from Heavy Artillery by Chamberlain & Gander & two photos from their Enzyklopädie deutscher Waffen 1939 1945 labeled 15 cm SK C/28 in Mörserlafette. Have never seen a correctly captioned pic of a 15 cm K 16 in Mörserlafette.

Markus
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15cmK18Rohrwagen.jpg
15cmK18Rohrwagen.jpg (41.12 KiB) Viewed 6753 times
15cmSKC28inMrsLafa.jpg
15cmSKC28inMrsLafa.jpg (67.12 KiB) Viewed 6753 times
15cmSKC28inMrsLafb.jpg
15cmSKC28inMrsLafb.jpg (62.72 KiB) Viewed 6753 times

Sturm78
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#14

Post by Sturm78 » 15 Sep 2009, 19:03

Thank you very much for your pics, Markus. :D

Questions about the wheels of the German artillery pieces are very irritating:

Collecting information about 15cm K18 wheels: main wheels: spoked wheels (I think they are standard model) and 8 round
holes wheels.
dolly wheels: spoked wheels ( I think they are standard model) and solid
rim wheels.

with many possible combinations, it seems. :x

As for the 15cm SK C/28 on Morserlafette seems very difficult to differentiate this gun respect to 17cm K18.

Regards Sturm78

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Manuferey
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Re: 15cm K18 questions

#15

Post by Manuferey » 15 Sep 2009, 22:19

In the following post, there are pictures of a 15 cm SK C/28 tube on the LC/38 mobile carriage. One can try to compare the tube with the pictures peeved’s pictures.

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 0&t=146879

Emmanuel

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