10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 | |
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A captured leFH 16 in the United States, July 1921
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Type | Field howitzer |
Place of origin | German Empire |
Service history | |
In service | 1916–45 |
Used by |
German Empire Nazi Germany Belgium |
Wars |
World War I World War II |
Production history | |
Designer | Rheinmetall |
Designed | 1914–16 |
Produced | 1916 |
Variants | leFH 16 n.A |
Specifications | |
Weight | Travel: 2,870 kg (6,330 lb) Combat: 1,525 kg (3,362 lb) |
Length | 5.000 m (16 ft 4.9 in) |
Barrel length | 2.310 m (7 ft 6.9 in) L/22 |
Width | 1.650 m (5 ft 5.0 in) |
Height | 1.650 m (5 ft 5.0 in) |
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Shell | cased separate-loading (5 charges) 105 x 155mm R |
Shell weight | 14.81 kg (32.7 lb) (HE) 14.25 kg (31.4 lb) (AP) |
Caliber | 105 mm (4.1 in) |
Breech | horizontal sliding block |
Carriage | box trail |
Elevation | -10° to +40° |
Traverse | 4° |
Rate of fire | 6-8 rpm |
Muzzle velocity | 395 m/s (1,300 ft/s) |
Maximum firing range | 9,225 m (10,089 yd) |
Filling | TNT |
Filling weight | 1.38 kg (3.0 lb) |
The 10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 (10.5 cm leFH 16) was a field howitzer used by Germany in World War I and World War II.
The 10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 was introduced in 1916 as a successor to 10.5 cm Feldhaubitze 98/09, featuring a longer barrel and hence longer range. It had the same carriage as the 7.7 cm FK 16.
The Treaty of Versailles limited the Reichswehr to only 84 light field howitzers, with 800 rounds of ammunition per gun. The leFH 16 remained the standard German howitzer until 1937, when the 10.5 cm leFH 18 began to replace them in the artillery battalions. Guns turned over to Belgium as reparations after World War I were taken into German Army service after the conquest of Belgium as the 10.5 cm leFH 327 (b).