24 cm Haubitze 39

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PlaceoforiginCzechoslovakia
Inservice1939–1945
UsedbyTurkey
Nazi Germany
24 cm houfnice vz.39
(24 cm Haubitze 39)
A 24 cm Haubitze 39 in 1941 during the Siege of Leningrad.
TypeHeavy Siege Howitzer
Place of originCzechoslovakia
Service history
In service1939–1945
Used byTurkey
Nazi Germany
WarsWorld War II
Production history
DesignerŠkoda
ManufacturerŠkoda
Produced1939–42
No. built18
VariantsH 39/40
Specifications
Mass27,000 kg (60,000 lb)
Length6.765 m (22 ft 2 in) (total length of gun)

Shellseparate-loading, bagged charge
Shell weight166 kilograms (366 lb)
Caliber240 millimetres (9.4 in)
BreechInterrupted screw, de Bange obturation
CarriageBox trail
Elevation-4° to +70°
Traverse360°
Rate of fire1 rd per 2 minutes
Muzzle velocity600 m/s (2,000 ft/s)
Maximum firing range18 kilometres (11 mi)
FillingTNT
Filling weight23.66 kg (52 lb 3 oz)

The 24 cm houfnice vz.39 (German designation: 24 cm Haubitze 39) (Howitzer model 39) was a Czechoslovak-designed siege howitzer used in the Second World War. It was kept in production after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and eighteen were delivered to the Germans. It was only used by the Army's Artillery Regiment 814 and entered service shortly before the Battle of France in 1940. The regiment participated in Operation Barbarossa and in the Sieges of Sevastopol and Leningrad.

Ammunition

Škoda designed it for export and Turkey ordered a batch, but only received two before the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939. It was a stablemate of the Škoda 21 cm Kanone 39 and used virtually the same mounting and transport arrangements. It used an interrupted screw breech with a de Bange obturator to provide the gas seal with bagged propellant. The carriage revolved on a ball-race firing platform that had to be dug-in before firing, a task that took six to eight hours to accomplish. It broke down into three loads for transport, the barrel, carriage and the ground platform. A modified version entered service in 1942 as the H 39/40 although the changes merely simplified production.[1] A total of eighteen were delivered to Germany.[2]

It used both Czechoslovak and German-designed ammunition. The Czechoslovak-designed 24 cm Gr 39(t) HE shell had a weight of 166 kilograms (366 lb). It used both nose and base fuses, two copper driving bands and contained a 23.66 kilograms (52.2 lb) bursting charge of TNT. The German copy, the 24 cm Gr 39 umg had only a German nose fuze, soft-iron driving bands and a smaller charge of 22.9 kilograms (50 lb). It also used a Czechoslovak-designed anti-concrete shell, the 24 cm Gr 39 Be, that had copper driving bands. It used 5 bagged charges that were enclosed in a single larger bag. Increments were simply removed to adjust range as necessary. [3]

Combat history

Notes

References

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