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Cannone da 75/27 modello 06

1906 WORLD WAR 1 WORLD WAR 2

Cannone da 75/27 modello 06 history

Before the First World War, the Italian Army was awarded a license production contract by the German company Krupp, which produced many types of heavy and light artillery, producing their "Kanone M1906" (aka "M.06" ) field gun. In the inventory of the Italian Army, the weapon system was named Cannone da 75/27 modello 06 and was introduced in 1906.

The weapon continued to serve Italian interests in its heyday and eventually entered the battle field gun as a standard Army in both world wars.

Externally, the Modello 06 had a very traditional towed artillery design at the time. Centered on a 75mm barrel, the design has a maximum range of 7,400 yards and a muzzle velocity of 1,647 feet per second. Lateral is limited to 7 degrees and elevation ranges from -10 to +16 degrees. The barrel rests on the recoil mechanism, which itself consists of a hydraulic spring recoil system.

The barrel protrudes through a relatively flat armor plate shroud designed to provide limited protection to the riflemen behind. The breech is guided behind the barrel and has a horizontal slider design. On the sides of the breech, there were integrated seats for two artillerymen. Raising and passing through the barrel is conventional, managed by a series of handwheels mounted in the design. The barrel, recoil mechanism and stock were mounted on a pair of multi-spoke wooden wheels, which allowed limited maneuverability on the battlefield.

The transport system is of the "rod" type, allowing the rear of the gun support structure to be attached to a fleet of horses or mechanized movers for transport. A trained crew can fire 4 to 6 75mm/min 14lb projectiles as needed.

When the First World War broke out in Europe in August 1914, the dormant Union came alive. In all respects, Italy, which was supposed to be allied with the forces of the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, ended up delaying their contribution to the war for almost a year to see where the war was going. In April 1915, Italy finally sided with the Triple Entente (Allied Powers) consisting of Great Britain, Russia and France.

As history has shown, cannons played an important role in the bloody battles of World War I. This is how the superiority of the Cannone da 75/27 modello 06 comes into play, their 75mm HE rounds work well in war.

After the war, the weapon continued to serve. By the time of World War II in 1939, the Modello 06 had become a front-line weapon, and it was again used against Italian troops as the Axis powers began waging a new world war in Europe. At this point, the wooden wheels were replaced with steel rims with rubber tire covers to improve on- and off-road transportation (though some original versions are still in use). The Modello 06 was used extensively in the conflict as a conventional artillery field gun, as a fixed fortification gun, and was even distributed to the German Army Artillery when its own artillery stocks were limited due to demands elsewhere in the war . Following wartime convention, the German Army referred to these guns as "7.5 cm FK 237(i)" to indicate their "Italian" origin. The Modello 06 system, which was used extensively in the North African campaign and beyond, proved adequate in combat, but was more or less obsolete by the 1940s.

The newer "Cannone da 75/27 modello 12" appeared in an attempt to improve upon the limited height of the original Modello 06 series, mainly due to the use of a canal bracket system. These weapons slightly increase the elevation range to -12 and +18 degrees, which inevitably results in an overall increase in range.

In addition, the gun has been further "cleaned" and the overall design is lighter - about 400 pounds lighter than the original WW1 version. Of course, this special quality makes transportation and relocation on site much easier. The Bundeswehr designation for these guns was "7.5 cm FK 245(i)".

After Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, many remaining Italian guns in or near German army positions were claimed and used against their former owners. The Cannone da 75/27 series 75mm guns were largely eliminated by the end of the war in 1945.

To avoid confusion, "Cannone da 75/27 modello 11" is an unrelated 75mm field gun used by the Italian Army, based on a French original. The Germans call these 7.5 cm FK 244(i).