10.5 cm leFH 16

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.

10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16
A leFH 16 captured on 2 September 1918 by the 13th Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada), 3rd Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), at Cagnicourt Wood, France.
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
Mass	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)
Shell	cased separate-loading (5 charges) 105 x 155mm R[1]
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)

Description

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.

Post war

10.5 cm leFH 16 from the side

Rear of 10.5 cm leFH 16

The Treaty of Versailles limited the Reichswehr to only 84 light field howitzers, with 800 rounds of ammunition per gun.^[2] 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.^[3] 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). Romania acquired around 64 pieces from the German Army following World War I, and put them into service during the interwar years.^[4]