8 cm kanon vz. 30

8 cm kanon vz. 30
Parade of SS troops in Krakow, October 1940
Type	Field gun
Place of origin	Czechoslovakia
Service history
In service	1930-1945
Used by	Czechoslovakia Nazi Germany
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Skoda
Designed	1928-1930
Manufacturer	Skoda
Specifications
Mass	1,816 kilograms (4,004 lb)
Barrel length	3.06 metres (10 ft) L/40
Caliber	76.5 mm (3 in)
Carriage	box trail
Elevation	-8° to +80°
Traverse	8°
Rate of fire	10-12 rpm
Muzzle velocity	600 m/s (1,968 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	13,500 metres (14,800 yd)

The 8 cm kanon vz. 30 (Cannon model 30) was a Czech field gun used in the Second World War. Guns captured after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 were taken into Wehrmacht service as the 8 cm FK 30(t). It was used by a variety of German units during World War II, including I./SS-Artillerie-Abteilung 3 between 1939 and 1940.

Design & history

It was modified from an earlier Skoda design, the 7.5 cm kanon vz. 28, that attempted to combine the field, mountain and anti-aircraft roles into one weapon. It proved to be fairly successful at the first two, but was a failure at the third. It was ordered by the Romanian and Yugoslav armies, but hardly used for anti-aircraft duties. The Czechs decided to adopt it to replace their plethora of aged Austro-Hungarian field guns. They deleted the firing platform of the original design and modified it to use standard Czech 76.5 mm ammunition. It shared the same carriage that could break down into three pieces for transport as the 10 cm houfnice vz. 30.

References

• Engelmann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst. Deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliederung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz. Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1974
• Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York: Doubleday, 1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3

External links

• page on the two Czech vz. 30 weapons