Obice da 105/14

The Obice da 105/14 modello 17 was a howitzer used by Italy during World War II. The howitzer was designed by Schneider in 1906. It was chosen by the Italian Regio Esercito to serve as their new field gun, but licence production by Ansaldo was slow. Some more were produced during the interwar years, but the captured Austrian Obice da 100/17 was generally considered to be superior.

Obice da 105/14 modello 17
Type	howitzer
Place of origin	Italy
Service history
In service	1920–1945
Used by	Italy Nazi Germany
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Ansaldo
Manufacturer	Ansaldo
Specifications
Mass	1,400 kg (3,100 lb)
Barrel length	1.47 m (4 ft 10 in) L/14
Shell	16.3 kg (35 lb 15 oz)
Caliber	105 mm (4.134 in)
Carriage	Box trail
Elevation	−5° to +70°
Traverse	5°
Rate of fire	5–8 rpm
Muzzle velocity	330 m/s (1,083 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	8,160 m (8,920 yd)

It was originally designed to be towed by horses with wooden-spoked wheels. Some weapons may have been modernized for tractor-towing with steel-spoked wheels and pneumatic tires. For transport the box trail was supported by a small limber. Howitzers captured by the Germans after the Italian surrender in 1943 were given the designation of 10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 326(i), although it is unknown to what extent they were actually used.

Both references listed below believe this gun was developed in the 1930s, but this seems unlikely given the photographic evidence of the designation as modello 17. The box trail would also be very old-fashioned for a gun designed that late.

References

• Chamberlain, Peter & Gander, Terry. Light and Medium Field Artillery. New York: Arco, 1975
• Cappellano, Filippo. "Le artiglierie terrestri dell'Ansaldo nella Grande Guerra" in Storia Militare Nr 51, December 1997, 4-13
• 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

• Photo essay on the Obice da 105/14 modello 17