15 cm K (E)

• Name — 15 cm Kanone (E) • Origin — Germany • Type — Railway Gun • Is Explosive — yes • Is Artillery — yes • Used By — Nazi Germany • Wars — World War II • Designer — Krupp • Design Date — 1937 • Manufacturer — Krupp • Production Date — 1937 • Number — 4 • Weight — 74 t • Length — 20.1 m • Cartridge — separate-loading, cased charge • Caliber — 149.3 mm • Velocity — 600 - • Max Range — 22.5 km • Breech — vertical sliding-block • Elevation — +10° - +45° • Traverse — 360°

This weapon was the first modern railroad gun to enter service with the Heer. The gun was mounted on a simple pivot mount on a ballrace on a well-base flatcar with four outriggers. In action the outriggers and their jacks would be dropped to stabilize the gun and absorb the firing recoil. In addition jacks locked the spring suspension, bore on the surface of the rails and screw clamps gripped the rails for more stability. The elderly 15 cm Schnelladekanone L/40 was used because it was available in some numbers.

The standard high-explosive shell was the 15 cm K Gr 18, a 43 kg nose-fuzed round containing 5.68 kg of TNT. An anti-concrete shell was also available, the 15 cm Gr 19 Be. It was a base-fuzed 43.5 kg shell with a TNT filler of 4.8 kg, with a rounded sheet-steel ballistic cap. A base propellant charge was combined with three increments to form three standard loadings, Small Load (Kleine Ladung) with a muzzle velocity of 600 m/s, Medium (Mittelere) with a muzzle velocity of 725 m/s and Large (Grosse) with a muzzle velocity of 805 m/s.

Two guns were damaged by premature detonations in their barrels on 20 May 1940 while bombarding Liège. They spent most of the war assigned to Artillery Battery (Artillerie-Batterie) 655 (E) in Belgium on coast-defense duties along the Channel coast.

15 cm K (E) is classified as a railway gun. Associated with Germany. Recorded from 1937.