28 cm Haubitze L/12 howitzer

• Name — 28 cm Haubitze L/12 • Origin — Germany • Type — Coastal Artillery Heavy Siege Howitzer • Is Explosive — yes • Is Artillery — yes • Service — 1892–1945 • Used By — German Empire Nazi Germany Portugal • Wars — World War I World War II • Designer — Krupp • Manufacturer — Krupp • Weight — 50.3 t • Part Length — 3.39 m L/12 • Cartridge — Separate loading bagged charge and projectile • Cartridge Weight — 215-345 kg • Caliber — 283 mm • Rate — 1 round per 4 minutes • Velocity — 379-425 m/s • Range — 9.9 km • Max Range — 10.4 km • Breech — Horizontal sliding-block • Recoil — Hydro-gravity • Elevation — 0° to +70° • Traverse — 360°

During the First World War there was a four-gun battery at the Bismark fortress that participated in the defense of the German colony of Tsingtao during the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914. A four gun battery was also moved from the German port of Wilhelmshaven to Blankenberge in Belgium to defend against an allied seaborne invasion. Prior to the Great War, in 1902, the Portuguese monarchy bought several 28cm Krupp howitzers for equipping coastal artillery batteries at the mouth of the river Tagus, serving as the main defensive guns for Lisbon's harbor. There were in total four batteries, two on the northern margin and two on the southern margin of the river. Despite operating on a 24-hour basis during the Great War, these batteries were not capable of shooting at night, relying on other batteries of smaller-calibre artillery for defending the capital.

Supposedly it saw action in the assault on Sevastopol in 1942 under the command of 11th Army of Army Group South, but this has not been confirmed. In a personal photo album, owned by former Mountain Troops general Gheorghe Manoliu, commander of the 4th Mountain Division, a piece of artillery that seems to be a Haubitze L/12 was identified in a picture taken during the battle for Sevastopol.

• 12-inch coast defense mortar - A US coastal defense mortar. • 28 cm howitzer L/10 - A Japanese coastal defense howitzer based on an Armstrong design. • Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889 - A French coastal defense mortar • Obice da 280 - An Italian coastal defense howitzer based on an Armstrong design.

• Illustration — 28-cm-Küstenhaubitze L-12 (coastal howitzer) • Illustration — A picture of a coastal howitzer from encyclopedia britannica 1910. • Illustration — One of the four 28 cm coastal howitzers at fort Bismarck Tsingtao. • Illustration — One of the Blankenberge howitzers sabotaged by the retreating Germans.