42 cm Haubitze M. 14/16

Two howitzers were bought to defend the main Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola on the Adriatic. They were to be installed on a turntable carriage with an armored dome able to traverse a full 360° for all-around defense. The turntable rested on a ball-race ring, set in a concrete foundation. However, with Pola unthreatened after the outbreak of the war, it was decided that they might be better used in support of the Army. The first howitzer was already fixed in place, but the second was not yet installed and Skoda was able to adapt it for mobile use by January 1915. On the 14th of that month, Howitzer No. 2, assigned to Küstenhaubitze Batterie (Coastal Howitzer Battery) no. 1, fired its first shot at the railway station in Tarnów, Austrian Poland. 14s were eventually ordered (along with a spare barrel and cradle), although one was retained by Skoda. Barrel production was very slow, so slow that barrels originally ordered for coastal mounts were put into service as part of the 42 cm Autohaubitze (Motorized Howitzer) M. One surviving gun was used in 1940 by Nazi Germany to shell the Ouvrage Schoenenbourg from a position near Oberotterbach; the 60- and 80-cm guns later used by the Third Reich (for example at Sevastopol) were not ready in time for the French campaign, so World War I vintage heavy pieces like this Škoda and also a surviving Gamma-Gerät weapon had to be used. The Škoda, apparently the sole M17 model, entered German possession following the annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938–39, and was renamed from 42 cm houfnice vz. 17 to 42 cm Haubitze(t); it also served at Leningrad and Sevastopol, even though its barrel life was rated to only 1,000 rounds. Another piece, an M16 model, was captured at Győr in Hungary during the Hungarian–Romanian War of 1919, together with the 38 cm Belagerungshaubitze M 16 no 2 "Gudrun". It is exhibited at the National Military Museum in Bucharest.

• Name — 42 cm L/15 Küstenhaubitze M. 14 • Origin — Austria-Hungary • Type — Superheavy siege howitzer • Is Artillery — yes • Service — 1914–1945 • Used By — Austria-Hungary Czechoslovakia Kingdom of Italy Nazi Germany Hungary Romania • Wars — World War I, World War II • Designer — Škoda • Design Date — 1909–1914 • Manufacturer — Škoda • Production Date — 1914–1918 • Number — 8 • Variants — Autohaubitze M. 16, Autohaubitze M. 17 • Spec Label — 42 cm Autohaubitze M. 17 • Weight — 105000 kg • Part Length — 6.29 m L/15 • Crew — 27 • Cartridge — 1020 kg • Caliber — 420 mm • Rate — 1 round per 5 minutes • Velocity — 435 m/s • Max Range — 14600 m • Breech — horizontal sliding-block • Recoil — Hydro-pneumatic • Carriage — firing platform • Elevation — +40° to 70° • Traverse — 360° • Illustration — High-explosive shells for the 420 mm howitzer