The Franco-Prussian War, and the subsequent establishment of the German empire scared the Dutch government. Suddenly, the long neglected army got a lot of attention. However, decades of neglect could not be remedied in a few years. The most urgent measures consisted of procuring breechloading rifles and guns, which had been successfully used in that war. Meanwhile, the construction of fortresses and super heavy artillery for coastal defense against armored ships took a huge chunk out of the budgets. In these circumstances, procurement of the bronze 12 cm K.A. and 8 cm A. brons was a step in the right direction. This was also the case because they were produced domestically for a modest price, starting in 1874.
Procurement of steel guns
By 1875 it was clear that in a direct artillery duel, the Dutch bronze guns would be at a severe disadvantage against the newest steel guns. Therefore, these bronze guns would have to be supplemented with a number of steel (staal) guns. For 1876, the plan for the siege artillery was to procure 40 15 cm Lang staal L/24 (15cm zwaar staal) guns at 22,570 guilders a piece all included, 20 12cm Lang staal at 13,200 guilders a piece ditto, and 100 12cm K.A. brons at 3,825 guilders a piece ditto.[5] For trials of the foreseen guns, single steel guns of 15cm, 12cm, and 8.7cm(!) were bought in 1875.[6] In December 1875 the Minister of War declared that the inclusion of the 8,7cm under the siege artillery was a mistake. Even while the procurement was urgent, no more than 40 15cm zwaar staal guns, and 20 12cm Lang staal siege guns to be ordered at Krupp were brought on the budget for 1876. It was sound practice to limit the first series, and it was not even clear whether Krupp could deliver more. The trials would serve to specify alterations which would make the guns fit with the rest of the Dutch equipment.[7]
In December 1875, 833 guns of 12cm Lang were thought to be needed, while 585 12cm Lang were present on 1 January 1875.[8] From the context it can be derived that 12cm Lang referred to 12cm Long guns in general, and that many of these were simply 12-pounder smooth bore muzzle loaders.
The 12 cm Lang staal is ordered
Battery of Dutch 12 cm Lang staal siege guns in Gorinchem c 1928-1930.
In September 1876 trials with the 15cm zwaar staal and 12cm Lang staal were held at the Krupp trial grounds. The results were very positive.[9] Meanwhile, comparative trials in the Netherlands between the 8 cm A. Brons and the Krupp 8,7mm steel breechloader led the artillery committee to recommend steel field guns.[10] In light of the trials at the Krupp grounds, the Minister of War then decided to contract with Krupp. However, for the money that was voted on the 1876 budget, he bought less 15cm zwaar staal guns and more 12cm Lang staal guns.[9] The House of Representatives was not amused, and wanted to know how many guns had been bought at Krupp for which price.[11] In December 1876 the minister replied that the state had 20 15cm zwaar staal guns and 60 12cm Lang staal guns on order at Krupp. The 12cm Lang staal gun would cost 7,980 mark, same price as before.[12] For 1877 the Minister of War then asked money for 100 12cm Lang staal.[11]
In November 1877 the Minister of War deemed 132 12cm Lang staal to be required for the first line of the new Dutch Water Line. 62 had already been bought on the budgets for 1876 and 1877. Therefore, the minister asked for money for 57 more guns on the 1878 budget.[13] On the final budget for 1879, a new Minister of War asked budget for 40 12cm Lang staal, and little else.[14] On 1 January 1880 there were 126 12cm Lang staal available in the Netherlands. 32 still had to be delivered.[15]
The 12 cm Lang brons
In 1880 a new steel bronze gun, the 12 cm Lang brons appeared. 60 were planned to be made by the Rijks Geschutgieterij (national gun foundry) in the Hague in 1880.[16] The cost difference between the versions was 3,200 guilders per gun, while 193 12cm Lang were still thought to be required.[17] The switch to producing the 12cm Lang brons meant that the minister put an end to the procurement of more 12cm Lang staal from Krupp.[18]
This is indeed what happened. On 1 January 1883 the available total of both steel and steel bronze 12cm Lang was 248. 12 more 12cm Lang brons would still be delivered. At least 105 more 12cm Lang were thought to be required.[19]
Gradual replacement
The 12 cm Lang staal quickly became obsolete after 1897. In that year the Canon de 75 modèle 1897, the first gun with a recoil mechanism was introduced.
Characteristics
Barrel
12 cm Lang staal gun in transport mode c. 1940A Belgian horse
The barrel of the 12 cm Lang staal was made by Krupp. It was a built-up gun barrel. It was 2,925mm long and weighed 1,420kg.[1]
The caliber was 120mm at the muzzle.[2] The powder chamber was 29.2cm long, and had a diameter of 125mm.[2]
Carriage
The carriage of the 12 cm Lang staal was made of steel. Gun barrel and carriage had a total weight of 2,790kg. Others have 2,940kg, and the carriage itself weighing 1,520kg.[1] It meant that the gun could not just be placed on any underground.. It generally required the underground to be prepared in advance by placing a wooden floor, which was brought along.[20] In combat this made that the gun could not exercise the artillery roles that required some mobility.[21]
Transport
For short distances on plane and solid underground, the carriage could be moved, with or without gun. For this a siege limber could be used.[22] The siege limber was a limber without an ammunition box or seats, or basically an axle with wheels and a pole to connect the horses.
For more serious transport, the barrel would be moved so it's trunnions did not rest in their normal high position, but in a lower transport position.[21] Moving the barrel required an iron sheerleg (vestingbok)[23]
On rough terrain, or over larger distances, the siege limber was required. In most cases gun and carriage were then moved separately.[22] Here the character of the 12 cm Lang staal as a siege gun again shows clearly. It was way too slow to follow the army.
As part of the siege artillery, the 12cm Lang staal batteries would always rely on hired horses. In order to be towed, they required four, preferably heavy, horses. This seems to be in contradiction to the lighter field guns having six horses. The difference was that the 12cm Lang horses moved only in walk (c. 7 km/h). The field artillery had to move faster, especially the horse artillery, which could move at a canter (16–27 km/h). In the early thirties there were exercises with heavy horses hired from farmers. The Belgian Draught horse promised to be more suitable than the Oldenburgers. However, they proved much slower than military horses, making only 4.5km/h.[24]
When the gun was re-assigned from the siege artillery to the field artillery, some changes were made. The regular wooden floor was replaced by a simpler 'field' version of 1,280kg, which could be laid in about 30 minutes, instead of about 5 hours.[4] To allow easier pulling in the field, the wheels of the carriage got 40cm wide steel tires, and the tail of the carriage got a wide steel plate. The wheels of the limber got 15cm wide steel tires.[4] This was also when the exercises with hired horses started. For the 12cm Lang staal it proved that with hired horses, on the paved road, four horses were enough, but in terrain six horses were required.[25]
Later, motorized traction became so powerful that the gun could easily be moved in one piece. However, this did not mean that the gun was assigned motorized traction.
Capabilities
The first serious tests of the gun were done by Krupp in Dülmen in June 1875. With a charge of 3.1kg of prismatic powder, and a projectile of 14kg, the average velocity was 469.1m/s at 50 meters from the muzzle with a pressure of 1,900 atm. With 3.3kg of another kind of gunpowder it was 466.1m/s and a pressure of 1,383 atm. The first kind of powder gave the highest velocity.[26]
In the subsequent Dutch trials, which started in April 1876 many kinds of gunpowder were tested. Most of it was coarse gunpowder of about 350 grains per kg. Krupp had determined that the gas pressure inside the gun should not exceed 2,000 atm, and that a suitable gunpowder should propel the projectile to at least 465m/s at 50m from the muzzle.[27]
The next round of Dutch tests was done with a new set of two guns, which had grooves inside the chamber, and of which the 12cm gun fired a heavier 16.7kg projectile. With a charge of 3.3kg a velocity of 450.6m/s was achieved. With 3.5kg this was 462.6m/s, but then pressure was 1,950 atm.[28]
The trials were then invalidated by a change that was made to the guns as a result of trials in Germany. The change was that the angle of the grooves was changed from constant to progressive.[29] After some tests, the commission noted very significant differences with regard to atmospheric pressure in July. After many investigations, it was found that in warm weather there was a slight increase in velocity, and a much higher increase in gas pressure inside the guns.[30] The difference could be as much as 7m/s and 145 atm.[31]
With a charge of 3kg black gunpowder the initial velocity of the 20.3kg shrapnel shell was 394m/s.[3]
In 1928 some changes had been made to simplify the breech, and to prevent the escape of gasses. This increased the rate of fire to 3 shots every 2 minutes. By then range was about 7,500m.[4] In 1933 the gun was to get new aiming devices.[24] It seems that an attempt to increase the range of the 12cm Lang staal failed in 1934.[32]
Ammunition
Some shrapnel shot (granaatkartets) delivered by Krupp was tested on Scheveningen beach in 1879. The shell had 185 bullets of 25 gram each, made of an alloy of lead and antimony. The explosive charge at the back of the shell was 125 gram. The complete shell weighed 20.3kg.[3]
Operations
Post World War I
In December 1918 the Society Ons Leger (our army) gave a demonstration in The Hague to show the differences between modern and obsolete artillery. The message was that with the old heavy artillery, taking up a position took way too much time. Before the floor for a gun like the 12cm Lang staal was laid, and the ammunition had been brought forward, an enemy with more accurate modern artillery would have destroyed the obsolete artillery from a distance which was outside of range for the old guns. That is if the old gun would even be ready fire before getting destroyed.[23]
There were many suggestions to make part of the siege artillery more mobile. In the 1920s the 12cm Lang staal took part in several exercises. The first of these was an exercise in 1926.[33] More exercises followed in 1927.
Becomes part of the field artillery
In December 1927 the siege artillery regiment ceased to exist as a unit. It was replaced by two regiments of dismounted artillery, one in Gorinchem, and one in Naarden. These would then be made mobile, so they could serve as field artillery.[4] An improvement or repair, which was planned in 1926, was a change to the breech of the 12cm Lang staal. It was to put an end to disturbances in its operation. There was also a change to the ammunition to increase range. These changes were necessary in every scenario where the gun was to be used.[34]
There were doubts about making the 12cm Lang staal mobile. This led to measures to get rid of the wooden floor (see above). However, the other main shortcomings of the gun, i.e. the very low rate of fire, and taking aim by moving the tail, could not be remedied economically. Therefore, the firepower of the gun remained very substandard. The cost of making the guns more mobile, was primarily in assigning the soldiers and transport means required to move the guns. As such, these cost could not be justified by the small increase in fire power that it would give. Therefore, there were ideas that only the strictly necessary measures, and the measures for getting rid of the floor would be executed. The gun would then continue to be organized in units which would only be transported after the front had stabilized.[34]
In March 1931 exercises were held near Breda with a battery of 4 12cm Lang staal which had been reassigned from the siege artillery to the field army.[25] Later in 1931, the regiment of unmounted artillery from Gorinchem held an exercise near Breda. The regiment was embarked in Gorinchem, and disembarked in Oosterhout. In Oosterhout horses from the 3rd Artillery regiment from Breda took the guns in tow.[35]
In 1934 it was thought that the 12cm Lang staal would finally be retired.[32] The international situation might have prevented this. In March 1936 the 13th and 14th Artillery regiment were armed with the 12cm Lang staal.[36]
HNLMS Koning der Nederlanden was an iron-hulled ironclad ramtorenschip built by the Rijkswerf at Amsterdam for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the early 1870s. She was the largest ship to serve in the Dutch Navy during the 19th century. The ship was converted to a barracks ship in the late 1890s and stationed in Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies. Koning der Nederlanden was scuttled in Surabaya on 2 March 1942, during the Battle of Java, to prevent her capture by the Japanese.
HNLMS Koningin Wilhelmina der Nederlanden was a unique protected cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy built by the Rijkswerf in Amsterdam.
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HNLMS Friesland was a Holland-class protected cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
HNLMS Utrecht was a Holland-class protected cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
HNLMS Noordbrabant was a Holland-class protected cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The 21 cm L/35 were a family of German naval artillery developed in the years before World War I and used in limited numbers. This gun armed warships of the Argentine Navy, Imperial Chinese Navy, Royal Danish Navy, Imperial Japanese Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy before and after World War I. It was used in the First Sino-Japanese War, Boxer Rebellion and a ship captured by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War was later used in the Russo-Japanese War.
The 15 cm Ring Kanone C/72 was a fortress and siege gun developed after the Franco-Prussian War and used by Germany and Portugal before and during World War I.
The 15 cm Ring Kanone C/92 was a fortress and siege gun developed in the 1880s that saw service in the Italo-Turkish War, Balkan Wars, and World War I.
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The Ever class was a class of 14 flat-iron gunboats of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The Dutch naval gun 28 cm A No. 1, or 28 cm L/22, was the first of a few 28 cm Breechloader Krupp guns used by the Dutch navy. The 'A' stands for Achterlader, the Dutch word for Breechloader.
HNLMS Matador was a monitor built in the late 1870s.
The RML 16 cm No. 1, or Getrokken kanon van 16 cm No. 1 was a rifled muzzle loading gun. It was the first Dutch rifled gun which had been designed as such.
The 12 cm K.A. was a Dutch fortress, siege and naval rifled bronze breechloading gun. In the Dutch army it was called Kanon Brons getrokken van 12 cm K.A.. In the Dutch navy: Kanon van 12 cm A No. 2. It was produced in substantial numbers in the Netherlands. There were also steel and steel bronze versions.
The 8.4 cm Feldgeschütz Ord 1879 is a 19th century Swiss field gun. It replaced the 8.4 cm Feldgeschütz Ord 1871. The difference was that the Ord 1879 had a barrel of steel instead of bronze. The steel barrel was made by Krupp in Essen, Germany. The carriage was made by the Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte in Thun.
The 8.4 cm Feldgeschütz Ord 1871 is a 19th-century Swiss and Dutch field gun. The Dutch version was known as Kanon van 8 cm achterlaad. The Swiss version was replaced by the 8.4 cm Feldgeschütz Ord 1879. The Dutch version was replaced by the 8 cm staal.
The 8 cm staal is a 19th century Dutch field gun. It replaced the 8 cm A. bronze. The steel barrel and carriage were made by Krupp in Essen, Germany. In turn the 8 cm staal would be replaced by the Krupp 7.5 cm Model 1903. The '8 staal' was hastily brought back into service on the eve of World War II.
The 12 cm Lang brons was a 19th-century Dutch siege gun. It was a locally produced steel bronze version of the 12 cm Lang staal.
The 15 cm Lang staal L/24 was a Dutch rifled breechloading steel siege gun made by Krupp.
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