View source for Krupp 7.5 cm Model 1903

{{More footnotes|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Krupp 7.5&nbsp;cm Model 1903
| image              = 7,5cm M1903 KRUPP kalemegdan.jpg
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = A Turkish 7.5cm Krupp field gun M1903
| type               = [[Field gun]]
| origin             = [[German Empire]]
<!-- Type selection -->
| is_ranged          = yes
| is_explosive       = 
| is_artillery       = yes
<!-- Service history -->
| service            = 1904 – 1948
| used_by            = ''See'' ''{{section link|Krupp 7.5 cm Model 1903|Users|nopage=yes}}''
| wars               = {{unbulleted list
  | [[Balkan Wars]]
  | [[Xinhai Revolution]]
  | [[World War I]]
  | [[World War II]]
  | [[1948 Palestine war]]
  }}
<!-- Production history -->
| designer           = [[Krupp]]
| design_date        = 
| manufacturer       = [[Krupp]]
| production_date    = 
| number             = 
| variants           = 
<!-- General specifications -->
| mass               = {{convert|1079|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
| length             = 
| part_length        = {{convert|2.25|m|ftin|abbr=on}} L/30
| width              = 
| height             = 
| crew               = 7
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
| cartridge          = [[Glossary of British ordnance terms#Fixed QF|Fixed QF]] 75×280mmR
| cartridge_weight   = {{convert|6.52|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Krupp 75mm 1904_Romania|url=https://www.bulgarianartillery.it/Bulgarian%20Artillery%201/Krupp%2075mm%201904_Romania.htm|access-date=2021-02-21|website=www.bulgarianartillery.it}}</ref>
|caliber=75&nbsp;mm (2.95&nbsp;in)
| action             = 
| rate               = 8 rpm
| velocity           = {{convert|546|m/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}
| range              = 
| max_range          = {{convert|6000|m|yd|abbr=on}}
| feed               = 
| sights             = 
<!-- Artillery specifications -->
| breech             = [[Rifled breech loader#The sliding block|Horizontal sliding-block]]
| recoil             = [[Glossary of British ordnance terms#Hydro-spring|Hydro-spring]]
| carriage           = [[Gun carriage#Modern gun carriages|Pole trail]]
| elevation          = -9° / +15°
| traverse           = 7°
<!-- Explosive specifications -->
| filling            = 
| filling_weight     = 
| detonation         = 
| yield              = 
}}

The '''Krupp 7.5&nbsp;cm Model 1903''' was a field gun used by a number of European armies in both [[World War I]] and [[World War II]].

== History ==

The Model 1903 was manufactured for export by [[Krupp]]. It was a "stock gun", meaning that it could be supplied to customers on short notice with minor alterations to suit the customers needs.

The German army of World War I did not use the Krupp 7.5&nbsp;cm Model 1903. It had acquired the rather conventional [[7.7 cm FK 96]] as its standard gun in 1896. When the French army acquired the [[Canon de 75 modèle 1897]] with [[hydraulic recoil mechanism]] in 1897, the FK 96 became obsolete. The model was then changed to become the [[7.7 cm FK 96 n.A.]], which retained the barrel, but put it on a recoil mechanism and new carriage.

== Operational service ==

=== Belgium ===
The Belgians bought a license to produce the M1903 at the Fonderie Royal des Cannons and were given the designation ''[[Canon de 75 mle TR|Canon de 7c5 M 1905 TR et TRA]]''.  They were used by Belgium during the First World War and Second World War.  The Germans gave captured Belgian guns the designation '''7.5&nbsp;cm Feldkanone 235(b)'''. It was also used by Belgian's King Leopold II's forces in Congo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/fallofcongoarabs00hind/page/110/mode/2up|title = The fall of the Congo Arabs|year = 1897}}</ref>

=== Denmark ===
The Model 1903 was also bought by Denmark and used in World War II. In Danish service it was known as the 03 L/30 and does not appear to have been modified in any significant way before World War II.  Danish guns were known in German service as the '''7.5&nbsp;cm Feldkanone 240(d)'''.

=== Netherlands ===
The Dutch bought some 204 of the slightly earlier Kanone M.02/03 and purchased a production-license as well. 120 appear to have been manufactured in the Netherlands, where it was known as the '''Stuk van 7-veld'''. During the 1920s, the Dutch ''Siderius'' company, a Krupp subsidiary, rebuilt their guns to increase their elevation. At least 16 were modified for motorized traction, presumably with steel wheels and pneumatic tires, for service with the Light Division. Gander and Chamberlain claim there were three almost identical versions, the [[Siderius|M 02/04, OM 04 and NM 10]], but this has not been confirmed. The Germans designated these guns as the '''7.5&nbsp;cm Feldkanone 243(h)''' after the [[Battle of the Netherlands]].

=== Israel ===
During the [[1948 Palestine war]], Israel purchased 50 surplus Krupp 7.5&nbsp;cm Model 1903 guns from Romania. Six [[Post–World War II Sherman tanks#Israeli|salvaged Sherman tanks]] were temporarily equipped with Krupp field guns until [[M101 howitzer|105mm howitzers]] were obtained to replace them.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Krupp Sherman|url=https://shiryonarchive.com/the-krupp-sherman/|website=shiryonarchive.com|access-date=2025-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sherman Krupp, Israeli salvage modification|url=https://forum.warthunder.com/t/sherman-krupp-israeli-salvage-modification/104435|website=forum.warthunder.com|access-date=2025-05-16}}</ref>

=== Japan ===
The Model 1903 also formed the basis for the [[Type 38 75 mm Field Gun]] used by Japan. 

=== Romania ===
Romania acquired 636 guns and gave them the designation ''Tunul de câmp Krupp, cal. 75 mm, md. 1904''.  They used a more sophisticated sighting device (than the one offered by the Germans) made locally, known as the [[Toma Ghenea|Ghenea]]-Korodi sight. By number of guns, this was largest import of a single type of cannon ever made by Romania. It was the mainstay of the Romanian field artillery in World War I, equipping all artillery regiments of the Romanian infantry divisions. The number of these guns in Romanian service had decreased to 312 by 1926.  The Romanians used them until 1942, although by this time they had become obsolete.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Adrian Stroea|author2=Gheorghe Băjenaru|year=2010|url=http://www.rft.forter.ro/17_bibvirt/pdf/004-artileria-romana-in-date-si-imagini.pdf|title=Artileria română în date şi imagini|language=Romanian|isbn=978-606-524-080-3|pages=45–46|publisher=Editura Centrului Tehnic-Editorial al Armatei|access-date=2013-09-05|archive-date=2012-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320182805/http://www.rft.forter.ro/17_bibvirt/pdf/004-artileria-romana-in-date-si-imagini.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Serbia ===
[[File:Sebian 75-mm anti-aircraft artillery defending Kragujevac during WWI.webp|thumb|Serbian 75-mm Krupp gun in an AA mount defending [[Kragujevac]] during WWI]]
During the [[First Balkan War]] 126 field and 6 mountain Ottoman Krupp 7.5&nbsp;cm Model 1903 guns were captured by the [[Royal Serbian Army]]. In the beginning of the WWI the field guns were mounted on improvised wooden AA platforms designed by French captain Mortureux, and one of those achieved the [[Radoje Ljutovac|first shootdown of an aircraft by ground fire in history]].

== Users ==
{{div col|colwidth=12em}}
* {{flag|Belgium}}
* {{flag|Brazil}}<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Almeida |first=Fábio |date=2019 |title=Fortaleza imaginária: A construção do patrimônio cultural pelos diferentes discursos sobre o Forte de Coimbra e seu contexto histórico-paisagístico |degree=MA |url=http://portal.iphan.gov.br/uploads/ckfinder/arquivos/ALMEIDA_Fabio-Dissertacao_Mestrado.pdf|language=Portuguese |publisher=[[National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage]]}}</ref>
* {{flag|Republic of China (1912–49)|name=China}}
* {{flag|Denmark}}
* {{flag|Nazi Germany}}
* {{flag|Israel}}
* {{flag|Empire of Japan|name=Imperial Japan}}
* {{flag|Korean Empire}}
* {{flag|Netherlands}}
* {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}
* {{flag|Qing dynasty}}
* {{flag|Kingdom of Romania|name=Romania}}
* {{flag|Kingdom of Serbia|name=Serbia}}
* {{flag|Switzerland}}
* {{flag|Thailand}}
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Chamberlain, Peter & Gander, Terry. ''Light and Medium Field Artillery''. New York: Arco, 1975
*[[Ian V. Hogg|Hogg, Ian]] ''Twentieth-Century Artillery''. New York: Barnes & Nobles, 2000 {{ISBN|0-7607-1994-2}}
* 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 ==
{{Commons category|7,5 cm Feldkanone M. 03}}
* [http://www.waroverholland.nl/index.php?url=/uk_weap006.html Dutch guns on War over Holland]
* Version for Romania (1904): [http://www.bulgarianartillery.it/Bulgarian%20Artillery%201/Krupp%2075mm%201904_Romania.htm Krupp 75mm field gun M. 1904]; [http://www.bulgarianartillery.it/Bulgarian%20Artillery%201/Krupp%2075mm%201908_Romania.htm cavalry version]; [http://canonspgmww1guns.canalblog.com/archives/2008/09/21/10657168.html Canon Krupp 75mm Mle 1904 à Bucarest (museum)]; [http://landships.activeboard.com/t33782114/krupp-75mm-war-trophy-tasmania/ Photos of exemplar captured first by the Turks and then by the Australians]
* Turkish versions: data for [http://www.bulgarianartillery.it/Bulgarian%20Artillery%201/Krupp%2075mm%201903.htm M1903] [http://www.bulgarianartillery.it/Bulgarian%20Artillery%201/Krupp%2075mm%201910_Turkey.htm M1910] [http://www.bulgarianartillery.it/Bulgarian%20Artillery%201/Krupp%2075mm%201911_Turkey.htm M1911]; [http://www.ammsbrisbane.com/ajax/articles/Turkish_75m_Survivors.html database/photographs of exemplars captured in Palestine and now found in Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501004519/http://www.ammsbrisbane.com/ajax/articles/Turkish_75m_Survivors.html |date=2017-05-01 }}

{{WWIGermanArtillery}}

[[Category:75 mm artillery]]
[[Category:World War I guns]]
[[Category:Artillery of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:World War II field artillery]]
[[Category:Krupp field guns]]