Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 1901

Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 1901
Model 1901 on display in Trondheim, Norway.
Type	field gun
Place of origin	Germany
Service history
In service	1901–1947
Used by	Norway  Finland  Nazi Germany
Wars	Winter War Second World War Continuation War
Production history
Designer	Rheinmetall
Manufacturer	Rheinmetall
No. built	138
Variants	Horse- or lorry-drawn
Specifications
Weight	1,037 kilograms (2,286 lb)
Barrel length	2.167 metres (7 ft 1 in) L/31
Shell	6.5 kilograms (14 lb)
Caliber	75 mm (2.95 in)
Breech	eccentric screw
Recoil	hydro-spring
Carriage	Pole trail
Elevation	7° to +15.5°
Traverse	7°
Rate of fire	8 rpm
Muzzle velocity	500 m/s (1,640 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	10,000 metres (11,000 yd)

The Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 1901 was a field gun designed and built by the German company Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik and sold to Norway in 1901. It remained the main field artillery gun of the Norwegian Army until the German invasion of Norway in 1940. The Germans impressed the surviving guns and used them in Norway for the duration of the Second World War. They equipped German units in Norway and were used as coastal artillery guns; a number were even modified for use as anti-tank guns. A dozen guns were transferred by the Norwegian government to Finland during the Winter War and were used by them during the Continuation War as well.

The Model 1901 guns were obsolescent already during the inter-war period and were retired from active use by the Norwegians shortly after the end of the Second World War. Model 1901s are still employed as saluting guns at fortresses in Norway.

With the background of the rapid development of the artillery arm in the late 19th century and the invention of the quick-firing field gun, a Swedish-Norwegian artillery committee was established in 1899. The committee was to facilitate the procurement of new artillery for the Swedish and Norwegian armed forces. The new weapon was to solve the old time-consuming problem of the gun being pushed out of position by recoil with each shot. The committee consisted of six officers, three Swedish and three Norwegian. One of the Norwegian officers was Captain Georg Stang, the future Norwegian Minister of Defence in 1900–1902 and 1902–1903.

The Swedish-Norwegian committee reached only a single conclusion; that the calibre of the new weapon was to be 7.5 centimetres, based on tests with a French Schneider-Canet Model 1898 field gun. Four Schneider-Canet had been delivered to Norway at that time, and 16 more were on order. While the Swedish members of the committee wished for a conclusion to be reached in the shortest possible time, the Norwegians wished to bide their time and study the issue to the fullest. The reason for the Norwegians' lack of haste was probably that breech-loaded rifled guns had been introduced to the Norwegian Army only in 1887, and with the last of the Krupp 8.4 cm Model 1887s delivered in 1896 the Norwegian guns were still comparatively new. The Swedes on the other hand had replaced their rifled muzzle-loaders already in 1883 and were more ready for a replacement.