Editing Howitzer (section)

== History ==

=== Early modern period ===

The first artillery identified as howitzers developed in the late 16th century as a medium-[[Projectile motion|trajectory]] weapon between the low trajectory ([[direct fire]]) of cannons and the high trajectory ([[indirect fire]]) of mortars.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer |title=Instruments of war : weapons and technologies that have changed history |date=2015 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=978-1-4408-3654-1 |page=62}}</ref> Originally intended for use in [[Siege|siege warfare]], they were particularly useful for delivering [[cast iron]] shells filled with gunpowder or incendiary materials into the interior of fortifications. In contrast to contemporaneous mortars, which were fired at a fixed angle and were entirely dependent on adjustments to the size of propellant charges to vary range, howitzers could be fired at a wide variety of angles. Thus, while howitzer gunnery was more complicated than the technique of employing mortars, the howitzer was an inherently more flexible weapon that could fire its projectiles along a wide range of trajectories.<ref>OFG Hogg ''Artillery: Its Origin, Heyday and Decline'' (London: C Hurst & Co, 1970), p. 94</ref>[[File:Keegan's howitzer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Mountain howitzer firing]]

In the middle of the 18th century, a number of European armies began to introduce howitzers that were mobile enough to accompany armies in the field. Though usually fired at the relatively high angles of fire used by contemporary siege howitzers, these field howitzers were rarely defined by this capability. Rather, as the field guns of the day were usually restricted to inert projectiles (which relied entirely on momentum for their destructive effects), the field howitzers of the 18th century were chiefly valued for their ability to fire explosive shells. Many, for the sake of simplicity and rapidity of fire, dispensed with adjustable propellant charges.<ref>Heinrich Rohne, "Zur Geschichte der schweren Feldhaubitze", ''Jahrbücher für die deutsche Armee und Marine'', No. 423, pp. 567–68</ref>

The [[Abus gun]] was an early form of howitzer in the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref name="Dragoman">{{cite web|url=http://magweb.com/sample/sdra/sdr12gun.htm |title=William Johnson, "The Sultan's Big Guns." ''Dragoman'', vol.1, no.2 |access-date=2017-04-05 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710015533/http://magweb.com/sample/sdra/sdr12gun.htm |archive-date=July 10, 2007 }}</ref> In 1758, the [[Russian Empire]] introduced a specific type of howitzer (or rather gun-howitzer), with a conical chamber, called a [[licorne]], which remained in service for the next 100 years.<ref name="angus">{{cite book|last=Konstam|first=Angus |title=Russian Army of the Seven Years War (2)|publisher=Osprey Publishing|place=Londyn|year=1996|series=Men-at-Arms|pages=41|isbn=978-1-85532-587-6}}</ref> In the mid-19th century, some armies attempted to simplify their artillery parks by introducing [[smoothbore]] artillery pieces that were designed to fire both explosive projectiles and cannonballs, thereby replacing both field howitzers and field guns. The most famous of these "gun-howitzers" was the [[Canon obusier de 12|Napoleon 12-pounder]], a weapon of French design that was extensively used in the [[American Civil War]].<ref>Ildefonse Favé, “Résumé des progrès de l’artillerie depuis l’année 1800 jusqu’a l’année 1853”, in [[Louis Bonaparte|Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte]] and Ildefonse Favé, ''Études sur le passé et l'avenir de de l'artillerie'', (Paris: J. Dumaine, 1846–71), V, pp. 223–25</ref>

[[File:Oldhowitzer.jpg|thumb|upright=1|12-pound Napoleon at the [[Colorado State Capitol]]]]
[[File:12 pounder mountain howitzer on display at Fort Laramie in eastern Wyoming.jpg|thumb|Nineteenth-century 12-pounder (5&nbsp;kg) mountain howitzer displayed by the [[National Park Service]] at [[Fort Laramie]] in [[Wyoming]], United States]]

In 1859, the armies of Europe (including those that had recently adopted gun-howitzers) began to rearm field batteries with [[Rifling|rifled]] field guns. These field pieces used cylindrical projectiles that, while smaller in caliber than the spherical shells of smoothbore field howitzers, could carry a comparable charge of gunpowder. Moreover, their greater range let them create many of the same effects (such as firing over low walls) that previously required the sharply curved trajectories of smoothbore field howitzers. Because of this, military authorities saw no point in obtaining rifled field howitzers to replace their smoothbore counterparts but instead used rifled field guns to replace both guns and howitzers.<ref>Charles Thoumas, ''Les transformations de l'Armée française: essais d'histoire et de critique sur l'état militaire de la France'', (Paris : Berger-Levrault, 1887), II, pp. 123–26</ref>

In siege warfare, the introduction of rifling had the opposite effect. In the 1860s, artillery officers discovered that rifled siege howitzers (substantially larger than field howitzers) were a more efficient means of destroying walls (particularly walls protected by certain kinds of intervening obstacles) than smoothbore siege guns or siege mortars. Thus, at the same time armies were taking howitzers of one sort out of their field batteries, they were introducing howitzers of another sort into their siege trains and fortresses. The lightest of these weapons (later known as "light siege howitzers") had calibers around {{convert|150|mm|abbr=on}} and fired shells that weighed between {{convert|40|and|50|kg|abbr=on}}. The heaviest (later called "medium siege howitzers") had calibers between {{convert|200|and|220|mm|abbr=on}} and fired shells that weighed about {{convert|100|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref>Hermann von Müller, ''Die Entwickelung der deutschen Festungs und Belagerungstrains'', (Berlin: E. S. Mittler, 1896), pp. 328–35</ref>

During the 1880s, a third type of siege howitzer was added to inventories of a number of European armies. With calibers that ranged between {{convert|240|and|270|mm|abbr=on}} and shells that weighed more than {{convert|150|kg|abbr=on}}, these soon came to be known as "heavy siege howitzers". A good example of a weapon of this class is provided by the [[24 cm Mörser M 98|9.45-inch (240&nbsp;mm) weapon]] that the [[British Army]] purchased from the [[Škoda Works|Skoda works]] in 1899.<ref>Ortner, M. Christian. The Austro-Hungarian Artillery From 1867 to 1918: Technology, Organization, and Tactics. Vienna, Verlag Militaria, 2007 {{ISBN|978-3-902526-13-7}}</ref>

=== 20th century ===
In the early 20th century, the introduction of howitzers that were significantly larger than the heavy siege howitzers of the day made necessary the creation of a fourth category, that of "super-heavy siege howitzers". Weapons of this category include the famous [[Big Bertha (Howitzer)|Big Bertha]] of the German Army and the [[BL 15 inch Howitzer|15-inch (381&nbsp;mm) howitzer]] of the British [[Royal Marines|Royal Marine Artillery]]. These large howitzers were transported mechanically rather than by teams of horses. They were transported as several loads and had to be assembled at their firing position.<ref>Romanych, Marc; Rupp, Martin (2013). ''42 cm "Big Bertha" and German Siege Artillery of World War I''. Illustrated by Henry Morshead. Osprey Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-78096-017-3}}</ref>

Field howitzers introduced at the end of the 19th century could fire shells with high trajectories giving a steep angle of descent and, as a result, could strike targets that were protected by intervening obstacles. They could also fire shells that were about twice as large as shells fired by guns of the same size. Thus, while a {{convert|75|mm|abbr=on}} field gun that weighed one ton or so was limited to shells that weigh around {{convert|8|kg|abbr=on}}, a {{convert|105|mm|abbr=on}} howitzer of the same weight could fire {{convert|15|kg|abbr=on}} shells. This is a matter of fundamental mechanics affecting the stability and hence the weight of the carriage.

As heavy field howitzers and light siege howitzers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries used ammunition of the same size and type, there was a marked tendency for the two types to merge. At first, this was largely a matter of the same basic weapon being employed on two different mountings. Later, as on-carriage recoil-absorbing systems eliminated many of the advantages that siege platforms had enjoyed over field carriages, the same combination of barrel assembly, recoil mechanism and carriage was used in both roles.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

By the early 20th century, the differences between guns and howitzers were relative, not absolute, and generally recognized<ref>H. A. Bethell, ''Modern Guns and Gunnery'', (Woolwich: F. J. Cattermole, 1905, 1907, 1910)</ref> as follows:
* Guns – higher velocity and longer range, single charge propellant, maximum elevation generally less than 45 degrees.
* Howitzers – lower velocity and shorter range, multi-charge propellant, maximum elevation typically more than 45 degrees.

The onset of [[trench warfare]] after the first few months of [[World War I]] greatly increased the demand for howitzers that gave a steep angle of descent, which were better suited than guns to the task of striking targets in a vertical plane (such as trenches), with large amounts of explosive and considerably less barrel wear. The German army was well equipped with howitzers, having far more at the beginning of the war than France.<ref>{{cite book|first=Bruce I.|last=Gudmundsson|title=On Artillery|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|isbn=978-0-275-94047-8|year=1993}}</ref>

Many howitzers introduced in the course of World War I had longer barrels than pre-war howitzers. The standard German light field howitzer at the start of the war (the [[10.5 cm Feldhaubitze 98/09|10.5&nbsp;cm leichte Feldhaubitze 98/09]]) had a barrel that was 16 [[Caliber (artillery)|calibers]] long, but the light field howitzer adopted by the German Army in 1916 ([[10.5 cm leFH 16|105&nbsp;mm leichte Feldhaubitze 16]]) had a barrel that was 22 calibers long. At the same time, new models of field gun introduced during that conflict, such as the {{convert|77|mm|abbr=on}} field gun adopted by the German Army in 1916 ([[7.7 cm FK 16|7.7 cm Feldkanone 16]]) were often provided with carriages that allowed firing at comparatively high angles, and adjustable propellant cartridges.<ref>Hans Linnenkohl, {{lang|de|Vom Einzelschuss zur Feuerwalze}} (Koblenz: Bernard und Graefe, 1990), pp. 86 and 219–220</ref>

In the years after World War I, the tendency of guns and howitzers to acquire each other's characteristics led to the renaissance of the concept of the [[gun-howitzer]]. This was a product of technical advances such as the French invention of [[autofrettage]] just before World War I, which led to stronger and lighter barrels, the use of cut-off gear to control recoil length depending on firing elevation angle, and the invention of [[muzzle brake]]s to reduce [[recoil]] forces. Like the gun-howitzers of the 19th century, those of the 20th century replaced both guns and howitzers. Thus, the [[Ordnance QF 25 pounder|25-pounder "gun-howitzer"]] of the British Army replaced both the [[Ordnance QF 18 pounder|18-pounder]] field gun and the [[QF 4.5 inch Howitzer|4.5-inch howitzer]].<ref>[[25 pounder#Design]]</ref>

During [[World War II]], the military doctrine of [[Soviet deep battle]] called for extensive use of heavy artillery to hold the formal line of front. Soviet doctrine was remarkably different from the German doctrine of [[Blitzkrieg]] and called for a far more extensive use of artillery. As a result, howitzers saw most of the action on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern front]]. Most of the howitzers produced by the [[USSR]] at the time were not self-propelled. Notable examples of Soviet howitzers include the [[152 mm howitzer M1938 (M-10)|M-10]], [[122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30)|M-30]] and [[152 mm howitzer M1943 (D-1)|D-1]].

Since World War II, most of the artillery pieces adopted by armies for attacking targets on land have combined the traditional characteristics of guns and howitzers&nbsp;– high muzzle velocity, long barrels, long range, multiple charges and maximum elevation angles greater than 45 degrees. The term "gun-howitzer" is sometimes used for these (e.g., in Russia); many nations use "howitzer", while the UK (and most members of [[The Commonwealth of Nations]]) calls them "guns", for example [[L118 Light Gun|Gun, 105&nbsp;mm, Field, L118]].