World War II Database

Country of Origin	Russia
Type	Field Gun
Caliber	121.920 mm
Barrel Length	1.560 m
Weight	1466.000 kg
Ammunition Weight	21.76 kg
Rate of Fire	5 rounds/min

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn 1910, French manufacturing firm Schneider Electric developed the 122 mm M1910 howitzer design, which was purchased in quantity by Russia and used in WW1. These weapons were taken over by the communist forces after the Russian communist revolution. In 1930, work to modernize these weapons began by lengthening the chambers by one caliber, installing new sights, strengthening the carriages, strengthening the elevation mechanism, and upgrading the recoil mechanism. The final products were re-designated 122 mm Howitzer M1910/30 field guns. 762 M1910 guns were modernized to the new M1910/30 specifications, and additional 3,395 guns were produced between 1937 and 1941. 122 mm Howitzer M1910/30 field guns were used against Japan during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol (Nomonhan Incident) and against Finland during the Winter War before Russia entered the European War in 1939 with the invasion of Poland. They remained in service through the entire Russo-German war despite officially being replaced by the new M-30 howitzers of the same caliber. A small number of them were also mounted on T-26 light tank hulls to create the SU-5 self-propelled guns. Between 1941 and 1942, hundreds of them were captured by German forces which pressed them into service under the designation 12.2 cm le.F.H.388(r) field guns. Finnish forces captured about 30 of them during the Winter War and a further 145 during the Continuation War, and also captured 72 of them from Germany in 1944; they were designated 122 H/10-30 by Finland and remained in service for a number of years after WW2. In 1940, a number of M1910 guns already in Finnish possession before the war were modernized in the exact same manner as the acquired Russian examples, and were re-designated 122 H/10-40. Operators of these howitzers complained of their short range and limited towing speed due to unsprung wheels, but generally liked their reliability and the short amount of time (30 to 40 seconds) needed to set them up for firing.

Source: Wikipedia. ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: May 2009

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