The Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 1901 (Also known as the 7.5 cm feltkanon m/01 or the M/01 7.5 cm (2.95 in) field gun) 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.
Background
Swedish-Norwegian artillery committee
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.
Trials and choice of gun
In the end nine different artillery systems were considered by the Norwegians, and eight bought or loaned for testing. Two guns were found to be within requirements, one 7.5 cm gun from Schneider-Canet and one of the same calibre from Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik in Germany. After extensive testing under varied conditions, both summer and winter, during the years 1899–1901, and modifications of the artillery pieces to Norwegian specifications, the Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 1901 was chosen. The tests were carried out by the Field and Mountain Artillery School, and included a march across the Dovrefjell mountains to Stjørdal in Nord-Trøndelag. The Norwegian Ministry of Defence, now under the leadership of Georg Stang, chose the artillery system over protests from the opposition Conservative Party of Norway, which demanded that a new system from Krupp be tested before the new gun could be chosen. This criticism was brushed aside by the Ministry of Defence, stating that the military assessment had found the Model 1901 to be the best gun. Before the Ministry of Defence had reached its decision it tested a battery of Model 1901s against a battery of 7.5 cm Schneider-Canet guns. After further testing the Model 1901 was still considered the best choice, although it was decided that further changes to the design were needed.