Ehrhardt 7 . 5 cm Model 1901 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 . 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 1887 s 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 . Procurement of the Model 1901 . In all 138 Ehrhardt 7 . 5 cm Model 1901s were manufactured , the type being delivered only to Norway . The Norwegian experience with the new system for quick - firing led to the major arms factories in Europe all adopting the same type of recoil system for their own artillery systems . Norwegian companies also modified the Armed Forces ' older guns with the new recoil system so they could remain in service longer . Components that could be manufactured in Norway was produced under licence at Norwegian factories , with Norwegian labour organizations pushing for the creation of new jobs for the work force . The Ehrhardt Model 1901 was designated " 7 , 5cm feltkanon M / 1901 " in Norwegian military service . The purchase of modern artillery for the Norwegian Army was motivated by the military build - up leading to the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905 . General characteristics . The new artillery pieces consisted of a core tube and mantlet with a mechanism retainer , 28 rifles , Nordenfelt eccentric screw and hydraulic brake s with a spring system for returning the tube to position . This made the Model 1901 Norway ' s first quick - firing gun . The gun ' s range was , firing a standard shell . The Model 1901 was long , with a barrel length of . The gun shields of the Model 1901 were detachable . Further development in Norway . In the first years after 1901 the Model 1901 ' s full potential could not be exploited due to a lack of effective aiming systems . The artillery pieces were delivered with open sights and could only be used for direct fire . New aiming systems were only introduced in 1911 , when the field guns were modified at Kongsberg Armaments Factory and fitted with Goerz panoramic telescopes . This , together with other technical advances and the introduction of forward artillery observer s , allowed effective indirect fire to be carried out . Ammunition . Up until 1921 the ammunition used by the Norwegian artillery was the black - powder case shot and the high - explosive case shot . A high - explosive artillery shell with significantly longer range was introduced in 1921 , but not put into regular use . A gas shell was also designed and approved in 1921 , although never put into production . Modifications . During the 1920s complaints about the performance of the gun started coming in to the authorities . Wear and tear was beginning to have an effect on the guns , and soon people were suggesting that the type should be replaced with a new field gun model . The demands for a new artillery system was rejected , and instead the old guns were sent to a full maintenance overhaul . The maintenance solved the problems with the Model 1901 , some guns also being fitted with rubber tires and rebuilt for motor transport during the 1930s . By 1940 at least 12 artillery pieces had been modified for motor transport . Until 9 April 1940 German invasion of Norway the gun remained the main field gun of the Norwegian Army . Second World War . Norwegian Campaign . On 9 April 1940 Nazi Germany invaded Norway , capturing ports along the Norwegian coast from Oslo to Narvik . The main field artillery piece of the Norwegian Army that faced the invasion forces was the Ehrhardt Model 1901 . During the two months of fighting in the Norwegian Campaign that followed the Norwegian field artillery arm suffered greatly from organizational difficulties . The difficulties originated in part from the fact that very few artillery pieces had been mobilized during the seven months of neutrality that preceded the invasion . The units that had been activated to guard Norwegian neutrality had been equipped mainly with rifles and light and heavy machine guns . In the confusion and chaos that followed the German invasion most Norwegian units were only mobilized on an improvised basis , with limited supplies and little time to get properly organized before going into battle with the Germans . Only in Northern and Western Norway did the units ( the 6th Division in Northern Norway and the 4th Brigade in Western Norway ) have time to mobilize in an orderly fashion . Due to the complete lack of dedicated anti - tank guns in the Norwegian Army , Model 1901s were pressed into service in an improvised anti - tank role during the fighting in Eastern Norway . The field guns were used in direct fire mode at close range against German Panzers . All 12 of the Model 1901 field guns that had been converted to motorized transport were deployed to Northern Norway at the outbreak of war , with four in Troms County and eight in the eastern parts of Finnmark . Seven of these guns saw action on the Narvik front , supporting the Norwegian offensive against Eduard Dietl ' s Gebirgsjäger s . In Finnish service . As part of its covert support for Finland during the 1939 - 1940 Winter War , the Norwegian government donated a field artillery battalion to the Finnish Army in February 1940 . The guns were taken from stocks of artillery that had become surplus to requirement after large - scale cuts to the Norwegian military during the interwar period . The artillery pieces were delivered in response to a request for arms supplies from the Finnish foreign minister Väinö Tanner on 8 December 1939 . In addition to artillery the Finns had also requested various types of ammunition , fighter aircraft and hand grenades , weapons that Norway could not provide . The secret transfer of the Model 1901 guns to Finland was a clear violation of the rules of neutrality on behalf of the Norwegian government . The 12 guns were delivered with 7 , 166 shells via the Swedish Bofors armaments company . In Finland the guns were given the designation " 75 K 01 " . Eleven of the guns saw service in the Winter War with Field Artillery Regiment 9 , firing some 36 , 400 shells during the conflict . More ammunition for the guns were later procured by the Finnish Army from Norwegian ammunition stocks captured by the Germans in 1940 . During the Continuation War the guns were first issued to the fortification artillery , from 1942 being transferred to the coastal artillery arm . In German service . When Nazi Germany conquered Norway in the two - month long Norwegian Campaign in 1940 they captured many examples of the Norwegian " 7 , 5cm feltkanon M / 1901 " and re - designated them " 7 , 5 cm FK 246 ( n ) " . The guns remained in German service in Norway until the end of the war , amongst other uses deployed in coastal artillery fortifications . During their 1940 - 1945 occupation of Norway the Germans rebuilt at least 17 Model 1901s as anti - tank guns . Post - war use . After the end of the Second World War the " 7 , 5cm feltkanon M / 1901 " was quickly replaced with more modern types in the Norwegian Army . The last time the artillery system was used for sharpshooting exercises was with the concluding exercise of the Field Artillery ' s Officer School in August 1947 at Hjerkinn training area . Following the type ' s retirement from active duty the Model 1901 has continued into the 21st century as a saluting gun at many Norwegian fortresses . The gun had a central role in the 2005 commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905 .