| The 15cm KiSL (Lit; 15cm Kanone in Schirmlafette) was a Krupp designed fortress gun on an armoured, naval type mounting designed to provide long-range fire. The range was
extraordinary for those days: 19,400 m. They were built as part of the armament of the Festen modern forts in the Fortress of Metz before World War One with 10 batteries of
two emplacements each being constructed. They could be easily moved to prepared battery sites around the Fortress of Metz, by either rail or road as needed. In the event only
15 guns were ever built with only eight (four batteries) being allocated to Metz.
During WWI, the Germans found they needed these guns at the front more than they needed them at Metz and most of them ended up being used as long range artillery along
the front line. The guns were then fitted with a four-legged steel frame mount to enable them to be moved and emplaced more easily in the field.
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