Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider

Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider
Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider
	A mle 1877/14 showing the marriage of a Schneider carriage and de Bange barrel.
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1916-1945
Used by	France; Nazi Germany
Wars	World War I; World War II
Production history
Designer	Schneider et Cie
Designed	1913
Manufacturer	Schneider et Cie
Produced	1916-1917
No. built	120
Specifications
Weight	6,010 kg (13,250 lb)
Barrel length	4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) 27 caliber[1]
Shell	Separate loading charge and projectile
Shell weight	43 kg (95 lb)
Caliber	155 mm (6.1 in)
Breech	de Bange
Recoil	Hydro-pneumatic
Carriage	Single-axle Box-trail
Elevation	-5° to +42°
Traverse	4°[1]
Rate of fire	3 rpm
Muzzle velocity	561 m/s (1,840 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	13.9 km (8.6 mi)[1]

A mle 1877/14 in action.

The Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider was a French heavy artillery piece designed before and produced during the First World War. A number were still on hand during the Second World War and served in the French and German services.

History

As the First World War settled into Trench Warfare on the Western Front the light field guns that the combatants went to war with were beginning to show their limitations when facing an enemy who was now dug into prepared positions. Indirect fire, interdiction and counter-battery fire emphasized the importance of long-range heavy artillery.

At the beginning of World War I, the French Army had about 1,300 de Bange 155 mm L modèle 1877 guns in its inventory, without a clear idea of how to replace them.^[2] Although accurate and reliable it lacked a modern recoil system, which meant that after each shot the gun rolled back onto a set of wooden ramps and had to be re-laid before the next shot.

In 1907 French Schneider et Cie and Russian Putilov companies signed an agreement for the production of the 152 mm howitzer M1910 for the Imperial Russian Army. The M1910 was a conventional design for its time with a box-trail carriage, steel-rimmed wooden wheels, a gun shield and a hydro-pneumatic recoil system.^[2] The performance of this gun impressed the French Army and calls for a French version gained pace.

In 1909 the French army invited the submission of proposals from state arsenals for fitting its de Bange cannons with modern recoil systems. Later in 1910, this was expanded to include competing proposals from private companies such as Schneider et Cie and Saint Chamond. In October 1913 the Schneider submission was chosen and in April 1914, an order for 120 guns was signed with deliveries scheduled between December 1915 and December 1917. With the outbreak of the First World War deliveries of the new gun designated the 155 mm L mle 1877/14 were delayed until February 1916.^[2]

Design

The Schneider proposal of 1913 was to mount the barrel of the mle 1877 on the carriage of the M1910 so that its breech would open to the right, but in production this was abandoned and the breech still opened to the left. However, this idea was later successfully revived in the Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider which mounted the mle 1877 barrel inverted on the carriage of the Canon de 155 C modèle 1917.^[1]

For transport, the barrel could either be withdrawn from battery and fastened to the box-trail or removed and towed on its own trailer. The trade-off was each load weighed less, but more time was needed to reassemble the gun and bring it into action. The mle 1877/14 was light enough to transport in one piece by two eight-horse teams or it could be towed in one piece by an artillery tractor. However, its wooden wheels and lack of sprung suspension limited towing speed to 5 km/h (3.1 mph).^[2]

Service

The mle 1877/14 was considered an adequate gun which served throughout the First World War and provided the French Army with heavy artillery when needed most. Between wars, it was assigned to garrison duty and was used until the Second World War. Some received pneumatic tires, but the absence of a sprung suspension limited their towing speed. After the surrender of France in 1940 guns captured by the Germans were used as coastal artillery by occupation units with the designation 15.5 cm Kanone 422(f).^[1]

Comparison to French contemporaries

The mle 1877/14 weighed 960 kg (2,120 lb) more than the mle 1918, but its range of 13.6 km (8.5 mi) was roughly equal.^[1]
The mle 1877/14 weighed less and was more mobile than the 155 L mle 1917,^[1] but its range was 4 km (2.5 mi) less and was a much older gun.^[2]
The mle 1877/14 weighed 2,710 kg (5,970 lb) more than the 155 C modèle 1917, but it was less mobile and its range was only 2 km (1.2 mi) greater.^[1]

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Chamberlain, Peter (1975). Heavy artillery. Gander, Terry,. New York: Arco. pp. 14–17. ISBN 0668038985. OCLC 2143869.
1 2 3 4 5 "Landships II". www.landships.info. Retrieved 2017-10-25.

References

François Vauvillier & Pierre Touzin "Les Canons de la Victoire 1914-1918 Tome 1", Historie & Collections, 2006, p. 64 (French)
François Vauvillier "1917-18 155 Long", Histoire de Guerre, Blindés et Matériel, No.89, Oct-Dec 2009, pp. 42–43 (French)
Règlement provisoire de manoeuvre des batteries armées du matériel de 155L mle 1877-1914, Ministérie de la Guerre, May 1916

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Chamberlain, Peter (1975). Heavy artillery. Gander, Terry,. New York: Arco. pp. 14–17. ISBN 0668038985. OCLC 2143869.

[:1-2] 1 2 3 4 5 "Landships II". www.landships.info. Retrieved 2017-10-25.

French artillery of World War I
Anti-aircraft guns	Canon de 75 antiaérien mle 1913-1917
Coastal artillery	Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891 Canon de 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 19 C modèle 1870/93 Canon de 19 C modèle 1875 Canon de 24 C modèle 1876 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889
Field artillery	Canon de 75 modèle 1897 Canon de 75 modèle 1912 Schneider Canon de 75 modèle 1914 Schneider De Bange 90 mm cannon Obusier de 120 mm C modèle 1890 Obusier de 120 mm mle 15TR
Infantry guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP
Medium and heavy artillery	Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider Canon de 155 court modèle 1904 Rimailho Canon de 120 mm modèle 1878 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1890 Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 St. Chamond Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider Canon de 155mm GPF De Bange 155 mm cannon Canon de 220 L mle 1917 Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider
Mortars	Mortier de 58 mm type 2 Mortier de 150 mm T Mle 1917 Fabry Mortier de 240 mm Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1885 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889
Mountain artillery	Canon de 65 M modele 1906 Canon de 76 M modele 1909 Schneider Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider
Railroad artillery	Canon de 140 sur affut-truc mle 1884 Canon de 164 modèle 1893/96 TAZ Canon de 19 modèle 1870/93 TAZ 24 cm Canon G modèle 1916 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Canon de 240 modèle 93/96 TAZ Canon de 274 modèle 93/96 Berceau Canon de 274 modèle 87/93 Glissement Canon de 305 modèle 93/96 TAZ Canon de 32 modèle 1870/93 Obusier de 370 modèle 1915 Canon de 370 modèle 75/79 Glissement Obusier de 400 Modèle 1915/1916 Obusier de 520 modèle 1916
Siege artillery	Obusier de 120 mm C modèle 1890 Canon de 120 mm modèle 1878 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1890 Mortier de 220 mm modèle 1880 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1885 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889 Mortier de 280 modèle 1914 Schneider
Self propelled artillery	Canon de 194 mle GPF Canon de 220mm L Mle1917 Schneider (FAHM) Mortier 280 mm TR de Schneider sur affût-chenilles St Chamond
Tank guns	Puteaux 37 mm SA 18 Canon de 75 modèle 1897

French artillery of World War II
Anti-aircraft guns	Mitrailleuse de 25 mm CA mle 39 Canon de 75 antiaérien mle 1913-1917 Canon de 75 CA modèle 1940 Schneider
Anti-tank guns	25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun AC 37 anti-tank gun AC 47 anti-tank gun 47 mm APX anti-tank gun
Coastal artillery	Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891 Canon de 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 19 C modèle 1870/93 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889
Field artillery	Canon de 75 modèle 1897
Infantry guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP
Medium and Heavy artillery	Canon de 105 court mle 1934 Schneider Canon de 105 court mle 1935 B Canon de 105 L mle 1936 Schneider Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 St. Chamond Canon de 155mm GPF Canon de 194 mle GPF Canon de 220 L mle 1917 Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider
Mortars	Mortier de 150 mm T Mle 1917 Fabry
Mountain artillery	Canon de 65 M modele 1906 Canon de 75 M modele 1919 Schneider Canon de 75 M modele 1928 Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider Canon Court de 105 M modèle 1919 Schneider
Railroad artillery	Canon de 164 modèle 1893/96 TAZ Canon de 19 modèle 1870/93 TAZ Canon de 240 modèle 93/96 TAZ Canon de 32 modèle 1870/93 Obusier de 370 modèle 1915 Canon de 370 modèle 75/79 Glissement Obusier de 400 Modèle 1915/1916 Obusier de 520 modèle 1916
Siege artillery	Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 280 modèle 1914 Schneider
Tank guns	Puteaux 37 mm SA 18 47mm SA mle 1935 Canon de 75 modèle 1897