Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider

Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider
Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1918-1945
Used by	France; Nazi Germany
Wars	World War I; World War II
Production history
Designer	Schneider et Cie
Designed	1917
Manufacturer	Schneider et Cie
Produced	1918-1919
Specifications
Mass	Travel: 5,530 kg (12,190 lb); Action: 5,050 kg (11,130 lb)
Barrel length	4 m (13 ft 1 in) 26.4 caliber
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	1° to +43°
Traverse	6°
Muzzle velocity	561 m/s (1,840 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	13.6 km (8.5 mi)

The Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider was a French heavy artillery piece designed and produced during the First World War. A number were still on hand during the Second World War and served in French and German service.

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.^[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 order to address a lack of heavy artillery, Schneider produced the Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 which mated the barrel of the mle 1877 with the box-trail carriage and hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism of the 152 mm howitzer M1910 produced by Schneider for the Imperial Russian Army.^[1]

However, the Army still desired a longer range gun and in 1917 Schneider placed a new 32 caliber barrel onto the carriage of the mle 1877/1914. The result was the Canon de 155 L modèle 1917, a heavy gun which lacked mobility but had good range. If transported in one load it weighed 9,900 kg (21,800 lb) or 12,170 kg (26,830 lb) if the barrel was transported 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.^[1]

Design

In 1917 Schneider proposed a new lighter gun by once again mating the barrel of the mle 1877 with the carriage and recoil mechanism of the Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1917. In order to do this, the trunnions were moved 11 inches to the rear and the barrel was inverted so the breech opened to the right. Also, a counterweight was added to the breech to balance the barrel. The result was that the mle 1918 weighed 5,050 kg (11,130 lb) in comparison to the 6,010 kg (13,250 lb) of the earlier mle 1877/1914 or the 8,956 kg (19,745 lb) of the 155 L mle 1917. This lighter weight meant it could be towed in one piece by a 10 horse team or artillery tractor.^[2]

Service

The prototype was tested in April 1918 and was accepted for service in May of the same year. 120 mle 1918 cannons were ordered with the first four being delivered shortly before the Armistice in November 1918. The remaining guns were delivered between 1919 and 1920.^[2] Surviving guns were placed in storage and mobilized as part of the general reserve at the outbreak of World War II. After the fall of France in 1940, the Wehrmacht gave captured guns the designation 15.5 cm K 425(f).^[1]

Comparison to French contemporaries

The mle 1918 weighed 960 kg (2,120 lb) less than the mle 1887/1914, but its range of 13.6 km (8.5 mi) was roughly equal.^[1]
The mle 1918 weighed less and was more mobile than the 155 L mle 1917,^[2] but its range was 4 km (2.5 mi) less and was a much older gun.^[1]
The mle 1918 weighed 1,750 kg (3,860 lb) more than the 155 C modèle 1917, but its range was only 2 km (1.2 mi) greater and was a much older gun.^[1]

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Chamberlain, Peter (1975). Heavy artillery. Gander, Terry. New York: Arco. pp. 14–17. ISBN 0668038985. OCLC 2143869.
1 2 3 4 Clelland, Charlie. "Canon 155 Mle 1918 Schneider". www.landships.info. Retrieved 19 October 2017.

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)

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[:5-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Chamberlain, Peter (1975). Heavy artillery. Gander, Terry. New York: Arco. pp. 14–17. ISBN 0668038985. OCLC 2143869.

[:0-2] 1 2 3 4 Clelland, Charlie. "Canon 155 Mle 1918 Schneider". www.landships.info. Retrieved 19 October 2017.

[1]

[2]

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 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 Canon de 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond 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 Modele 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider Canon de 155 mm GPF De Bange 155 mm cannon Canon de 220 L mle 1917 Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider
Mortars	Cellerier Mortar Mortier de 58 T N°1 Mortier de 58 T N°1 bis Mortier de 58 mm type 2 Mortier de 75 modèle 1915 Schneider 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 75 mm Schneider-Danglis 06/09 Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider
Railway artillery	Canon de 120 L mle 1878 sur affût-truc Peigné-Canet-Schneider mle 1897 Canon de 140 sur affut-truc mle 1884 Obusier de 155 C mle 1881 sur affût-truc Peigné-Canet-Schneider mle 1897 Materiel de 155 sur affut-truc Schneider Canon de 164 modèle 1893/96 TAZ Canon de 19 C modèle 1875 Canon de 19 modèle 1870/93 TAZ Obusier de 200 "Pérou" sur affût-truck TAZ Schneider 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 305 modèle 1893/96 à berceau Canon de 305 modèle 1893/96 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/81 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/84 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/93 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1893 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à berceau Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à glissement Obusier de 370 modèle 1915 à berceau 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 Canon de 240 TR Mle 1903 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1885 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889 Mortier de 280 modèle 1914 Schneider Mortier de 293 Danois sur affut-truck modèle 1914 Mortier de 370 modèle 1914 Filloux
Self propelled artillery	Canon de 194 GPF Canon de 220mm L Mle1917 Schneider (FAHM) Mortier 280 mm TR de Schneider sur affût-chenilles St Chamond
Armoured vehicle 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 25 mm APX modèle 1937 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 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 145/155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider Canon de 155 L Modele 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider Canon de 155mm GPF Canon de 194 GPF Canon de 220 L mle 1917 Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider Mortier 280 mm TR de Schneider-St Chamond
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 305 modèle 1906/10 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/84 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/93 à glissement Canon de 320 modèle 1917 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1893 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à berceau Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à glissement 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 Mortier de 293 Danois sur affut-truck modèle 1914 Mortier de 370 modèle 1914 Filloux
Tank guns	37 mm SA 18 37 mm SA mle 1938 47mm SA mle 1935 75 mm ABS mle 1929