Canon de 19 C modèle 1875

Canon de 19 C modèle 1875
Canon de 19 C modèle 1875
	A coastal defense gun at Plaeng Fai Fah Fort, Thailand.
Type	Coastal artillery
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1875-1945
Used by	France; United States
Wars	World War I
Production history
Designed	1875
Produced	1875
Variants	Railway gun
Specifications
Mass	Complete: 15.3 t (15.1 long tons; 16.9 short tons); Carriage: 7.3 t (7.2 long tons; 8.0 short tons); Barrel: 8 t (7.9 long tons; 8.8 short tons)
Barrel length	7.2 m (24 ft) L/37[1]
Shell	Separate-loading, bagged charge and projectiles
Shell weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Caliber	194 mm (7.6 in)[1]
Breech	de Bange
Recoil	Hydro-gravity
Elevation	-6° to +30°
Traverse	360°[1]
Muzzle velocity	470 m/s (1,500 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	15 km (9.3 mi)[1]

The Canon de 19 C modèle 1875 was a coastal defense gun designed and built in the 1870s. A number of guns were also converted to railway guns during World War I in order to meet a need for heavy artillery.

Design

The Canon de 19 C modèle 1875 were typical built-up guns of the period with mixed construction consisting of a rifled steel liner and several layers of iron reinforcing hoops. In French service guns of mixed steel/iron construction were designated in centimeters while all steel guns were designated in millimeters. However, reference materials do not always distinguish the difference in construction and use either unit of measurement. The guns used a de Bange breech and fired separate loading bagged charges and projectiles.[2]

The mle 1875 was mounted on a number of different models of garrison mounts with limited traverse. One exception was the GPC mount which was a rectangular steel firing platform which sat on top of a large circular steel track embedded in concrete behind a parapet. A rectangular steel firing platform with four wheels rotated on the track and gave 360° of traverse.[1]

The recoil system for the mle 1875 consisted of a U shaped gun cradle which held the trunnioned barrel and a slightly inclined firing platform with a hydro-gravity recoil system. When the gun fired the hydraulic buffers slowed the recoil of the cradle which slid up a set of inclined rails on the firing platform and then returned the gun to position by the combined action of the buffers and gravity.[1]

Railway guns

In order to address a need for heavy artillery a number of mle 1875's were converted to railway guns. The conversion entailed removing the gun cradle from its carriage and mounting it on one of three different types of rail carriage.

Carriage Types:

The first designated 19 cm Canon G modèle 1916 was a convertible two-axle Schneider design that allowed the rail bogies to be replaced with road wheels so it could be towed by an artillery tractor to the front. This version retained the inclined hydro-gravity recoil system of its predecessor and its rear axle was taller than the front to assist returning the gun to battery after firing. This carriage had three wooden beams attached to the axles which were lowered to lay across the tracks by screw jacks to take weight off of the axles. Elevation was +40° and range was 12.9 km (8 mi) but there was no traverse so in order to aim the gun had to be drawn across a section of curved track. All versions had an attachment at the front of the carriage for a tie bar which attached to an earth anchor to help anchor the guns in place and an ammunition hoist on the rear of the carriage.[3] On November 11 1917 there were fifty mle 1916's in service.[4]

The second designated 19 cm Canon G modèle 1917 was a simpler two-axle flatbed carriage built from steel I beams and timbers. On this carriage, the gun cradle was mounted horizontally with a hydro-spring recoil system where the hydraulic buffer absorbed the recoil and a spring (or a system of hundreds of rubber bands, adopted due to spring breakage in cold weather) returned the gun to battery after firing. This carriage had three wooden beams attached to the center of the wagon which were lowered to lay across the tracks by screw jacks to take weight off of the axles. Elevation was largely the same as mle 1916 but there was no traverse so in order to aim the gun had to be drawn across a section of curved track or placed on a turntable which took two days to assemble before use.[3] On November 11 1918 there were twenty-eight mle 1917's in service.[4]

Lastly, there was a simple three-axle flatbed carriage built from steel I beams and timbers. This version retained the inclined hydro-gravity recoil system of its predecessor. This carriage had three wooden beams with one between each axle which were lowered lay across the tracks by screw jacks to take weight off of the axles. Elevation was largely the same as the other versions but there was no traverse so in order to aim the gun had to be drawn across a section of curved track.[3]

United States service

During World War I several US Army railway artillery units in France used this weapon, commonly called the "19-G". One of these was the 43rd Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps.[5]

Photo Gallery

A line drawing of a mle 1916 two-axle carriage.
A mle 1916 in firing position.
A mle 1916 in traveling position.
A mle 1917 two-axle carriage on a turntable.
A line drawing of a three-axle carriage variant.

References

"Canons de 19 de côte modèles 1870 - FortiffSéré". www.fortiffsere.fr. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
Romanych, Mark (2017-08-24). Railway Guns of World War I. Heuer, Greg, Noon, Steve. London. pp. 5–20. ISBN 9781472816412. OCLC 999616340.
Miller, H. W., LTC, USA (1921). Railway Artillery, vols. I and II. Washington: Government Printing Office. pp. 12–26.
"Une montée en puissance improvisée de l'A.L.G.P. de 1914 à 1918". basart.artillerie.asso.fr (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-12.
43rd Artillery, CAC in WWI at rootsweb.com

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[:0-1] "Canons de 19 de côte modèles 1870 - FortiffSéré". www.fortiffsere.fr. Retrieved 2018-09-12.

[:2-2] Romanych, Mark (2017-08-24). Railway Guns of World War I. Heuer, Greg, Noon, Steve. London. pp. 5–20. ISBN 9781472816412. OCLC 999616340.

[:3-3] Miller, H. W., LTC, USA (1921). Railway Artillery, vols. I and II. Washington: Government Printing Office. pp. 12–26.

[:1-4] "Une montée en puissance improvisée de l'A.L.G.P. de 1914 à 1918". basart.artillerie.asso.fr (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-12.

[5] 43rd Artillery, CAC in WWI at rootsweb.com

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 Modele 1917 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 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 Canon de 76 M modele 1909 Schneider Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider
Railway artillery	Canon de 140 sur affut-truc mle 1884 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