Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891

Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891
Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891
	Deck-mounted gun aboard the Bulgarian torpedo gunboat Nadezhda
Type	Naval gun; Coastal artillery; Field gun
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1891-1945
Used by	See users
Wars	World War I; World War II
Production history
Designer	Canet
Designed	1889
Manufacturer	Schneider et Cie.
Produced	1891
Variants	Modèle 1892 L/53; Modèle 1893 L/45; Modèle 1895; Modèle 1897
Specifications
Mass	1,700 kg (3,700 lb)
Length	4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
Barrel length	4.4 m (14 ft 5 in); L/45 (cal)
Shell	Fixed QF ammunition; 100 x 869 mm R
Shell weight	See ammunition
Caliber	100 mm (3.9 in)
Action	Hydro-spring recuperator
Breech	Canet screw breech
Traverse	360°
Rate of fire	10 rpm
Muzzle velocity	710–740 m/s (2,300–2,400 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	9.5 km (5.9 mi)

The Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891 was a French naval gun developed in the late 1800s that armed a variety of warships before World War I and during World War II. In addition to its naval role it was also deployed as coastal artillery.

History[edit]

The Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891 was French naval gun designed by the French designer Gustave Canet and produced at Schneider et Cie of Le Creusot in 1889. Five models of varying length were produced: Modèle 1891, Modèle 1892, Modèle 1893, Modèle 1895 and Modèle 1897. At some point in the guns development there was a switch from Separate loading QF ammunition to Fixed QF ammunition.^[2] However the dimensions of the guns and their performance stayed largely the same.^[1]

Construction[edit]

The Modèle 1891 was constructed of an A tube, with a Canet screw breech which screwed onto the A tube. There was also a jacket and three layers of reinforcing hoops which all screwed into the breech.^[1]

Naval Use[edit]

Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891 guns armed a variety of ships such as armored cruisers, coastal defense ships, destroyers, gunboats, minesweepers, pre-dreadnought battleships, protected cruisers and seaplane tenders of the French, Bulgarian, Haitian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian and Turkish navies.

Armored cruisers[edit]

Gloire class - The five ships of this class had an anti-torpedo boat armament consisting of six casemated, 100 mm guns, in single mounts, amidships.
Dupleix class - The three ships of this class had a secondary armament consisting of four 100 mm guns, in single mounts, on the forecastle deck.
Gueydon class - The three ships of this class had an anti-torpedo boat armament consisting of four 100 mm guns, in single mounts, on the forecastle deck.

Coastal defense ships[edit]

Bouvines class - The two ships of this class had an anti-torpedo boat armament consisting of eight 100 mm guns. Four were mounted in individual casemates. The other four were on single pivot mounts with gun shields on the shelter deck directly above the four casemated guns on the corners of the superstructure.

Destroyers[edit]

Aventurier class - The four ships of this class had a primary armament consisting of four, 100 mm guns. One was on the forecastle, one between the funnels, and two on the quarterdeck, in front and behind the searchlight platform.
Bisson class - The six ships of this class had a primary armament consisting of two, 100 mm guns, on single mounts, fore and aft.
Bouclier class - The twelve ships of this class had a primary armament consisting of two, 100 mm guns, on single mounts, fore and aft.
Enseigne Roux class - The two ships of this class had a primary armament consisting of two, 100 mm guns, on single mounts, fore and aft.

Gunboats[edit]

Crête-à-Pierrot - This ship had a tertiary armament consisting of four, 100 mm guns, on single mounts.
K class river gunboats - The four ships of this class had a primary armament consisting of two, shielded, 100 mm guns, on single mounts, fore and aft.
Surprise class - The three ships of this class had a primary armament consisting of two, shielded, 100 mm guns, on single mounts, fore and aft.
Nadezhda - This ship had a primary armament consisting of two, shielded, deck-mounted guns on single mounts.

Minesweepers[edit]

Chamois class - The five ships of this class commissioned before World War II had a primary armament consisting of one, shielded, 100 mm gun, on a forward mount, due to shortages of the intended 100/45 M1933 guns.

Pre-dreadnought battleships[edit]

Bouvet - This ship had an anti-torpedo boat armament consisting of eight, 100 mm guns, in single mounts, amidships.
Charlemagne class - The three ships of this class had an anti-torpedo boat armament consisting of eight, shielded, 100 mm guns, in single mounts on the superstructure.
Iéna - This ship had an anti-torpedo boat armament consisting of eight, shielded, 100 mm guns, in single mounts on the shelter deck.
Masséna - This ship had an anti-torpedo boat armament consisting of eight, 100 mm guns, in single mounts, amidships.
Suffren - This ship had an anti-torpedo boat armament consisting of eight, shielded, 100 mm guns, in single mounts, on the shelter deck and on the superstructure.

Protected cruisers[edit]

Destrées class - The two ships of this class had a secondary armament consisting of four shielded, 100 mm guns, in sponsons, amidships.
Linois class - The three ships of this class had a secondary armament consisting of two 100 mm guns, in single mounts.

Seaplane tender[edit]

Foudre - This ship had a primary armament consisting of eight 100 mm guns, in single mounts.

Coastal artillery[edit]

In addition to their naval role this family of guns was also used as coastal artillery by France and Poland. A number of unmodified coastal artillery guns were sent to the front during World War I where they were mounted on pedestal mounts on concrete slabs. In French service there were two main models the Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1889 T97 and Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1897 T97.^[3]

Poland had two Modèle 1891 guns in service as coastal artillery under the designation Canet 100 mm wz. 1891.^[4] The two Polish guns were purchased in March 1924 with a French loan to rearm the Polish army. They were intended to arm two ex-Russian Filin-class gunboats purchased from Finland the ORP General Haller and ORP Komendant Pilsudski. However it was found that the guns were too heavy for the ships and two Russian made Canet 75mm 50 caliber Pattern 1892 were fitted instead.^[5]

In 1932 the two guns formed the 13th coastal artillery battery was created at Oksywie to defend the approaches to the Port of Gdynia. In September 1939 the captain of the battery was Capt. Art. Antoni Ratajczyk and his deputy was Mar. Stanislaw Brychcy. One of the guns was knocked out of action on the first day of fighting, while second gun fired over a hundred rounds before being captured.^[6]

Field artillery[edit]

Although the majority of combatants had long range field artillery prior to the outbreak of the First World War, none had adequate numbers of long range guns in service, nor had they foreseen the growing importance of long range artillery once the Western Front stagnated and trench warfare set in. The theorists hadn't foreseen that trenches, barbed wire, and machine guns had robbed them of the mobility they had been counting on and the combatants scrambled to find anything that could provide long range counter battery fire. This meant emptying the fortresses and scouring the depots for guns held in reserve. It also meant converting coastal artillery and naval guns by either giving them simple field carriages or mounting the larger pieces on rail carriages.^[7]

During 1914 a number guns mounted on the carriage of the Canon de 155 long modèle 1877 and the new guns were given the designation Canon de 100 mm TR mle 1897.^[8] The gun was fairly conventional for its time and most nations had similar guns such as the German 15 cm Ring Kanone L/30 which was also a converted naval gun. Like many of its contemporaries, it had a tall and narrow box trail carriage built from bolted iron plates with two wooden spoked wheels. The carriages were tall because the guns were designed to sit behind a parapet with the barrel overhanging the front. Like its contemporaries, its carriage did not have a recoil mechanism or a gun shield. However, the guns could be connected to an external recoil mechanism which connected to a steel eye on a firing platform and a hook on the carriage between the wheels. A set of wooden ramps were also placed behind the wheels and when the gun fired the wheels rolled up the ramp and was returned to position by gravity. There was also no traverse so the gun had to be levered into position to aim. A drawback of this system was the gun had to be re-aimed each time which lowered the rate of fire. The wheels could be fitted with detachable grousers designed by the Italian major Crispino Bonagente for traction on soft ground and these consisted of rectangular plates connected with elastic links and are visible in many photographs of World War I artillery from all of the combatants. For transport, the gun was broken down into two loads for towing by horse teams or artillery tractors.

When the barrels of the Canon de 100 mm TR were worn out they were rebored to fire 105 mm ammunition from the Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider during 1917 and the new model was called the Canon de 105 mm mle 1897. However, the new model didn't remain in service long and wasn't considered a success.^[8]

Ammunition[edit]

Ammunition was fixed QF type 100 x 869 mm R . A complete cartridge weighed 24 kg (53 lb) and projectiles weighed 14–16 kg (31–35 lb).^[9]

The gun was able to fire:

Users[edit]

Gallery[edit]

A Canon de 100 from the Nadezhda at the Naval Museum Varna Bulgaria.
A gunnery drill aboard a French ship in the Mediterranean during World War I.
A Canon de 100 in Flanders Belgium during the First World War.
A Canon de 100 in use as a field gun.
A Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1897.
A Canon de 105 mm Modèle 1897 with elastic wheels.

References[edit]

Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.

Notes[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c Friedman, Norman (2011-01-01). Naval weapons of World War One. Seaforth. ISBN 9781848321007. OCLC 786178793.
^ DiGiulian, Tony. "France Miscellaneous 100 mm (3.9") Guns - NavWeaps". www.navweaps.com. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
^ "Canons de 100 mm TR - FortiffSéré". www.fortiffsere.fr. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
^ "Kilka ciężkich dni baterii Canet". trojmiasto.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-04-30.
^ "Bateria nadbrzeżna 100mm wz. 1891 "Canet" - Kampania Wrześniowa 1939.pl". www.1939.pl. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
^ [Scypion], Waldemar Sadaj. "Armata Canet 100 mm". www.dws-xip.pl. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
^ Hogg, Ian (2004). Allied artillery of World War One. Ramsbury: Crowood. pp. 129–134 & 218. ISBN 1861267126. OCLC 56655115.
^ ^a ^b "Landships II". www.landships.info. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
^ "Bateria nadbrzezna 100mm wz. 1891 "Canet" - Kampania Wrzesniowa 1939.pl". www.1939.pl. Retrieved 2017-04-23.

External links[edit]

[:0-1] Friedman, Norman (2011-01-01). Naval weapons of World War One. Seaforth. ISBN 9781848321007. OCLC 786178793.

[2] DiGiulian, Tony. "France Miscellaneous 100 mm (3.9") Guns - NavWeaps". www.navweaps.com. Retrieved 2017-04-23.

[3] "Canons de 100 mm TR - FortiffSéré". www.fortiffsere.fr. Retrieved 2017-04-23.

[4] "Kilka ciężkich dni baterii Canet". trojmiasto.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-04-30.

[5] "Bateria nadbrzeżna 100mm wz. 1891 "Canet" - Kampania Wrześniowa 1939.pl". www.1939.pl. Retrieved 2017-04-23.

[6] [Scypion], Waldemar Sadaj. "Armata Canet 100 mm". www.dws-xip.pl. Retrieved 2017-04-23.

[Hogg_2004-7] Hogg, Ian (2004). Allied artillery of World War One. Ramsbury: Crowood. pp. 129–134 & 218. ISBN 1861267126. OCLC 56655115.

[:1-8] "Landships II". www.landships.info. Retrieved 2021-01-31.

[9] "Bateria nadbrzezna 100mm wz. 1891 "Canet" - Kampania Wrzesniowa 1939.pl". www.1939.pl. Retrieved 2017-04-23.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

v t e French weapons of the 19th century
Small arms	Delvigne rifle (1826) Thouvenin Carabine à tige (1846) Lefaucheux M1858 revolver Minié rifle (1849) Tabatière rifle (1864) Chassepot rifle (1866) Gras rifle (1874) Lebel rifle (1886) Modèle 1892 revolver
Machine guns	Reffye mitrailleuse (1866) Hotchkiss "Canon-Revolver" (1872) Mitrailleuse Gatling modèle APX 1895 (1895) Mle 1897 Hotchkiss Machine gun (1897)
Cannons	Year XI system (1803) Paixhans gun (1823) Valée system (1828) Canon obusier de 12 (1853) La Hitte system (1858) Reffye 85 mm (1870) Reffye 75 mm (1873) Lahitolle 95 mm (1873) de Bange 80 mm (1877) de Bange 90 mm (1877) Canet 320 mm (1880) Canon de 75 (1897)
Warships	Steam battleship Napoléon (1850) Ironclad floating battery Lave (1854) Ironclad Gloire (1858) Mechanical powered submarine Plongeur (1863) Steel battleship Redoutable (1876) Armoured cruiser Dupuy de Lôme (1890) Electrical submarine Gymnote (1888)
Ammunition	Lepage fulminate (1807–10) Pauly-Prélat integrated cartridge (1808) Prélat percussion cap (1818) Lefaucheux cartridge (1836) Tamisier ball (1841) Minié ball (1847) 8 mm Lebel smokeless powder cartridge (1886)
Systems	Lepage percussion system (1807) Marié-Davy naval periscope (1854) De Bange breech obturator (1872) Du Temple high-circulation steam engine (1876) Krebs naval electric gyrocompass (1880) Smokeless powder Poudre B (1886)
Operational usage	Napoleonic Wars French Intervention in Spain French conquest of Algeria Crimean War Second Italian War of Independence French Intervention in Mexico French weapons in the American Civil War Franco-Prussian War Tonkin Campaign Sino-French War

v t e French naval weapons of the First World War
Battleship primary armament	274 mm/40 Modèle 1893/1896 305 mm/45 Modèle 1887 305 mm/40 Modèle 1893/96 305 mm/45 Modèle 1906 340mm/28 Modèle 1881 340 mm/42 Modèle 1887 340 mm/45 Modèle 1912
Battleship secondary armament	47 mm/40 Modèle 1885 47 mm/50 Modèle 1902 57 mm/40 Modèle 1885 75 mm/62 Modèle 1908 75 mm/34 Modèle 1915/1916/1917 138 mm/55 Modèle 1910 164 mm/45 Modèle 1887 164 mm/45 Modèle 1893 194 mm/40 Modèle 1893-1896 240mm/50 Modèle 1902 274 mm/45 Modèle 1887/1893
Cruiser primary armament	164 mm/45 Modèle 1887 164 mm/45 Modèle 1893 194 mm/45 Modèle 1887 194 mm/40 Modèle 1893-1896 194 mm/50 Modèle 1902
Cruiser secondary armament	100 mm/45 Modèle 1891 138 mm/45 Modèle 1893 164 mm/45 Modèle 1887 164 mm/45 Modèle 1893
Destroyer and Aviso Primary armament	65 mm/50 Modèle 1891 100 mm/45 Modèle 1891 138 mm/45 Modèle 1893 138 mm/55 Modèle 1910
Anti-aircraft weapons	8 mm/50 Modèle 1914 57 mm/40 Modèle 1902

v t e French naval weapons of the Second World War
Battleship main armament	305 mm/45 Modèle 1906 330 mm/50 Modèle 1931 340 mm/45 Modèle 1912 380 mm/45 Modèle 1935
Cruiser main armament	138 mm/40 Modèle 1923 152 mm/55 Modèle 1930 155 mm/50 Modèle 1920 203 mm/50 Modèle 1924 203 mm/55 Modèle 1931
Destroyer and Aviso main armament	65 mm Modèle 1891 90 mm/50 Modèle 1926 100 mm/45 Modèle 1891 100 mm/45 Modèle 1933 130 mm/40 Modèle 1919 130 mm/40 Modèle 1924 130 mm/45 Modèle 1935 138 mm/45 Modèle 1893 138 mm/40 Modèle 1927 138 mm/55 Modèle 1910 138 mm/50 Modèle 1929
Secondary armament	57 mm/40 Modèle 1885 90 mm/50 Modèle 1926 100 mm/45 Modèle 1930 100 mm/55 Modèle 1945 130 mm/45 Modèle 1932 138 mm/55 Modèle 1910 152 mm/55 Modèle 1930
Submarine guns	75 mm/35 Modèle 1924 75 mm/35 Modèle 1927 100 mm/45 Modèle 1917 100 mm/45 Modèle 1925 100 mm/34 Modèle 1936 203 mm/50 Modèle 1924
Anti-aircraft weapons	7.5 mm/80 Modèle 1931 8 mm/50 Modèle 1914 13.2 mm/76 Modèle 1929 25 mm/60 Modèle 1938 25 mm/60 Modèle 1940 37 mm/50 Modèle 1925 37 mm/70 Modèle 1935 57 mm/40 Modèle 1902 75 mm/35 Modèle 1924 75 mm/35 Modèle 1927 90 mm/50 Modèle 1926 100 mm/34 Modèle 1933
Torpedoes	400 mm Modèle 1926V 550 mm Modèle 1919D 550 mm Modèle 1923DT 550 mm Modèle 1924M 550 mm Modèle 1924V