Canon de 105 mle 1913 tailor

Canon de 105 mle 1913 tailor
General Information
Military designation:	Canon de 105 mle 1913 cutter (L13S)
Manufacturer country:	France
Developer / Manufacturer:	Schneider et Cie. , Le Creusot
Production time:	1913 to?
Number of pieces:	1300
Technical specifications
Pipe length:	2.36 m
Caliber :	10.5 cm
Caliber length :	L / 28.4
Cadence :	4 rounds / min
Elevation range:	−5 ° to +37 degrees
Side straightening area:	6 °

The Cannon Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider was a medium-sized long-range gun of the French artillery in the First and Second World War .

history

At the beginning of the First World War, the powers of the Entente had a preponderance of light artillery, while the German Army had a strong superiority in medium and heavy steep-fire artillery. When it came to the equipment with long-bearing cannons, there was almost a balance, as the British Expeditionary Forces had 31 modern 127 mm cannons at their disposal, which were on a par with the German cannons of caliber 105 mm and 150 mm. The construction of long-range cannons in France, however, began late, so that the French artillery had only twelve Mle 1913 in three experimental batteries from September 1914. Only in the course of the war could a preponderance of guns with long firing ranges be achieved through the production of over 1,300 cannons in 1913. In Germany only 916 long-range 105 mm cannons could be produced during the war. At the beginning of the war, however, the French army had to retrofit the Canon de 120 mm L modèle in 1878 for field use - a total of 286 guns - to supplement the fire of the light field cannons over long distances. Only because the fronts froze during trench warfare were these completely outdated guns without return barrel usable until the end of the war. The Mle 1913, on the other hand, is considered to be an excellent cannon and one of the best designs by Schneider et Cie. at all.

Before the First World War, Schneider delivered a prototype to Russia, where production in the Putilov works in St. Petersburg began as the "42 lines (107 cm) rapid fire cannon 1910". During the war, units of the American Expeditionary Army were also equipped with Mle 1913 guns. After the war, many European countries bought the cannon and renamed it accordingly:

• Belgium (Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider (L13S))
• Italy (Cannone da 105/28)
• Yugoslavia (105 mm M 13)
• Poland (armata wz. 13)

In Poland and Italy the cannon was also built under license. These countries were busy building or rebuilding their armies. France still used the Mle in 1913 as the main model of its artillery in 1940. About 1000 Mle 1913 were in the army at that time.

The Wehrmacht captured all of these guns after the start of the Second World War and used them mainly for coastal defense on the Atlantic Wall or for training purposes. They received the following German names.

• 10.5 cm cannon 331 (f) (formerly French)
• 10.5 cm cannon 333 (b) (formerly Belgian)
• 10.5 cm cannon 338 (i) (formerly Italian)
• 10.5 cm cannon 338 (j) (formerly Yugoslav)
• 10.5 cm cannon 13 (p) (formerly Polish)

technology

Rear view of the Mle 1913

The gun had some important innovations. On the one hand, the closure should be mentioned here, which in principle works in the same way as the Système de Bange closure, but represents a significant further development. The lock consists of a rotatably mounted cylinder, which has a segmented screw thread, a female thread of the same design in the tube core, a pivoting / rotating mechanism and the firing pin. The block and the core thread are segmented and recessed at 90 ° intervals to enable pivoting and to close the closure gas-tight with a 1/6 turn. The innovation of the tailor's lock was that locking / unlocking, the rotary movement of the cylinder and the swinging in and out of the lock only took place by moving the operating lever. This increased the rate of fire of the gun as the loading process was simplified considerably. Another advantage of the closure is the gas tightness, which allows the use of cartridges instead of shell ammunition. A quick release mechanism was also added, which made it possible to separate the barrel and cradle quickly, so that the weapon could be transported more easily on two trolleys. The pipe return system consisting of an independent pipe brake and pecker was also newly developed . The system worked hydropneumatically.

literature

• Ian Hogg : 20th Century Artillery . Gondromverlag, Bindlach 2001, ISBN 3-8112-1878-6 .
• Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain: Encyclopedia of German Weapons 1939-1945 . 2nd Edition. Special edition. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02481-0 .
• Hans Linnenkohl: From a single shot to a fire roller . The race between technology and tactics in the First World War . Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-7637-5966-2 .

Web links

Commons : Canon de 105 modèle 1913 Schneider  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Zeno.org