Canon de 24 C modèle 1876

Canon de 24 C modèle 1876
Canon de 24 C mm modèle 1876 in use as a railway gun on a three-axle chassis
General Information
Military designation:	Canon de 24 C mm modèle 1876
Manufacturer country:	France
Developer / Manufacturer:	Schneider et Cie
Development year:	1875
Start of production:	1876
Model variants:	6th
Weapon Category:	Coastal Artillery / Heavy Field Artillery / Railway Artillery
Technical specifications
Pipe length:	5.36 m and 7.22 m
Caliber :	240 mm
Caliber length :	L / 22 and L / 30
Cadence :	0.25 rounds / min
Elevation range:	- 5 ° to + 30 ° angular degrees
Side straightening area:	up to 360 °
Furnishing
Closure Type :	System de Bange
Ammunition supply:	Manually

The Canon de 24 C modèle 1876 was a French coastal gun from the end of the 19th century. The corresponding mount of the "Tarbes GPC" type was first demonstrated in 1876 in Tarbes Général de Reffye . It was the predecessor of the Canon de 240 mm modèle 1884 .

Different variants of the gun existed, such as two different barrel lengths and several different mounts. It was the first French gun with a hydraulic reverse brake .

history

On May 11, 1874, the French War Ministry set the calibers 120 mm, 155 mm and 220 mm for the heavy field artillery and the calibers 220 mm and 270 mm for the mortars as standard. On December 31, 1875, the development of new 270 mm mortars was stopped and the order was withdrawn on January 22, 1876, as the "Canon de 24" was preferred. This was originally mounted on a mount G and was used as a coastal gun.

Although the majority of combatants had heavy field artillery before the outbreak of World War I, there were not enough guns in France with a caliber of over 220 millimeters. Nor had the growing importance of heavy artillery been foreseen. When the western front stagnated and trench warfare began, the lack of heavy and super-heavy artillery became noticeable; numerous improvisations emerged in a hurry. Two resources of heavy artillery suitable for conversion for field use were coastal fortifications and excess naval artillery. Suitable field and railroad mounts were built for these guns to support the heavy field artillery in fighting fortified targets.

Field use

During the First World War , the French high command was confronted with an overpowering German heavy artillery. It was then decided to create its own reinforced heavy artillery , called Artillerie lourde à grande puissance - ALGP (heavy artillery of great effect). The transport of these guns was associated with difficulties due to their heavy weight.

During the war, therefore, railway guns (ALVF - Artillerie lourde sur voie ferrée) were put into service once without and once with a 360 ° lateral directional range for both the “modèle 1876” gun with a short barrel and the “modèle 1884” gun. The underframes required for this on rail transport wagons were different; on the one hand, it was a simple frame with an attached carriage with two or three axles, which were later also joined by six-axle underframes with lateral supports. The mounts without a side straightening area had to be moved on a shooting curve to change the target . Anchoring with cable winches was used for this .

• 

  Chassis with two axles without side straightening area

• 

  Chassis with three axles without side straightening area

• 

  Chassis with six axes and 360 ° side straightening range

The abbreviations GPC and GPA stand for :

• GPC: Type G mount with "Pivot central" (middle pivot)
• GPA: Type G mount with "Pivot antérieur" (front pivot)

Canon 24 C modèle 1876

The pipe was mounted in a two-part wrought iron carriage and fitted with a lock from the de Bange system. The upper part of the carriage, which was firmly connected to the tube, rested on the sliding surfaces of the lower part. The hydraulic return brake acted on two hydraulic cylinders that were attached to the outside of the lower part of the carriage and slowed the return of the upper part of the carriage.

• Description: Canon de 24 de Côte en fonce avec tubage en arcier (coastal cannon 24 made of cast iron with a steel tube )
• Model: 1876
• Weight of the tube: 16,200 kg
• Caliber: 240 mm
• Pipe length: 5.36 m
• Closure: System de Bange

Carriage "GPC type Tarbes"	Carriage "GPA type Tarbes"	Carriage "with blade brake"	Carriage "Modèle 1911"
Weight 30,800 kg	Weight 30,800 kg	Weight 30,800 kg	Weight 13,000 kg
Elevation range −5 ° to + 30 °	Elevation range −5 ° to + 30 °	Elevation range −6 ° to + 31 °	Elevation range −5 ° to + 26 °
Firing range 9700 to 13,450 m	Firing range 9700 to 13,450 m	Firing range 9700 to 13,450 m	Firing range 9700 to 13,450 m
Weight of the grenade 162 kg	Weight of the grenade 162 kg	Weight of the grenade 162 kg	Weight of the grenade 162 kg
Total weight 47,000 kg	Total weight 47,000 kg	Total weight 47,000 kg	Total weight 29,000 kg

A French 24 cm G modèle 1876 cannon, mounted on a center pivot mount "GPC type Tarbes" in 1915 on the Gallipoli peninsula. Four of these cannons were used during the Battle of Gallipoli . Made unusable in January 1916 and given up, they are still in a desperate condition in their former positions on Cape Helles .

Canon 24 C modèle 1870–1887

This carriage was wider than the previous model, the two hydraulic cylinders of the return brake were now mounted inside the lower carriage.

• Description : Canon de 24 de Côte en fonce avec tubage en arcier (coastal cannon 24 made of cast iron with a steel tube )
• Model: 1876
• Weight of the pipe: 20,000 kg
• Caliber: 240 mm
• Pipe length: 7.22 m
• Closure: console lock with spring bolt

Carriage "Modèle" M "1888 PC"	Carriage "Modèle 1886 PA"
Weight 33,000 kg	Weight 27,900 kg
Elevation range −6 ° to + 28 °	Elevation range −7 ° to + 30 °
Side straightening range 360 °	Side straightening range 180 °
Firing range 18,500 m	Firing range 18,500 m
Weight of the grenade 162 kg	Weight of the grenade 162 kg
Muzzle velocity 590 m / s	Muzzle velocity 590 m / s
Total weight 53,000 kg	Total weight 47,900 kg

Blown gun in carriage "G" on Cape Helles

• Four guns are still in their abandoned positions on Cape Helles ( Gelibolu peninsula ), one gun carriage is labeled "Desbois Roussechausse Nantes 1884"
• Four guns on the "modèle 1911" carriage are in a coastal battery in Vũng Tau
• A Carriage C without a gun is still on the Atlantic coast in the battery position "Corps de Garde" in Gâvres .

literature

• Mark Romanych "Railway Guns of World War I." Heuer, Greg, Noon, Steve London pp. 5-15. ISBN 9781472816412 . OCLC 999616340.
• Ian Hogg & John Batchelor "Rail gun" Scribner New York 1973. p. 14. ISBN 0684133423 . OCLC 760898.

Web links

• Canon de 24 C modèle 1876 on fortiffsere

Individual evidence

1. ↑ type designation
2. ↑ on turntable