Canon de 155 mm Modèle 1920

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Canon de 155 mm Modèle 1920
Type Naval gun
Place of origin France
Service history
In service 1920—1966
Used by France
Wars World War II
Production history
Designed 1920
Specifications
Weight 8.87 metric tons
Barrel  length 8.87 meters (29.1 ft) 50 caliber

Shell separate-loading, bagged charge
Shell weight 56.5 kilograms (125 lb) [1]
Caliber 155 millimeters (6.1 in) [2]
Breech Welin interrupted-screw breech
Elevation -5° to +40°
Traverse Model 1921: -140° to +140° [3]
Rate of fire 3-5 rpm [4]
Muzzle velocity 850 meters per second (2,800 ft/s) [5]
Maximum firing range 26,100 meters (28,500 yd) at 40° [6]

The Canon de 155 mm Modèle 1920 was a medium-caliber naval gun used as the primary armament on a number of French Cruisers during World War II.

French Navy Maritime arm of the French Armed Forces

The French Navy, informally "La Royale", is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces. Dating back to 1624, the French Navy is one of the world's oldest naval forces. It has participated in conflicts around the globe and played a key part in establishing the French colonial empire.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Contents

Description

The Canon de 155 mm Modèle 1920 was built with a liner, autofretted A tube, two part jacket and breech ring. There was a short collar at the breech end of the liner which screwed into the A tube and a Welin breech block which opened upwards. Useful life expectancy was 700 effective full charges (EFC) per barrel. These guns were carried both in twin turrets aboard cruisers and in single casemates aboard aircraft carriers. The twin turrets were slightly unusual in that each gun had its own cradle and they could be elevated or depressed independently. [7]

Autofrettage

Autofrettage is a metal fabrication technique in which a pressure vessel is subjected to enormous pressure, causing internal portions of the part to yield plastically, resulting in internal compressive residual stresses once the pressure is released. The goal of autofrettage is to increase the durability of the final product. Inducing residual compressive stresses into materials can also increase their resistance to stress corrosion cracking; that is, non-mechanically-assisted cracking that occurs when a material is placed in a corrosive environment in the presence of tensile stress. The technique is commonly used in manufacture of high-pressure pump cylinders, warship and tank gun barrels, and fuel injection systems for diesel engines. While autofrettage will induce some work hardening, that is not the primary mechanism of strengthening.

Welin breech block

The Welin breech block was a revolutionary stepped, interrupted thread design for locking artillery breeches, invented by Axel Welin in 1889 or 1890. Shortly after, Vickers acquired the British patents. Welin breech blocks provide obturation for artillery pieces which use separate loading bagged charges and projectiles. In this system the projectile is loaded first and then followed by cloth bags of propellant.

Gun turret protective weapon mount or firing position

A gun turret is a location from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility, and some cone of fire. A modern gun turret is generally a weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in some degree of azimuth and elevation.

Ammunition

Ammunition was of separate loading type with two powder charges and a projectile.

The gun was able to fire:

Ship classes that carried the Canon de 155 mm Modèle 1920 include:

French aircraft carrier <i>Béarn</i> ship

Béarn was a French aircraft carrier. It served with the Marine nationale in World War II and later. Béarn was commissioned in 1927, and was the only aircraft carrier France produced until after World War II, and the only ship of its class built. She was to be an experimental ship, and was slated for replacement in the 1930s by two new ships of the Joffre class.

French cruiser <i>Jeanne dArc</i> (1930)

Jeanne d'Arc was a school cruiser of the French Navy. She was built in Saint-Nazaire in only two years, on plans by engineer Antoine. She was designed both as a school ship and a fully capable warship. She saw service through the Second World War, escaping to Halifax after the fall of France and eventually joining the Free French forces before the end of the war. Post war, the cruiser resumed her duties as a training ship, being retired in 1964.

<i>Duguay-Trouin</i>-class cruiser class of French light cruisers

The three Duguay-Trouin-class light cruisers were the first major French warships built after World War I. They were excellent steamers and proved successful and seaworthy over a quarter century of service. All three achieved 33 knots on trials and could easily maintain 30 knots in service. Twenty-year-old Duguay-Trouin could still maintain 27.7 knots at her post-war displacement of 10,900 tons. They were fast and economical, although with a limited range. The fate of these three ships after the French surrender illustrates the dichotomy within the French armed forces at the time: one ship was interned, then joined the Free French, another twice resisted Allied bombardment and was destroyed, and the third was disarmed at a French colonial port and subsequently sunk.

Notes

  1. Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.292.
  2. Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.292.
  3. Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.292.
  4. Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.292.
  5. Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.292.
  6. Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.292.
  7. Campbell, Naval Weapons of WWII, p.292.
  8. The 155 mm/50 (6.1") Model 1920 at Naval Weapons.Com

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References

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