The Obusier de 120 mm C mle 1897 Schneider-Canet was a

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

built by the French arms company

Schneider-Creusot Schneider et Cie, also known as Schneider-Creusot for its birthplace in the French town of Le Creusot, was a historic French iron and steel-mill company which became a major arms manufacturer. In the 1960s, it was taken over by the Belgian Empain ...

and used by

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

during the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

History

In 1897 to increase their market share the ''Establishments Schneider du Creusot'' acquired the ''Ateliers d'Artillerie du Havre.'' As part of that purchase the engineer, Gustave Canet was added to Schneider's design team. Canet had by that time already designed many artillery systems and the guns from his

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

workshops were referred to as 'Schneider-Canet' guns for years after.

Design

The Obusier de 120 mm C mle 1897 was a short-barreled horse-drawn howitzer made of steel with an

interrupted screw Breech from Russian 122 mm M1910 howitzer, modified and combined with 105 mm H37 howitzer barrel An interrupted screw or interrupted thread is a mechanical device typically used in the breech of artillery guns. It is believed to have be ...

breech which used separate loading

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

propellant charges and projectiles. The box trail carriage incorporated an early form of partial recoil absorption. The recoil system consisted of a hinged recoil spade which was connected to the axle by two large

coil springs A selection of conical coil springs The most common type of spring is the coil spring, which is made out of a long piece of metal that is wound around itself. Coil springs were in use in Roman times, evidence of this can be found in bronze Fib ...

and rubber blocks. For travel, the carriage was connected to a caisson that carried ammunition and supplies for the gun crew and was towed by a horse team.

Employment

In 1897 the

Serbian Army The Serbian Army ( sr-cyr, Копнена војска Србије, Kopnena vojska Srbije, lit=Serbian Land Army) is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces. History Originally established in 1830 as the Army of Pr ...

ordered twenty-two howitzers which arrived during the autumn of 1900 and were modernized to use

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powderSmokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to gunpowder ("black powder"). The combustion products are mainly gaseous, compared to a ...

before the Balkan Wars. In 1910 these howitzers were replaced in first-line service by sixty-four

Obusier de 120 mm mle 15TR The Obusier de 120 mm modèle 1915 Tir Rapide or quick loading 120 mm Howitzer Model 1915 was a French howitzer designed and built by the Schneider company and used by a number of nations during the First World War. History The origins of ...

howitzers and the Obusier de 120 mm C mle 1897 was assigned to second-line duty with the Heavy Fortress Artillery Regiments of the Serbian Army. They are believed to have been used during both the Balkan Wars and World War I.

Gallery

File:Top na cegru.JPG, Obusier de 120 mm at the Battle of Čegar Monument. File:Чегар - место из Првог српског устанка 03.jpg, Obusier de 120 mm at the Battle of Čegar Monument.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obusier de 120 mm C mle 1897 Schneider-Canet Artillery of Serbia Artillery of France World War I guns 120 mm artillery Schneider Electric