The Obusier de 120 mm C modèle 1890 - was a French

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 ...

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

during the

First World War 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 ...

. It was one of the first modern howitzers equipped with a recoil system.

History

Development of the ''modèle 1890'' began in 1886 at the ''Atelier-de-précision'' in Paris, following a request by the French Army for a mobile howitzer capable of high angle fire. Adopted in 1890, it was assigned to heavy field artillery regiments (''artillerie lourde de campagne'') and to artillery regiments (''régiments d'artillerie à pied'') of the Séré de Rivières fortress system. The ''modèle'' is mentioned in the documents of the so-called

Dreyfus Affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

, in which artillery captain

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus ( , also , ; 9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French artillery officer of Jewish ancestry whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most polarizing political dramas in modern French history. ...

was accused of disclosing (or wanting to disclose) the howitzer's technical data.

Design

The ''modèle 1890'' was a transitional piece and was a combination of both old and new ideas. It was a

breech loaded A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition (cartridge or shell) via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front ( muzzle). Modern firearms are generally breech ...

with a steel barrel and a de Bange obturator designed by Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange which used separate loading bagged charges and projectiles. The steel box trail carriage had two wooden spoked wheels with steel rims and was designed to be light enough to be horse-drawn in one piece. The carriage was split into two parts, a stationary lower part which supported the weapon and a sliding upper part which supported the gun barrel. The upper part was L-shaped and the gun barrel was inserted into a cradle with a hydro-pneumatic recoil system below the barrel which connected to the lower portion of the carriage. The cradle and carriage had a hollow center section to allow for high angles of elevation, while the front of the cradle pivoted to allow limited traverse. When the gun fired the cradle recoiled backwards, while the lower part stayed anchored. This recoil system was also used by the more powerful Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1890, which mounted the gun barrel of the Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 on the same style of carriage. The recoil mechanism was not enough to absorb the barrel's recoil forces and this made the piece unstable at firing. This style of carriage and recoil system did not find wider acceptance due to its insufficient performance.

First World War

Although the majority of combatants had heavy field artillery prior to the outbreak of the First World War, none had adequate numbers of heavy guns in service, nor had they foreseen the growing importance of heavy artillery once the Western Front stagnated and

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became a ...

set in. Fortresses, armories, coastal fortifications, and museums were scoured for heavy artillery and sent to the front. Suitable field and rail carriages were built for these guns in an effort to give their forces the heavy field artillery needed to overcome trenches and hardened concrete fortifications. In August 1914 the heavy field artillery regiments ''(artillerie lourde de campagne)'' were equipped with 5 regiments of ''modèle 1890'''s, with 3 batteries per regiment, and 6 howitzers per battery for a total of 90 howitzers. Each regiment was provided with 400 rounds of ammunition and the available ammunition supply was 1,280,000 rounds. The ''modèle 1890'''s were used until they either wore out or were destroyed. Romania got 12 pieces in 1916 and another 13 in 1917 for a total of 25 howitzers. Twenty remained in service by the beginning of 1918. They were also used in 1919 during the

Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War was fought between Hungary and Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. The Allies of World War I intended ...

. After that conflict they were retired from use due to the small number available and shortage of ammunition for them, being replaced by the more numerous and technically superior 122 mm howitzer M1910.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obusier de 120 mm modèle 1890 Artillery of France World War I artillery of France World War I guns Siege artillery 120 mm artillery