The Obusier de 155 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 mle 1890 began in 1886 at the ''Atelier-de-précision'' in Paris, following a request by the French Army for a mobile heavy howitzer capable of high angle fire.

Design

The mle 1890 is 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 barrel was the same as used on the earlier Obusier de 155 mm C modele 1881 siege gun. 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 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 backward, while the lower part stayed anchored. This style of carriage and recoil system was also used by the less powerful

Obusier de 120 mm C modèle 1890 The Obusier de 120 mm C modèle 1890 - was a French howitzer designed by Captain Louis Henry Auguste Baquet and employed by the French army during the First World War. It was one of the first modern howitzers equipped with a recoil system. ...

. The recoil mechanism was not enough to absorb the barrels 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, 134 mle 1890s were assigned to ''régiments d'artillerie lourde de campagne'' (heavy field artillery regiments) and ''régiments d'artillerie à pied'' (fortress artillery regiments) in forts of the Séré de Rivières.

Ammunition

The mle 1881 used separate loading bagged charges and projectiles. The charges were in cloth bags and the weight of propellant could be varied from to vary range and velocity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obusier de 155 mm modèle 1890 Artillery of France World War I artillery of France World War I guns Siege artillery 155 mm artillery