The Canon de 155 mm Modèle 1920 was a medium-caliber

naval gun Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. T ...

used as the primary armament on a number of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

cruisers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 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 Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 ...

which opened upwards. Useful life expectancy was 700 effective full charges (EFC) per barrel. These guns were carried both in twin

turrets Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * ...

aboard cruisers and in single

casemates A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mea ...

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.

Ammunition

Ammunition was of separate loading type with two powder charges and a projectile. The gun was able to fire: *

Semi Armour-Piercing Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate armour protection, most often including naval armour, body armour, and vehicle armour. The first, major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the t ...

- * High Explosive Base Fuzed - * High Explosive Nose Fuzed - * Illumination - UnknownThe 155 mm/50 (6.1") Model 1920 at Naval Weapons.Com
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Naval Service

Ship classes that carried the Canon de 155 mm Modèle 1920 include: * Aircraft carrier Béarn * Cruiser Jeanne d'Arc *

Duguay-Trouin-class cruiser The ''Duguay-Trouin'' class () 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 on trials and could easily mainta ...

Notes

References

External links

navweaps.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canon de 155 mm Modèle 1920 Naval guns of France 155 mm artillery