
The French 75 mm field gun is a
quick-firing field artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement.
Until the ear ...
piece adopted in March 1898. Its official French designation was: Matériel de 75 mm Mle 1897. It was commonly known as the French 75, simply the 75 and Soixante-Quinze (French for "seventy-five"). The French 75 was designed as an
anti-personnel
An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gav ...
weapon system for delivering large volumes of time-fused
shrapnel shell
Shrapnel shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions that carried many individual bullets close to a target area and then ejected them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike targets individually. They relied almost ...
s on enemy troops advancing in the open. After 1915 and the onset of
trench warfare
Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising Trench#Military engineering, military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from a ...
, impact-detonated high-explosive shells prevailed. By 1918 the 75s became the main agents of delivery for
toxic gas shells. The 75s also became widely used as truck mounted
anti-aircraft artillery
Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...
. They were the main armament of the
Saint-Chamond tank in 1918 and the
Char 2C
The char 2C, also known as the FCM 2C, was a French post WWI heavy tank landship, later considered a super-heavy tank. It was developed during World War I but not deployed until after the war. It was, in total volume or physical dimensions, the ...
.
The French 75 is widely regarded as the first modern artillery piece.
[Priscilla Mary Roberts]
"French 75 gun"
World War One, pg. 726 It was the first
field gun
A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery ...
to include a
hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism, which kept the gun's trail and wheels perfectly still during the firing sequence. Since it did not need to be re-aimed after each shot, the crew could reload and fire as soon as the barrel returned to its resting position. In typical use the French 75 could deliver fifteen rounds per minute on its target, either shrapnel or
melinite high-explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...
, up to about away. Its firing rate could even reach close to 30 rounds per minute, albeit only for a very short time and with a highly experienced crew.
At the opening of World War I, in 1914, the
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
had about 4,000 of these field guns in service. By the end of the war about 12,000 had been produced. It was also in service with the
American Expeditionary Forces
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...
, which had been supplied with about 2,000 French 75 field guns. Several thousand were still in use in the French Army at the opening of
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 ...
, updated with new wheels and tires to allow towing by trucks rather than by horses. The French 75 set the pattern for almost all early-20th century field pieces, with guns of mostly 75 mm forming the basis of many field artillery units into the early stages of World War II.
Development
The forerunner of the French 75 was an experimental 57 mm gun which was first assembled in September 1891 at the
Bourges
Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...
arsenal under the direction of Captain Sainte-Claire Deville. This 57 mm gun took advantage of a number of the most advanced artillery technologies available at the time:
#
Vieille's smokeless powder, which was introduced in 1884.
# Self-contained ammunition, with the powder charge in a
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
case which also held the shell.
# An early
hydro-pneumatic short recoil mechanism that was designed by Major Louis Baquet.
# A rotating screw
breech built under license from
Thorsten Nordenfelt.
The only major design difference between the 57 and 75 that would emerge was the recoil system. But even before the 57 entered testing, in 1890 General Mathieu, Director of Artillery at the
Ministry of War, had been informed that Konrad Haussner, a German engineer working at the
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...
arsenal, had patented an oil-and-compressed-air long-recoil system. They also learned that
Krupp
Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...
was considering introducing the system after testing it. Krupp would later reject Haussner's invention, due to insoluble technical problems caused by
hydraulic fluid
A hydraulic fluid or hydraulic liquid is the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water. Examples of equipment that might use hydraulic fluids are excavators and backho ...
leakage.
In 1891 Haussner sold his patents to a firm named
Gruson, which searched for potential buyers. After reviewing the blueprints in February 1892, the French artillery engineers advised that a gun should be produced without purchasing the Haussner invention. Accordingly, General Mathieu turned to Lt. Colonel
Joseph-Albert Deport
Joseph-Albert Deport (September 17, 1846 – November 1, 1926) was a French officer and engineer best known as one of designers of the Canon de 75 modèle 1897.
Biography
He was born on September 17, 1846, in Saint-Loup-sur-Semouse. He attended ...
, at the time the Director of the
Atelier de Construction de Puteaux
An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...
(APX), and asked him whether he could construct a gun on the general principle of the Haussner long-cylinder recoil without infringing the existing patents. After it was judged possible, a formal request was sent out on 13 July 1892.
It took five more years under the overall leadership of Mathieu's successor, General Deloye, to perfect and finally adopt in March 1898 an improved and final version of the Deport 75 mm long-recoil field gun. Various deceptions, some of them linked to the
Dreyfus Case which erupted in 1894, had been implemented by Deloye and French counter-intelligence to distract German espionage.
The final experimental version of Deport's 75 mm field gun was tested during the summer of 1894 and judged very promising. Extensive trials, however, revealed that it was still prone to
hydraulic fluid
A hydraulic fluid or hydraulic liquid is the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water. Examples of equipment that might use hydraulic fluids are excavators and backho ...
leakage from the long-recoil mechanism. The Deport 75 was returned to Puteaux arsenal for further improvements. Hydraulic fluid leakage was typical of this experimental phase of artillery development during the 1890s, as Haussner and Krupp had previously experienced.
In December 1894, Deport was passed over for promotion, and resigned to join "
Chatillon-Commentry", a private armaments firm. Two young military engineers from
Ecole Polytechnique, Captains Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville and Emile Rimailho, continued development and introduced an improved version in 1896. Their contribution was a leakproof hydro-pneumatic long-recoil mechanism which they named "Frein II" (Brake # II). A major improvement was the placement of improved silver-alloy rings on the freely moving piston which separated the compressed air and the hydraulic fluid inside the main hydro-pneumatic recoil cylinder. These and other modifications achieved the desired result: the long-term retention of hydraulic fluid and compressed air inside the recoil system, even under the worst field conditions.
Captain Sainte-Claire Deville also designed important additional features, such as a device for piercing the
fuzes of shrapnel shells automatically during the firing sequence (an "automatic fuze-setter"), thus selecting the desired bursting distance. The independent sight had also been perfected for easy field use by the crews, and a nickel-steel shield was added to protect the gunners. The armored
caissons were designed to be tilted in order to present the shells horizontally to the crews. The wheel brakes could be swung under each wheel ("abattage"), and, together with the trail spade, they immobilized the gun during firing.
The gun was officially adopted on 28 March 1898 under the name "''Matériel de'' 75 mm ''Mle 1''897". The public saw it for the first time during the
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...
parade of 14 July 1899.
Hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism

The gun's barrel slid back on rollers, including a set at the muzzle, when the shot was fired. The barrel was attached near the breech to a piston rod extending into an oil-filled cylinder placed just underneath the gun. When the barrel recoiled, the piston was pulled back by the barrel's recoil and thus pushed the oil through a small orifice and into a second cylinder placed underneath. That second cylinder contained a freely floating piston which separated the surging oil from a confined volume of compressed air. During the barrel's recoil the floating piston was forced forward by the oil, compressing the air even further. This action absorbed the recoil progressively as the internal air pressure rose and, at the end of recoil, generated a strong but decreasing back pressure that returned the gun forward to its original position. The smoothness of this system had no equal in 1897, and for at least another ten years. Each recoil cycle on the French 75, including the return forward, lasted about two seconds, permitting a maximum theoretical firing rate of about 30 rounds per minute.
Ammunition
At the beginning in 1914, the French 75 fired two main types of shells, both with high muzzle velocities (535 m/s for the shrapnel shell) and a maximum range of 8,500 metres. Their relatively flat trajectories extended all the way to the designated targets. French 75 shells, at least initially in 1914, were essentially
anti-personnel
An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gav ...
. They had been designed for the specific purpose of inflicting maximum
casualties
A casualty (), as a term in military usage, is a person in military service, combatant or non-combatant, who becomes unavailable for duty due to any of several circumstances, including death, injury, illness, missing, capture or desertion.
In c ...
on enemy troops stationing or advancing in the open.
* A impact-detonated, thin-walled steel, high-explosive (HE) shell with a time-delay
fuze
In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates its function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fu ...
. It was filled with
picric acid
Picric acid is an organic compound with the formula (O2N)3C6H2OH. Its IUPAC name is 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP). The name "picric" comes from (''pikros''), meaning "bitter", due to its bitter taste. It is one of the most acidic phenols. Like ot ...
, known in France as "Melinite", used since 1888. The delay lasted five hundredths of a second, designed to detonate the shell in the air and at a man's height after bouncing forward off the ground. These shells were particularly destructive to men's lungs when exploding in their proximity.
* A time-fused
shrapnel shell
Shrapnel shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions that carried many individual bullets close to a target area and then ejected them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike targets individually. They relied almost ...
containing 290 lead balls. The balls shot forward when the fuse's timer reached zero, ideally bursting high above the ground and enemy troops. During 1914 and 1915, the shrapnel shell was the dominant type of ammunition found in the French 75 batteries. However, by 1918, high-explosive shells had become virtually the sole type of 75 mm ammunition remaining in service.
Several new shells and fuses were introduced due to the demands of trench warfare. In 1918, a boat-tailed shell (with a superior
ballistic coefficient
In ballistics, the ballistic coefficient (BC, ''C'') of a body is a measure of its ability to overcome air resistance in flight. It is inversely proportional to the negative acceleration: a high number indicates a low negative acceleration—the ...
) which could reach was deployed for use during the latter part of the war. Developed through French artillery research, it increased the effective range of the French 75 by about thirty-eight percent.
Every shell, whether it be a high-explosive or shrapnel shell, was fixed to a brass case which was ejected when the breech was manually opened. Semi-automatic breech opening and shell ejection during recoil and return had not been developed yet.
Rapid fire capability

The French 75 introduced a new concept in artillery technology: rapid firing without realigning the gun after each shot. Older artillery had to be resighted after each shot in order to stay on target, and thus fired no more than two aimed shots per minute. The French 75 easily delivered fifteen aimed rounds per minute and could fire even faster for short periods of time, but the long-term sustained rate was 3-4 rounds per minute as more than this would overheat the barrel. This rate of fire, the gun's accuracy, and the lethality of the ammunition against personnel, made the French 75 superior to all other regimental field artillery at the time. When made ready for action, the first shot buried the trail spade and the two wheel anchors into the ground, following which all other shots were fired from a stable platform. Bringing down the wheel anchors tied to the braking system was called "''abattage''". The gun could not be elevated beyond eighteen degrees, unless the trail spade had been deeply dug into the ground; however, the 75 mm field gun was not designed for
plunging fire
Plunging fire is a form of indirect fire, where gunfire is fired at a trajectory to make it fall on its target from above. It is normal at the high trajectories used to attain long range, and can be used deliberately to attack a target not susce ...
. The gun could be traversed laterally 3 degrees to the sides by sliding the trail on the wheel's axle. Progressive traversing together with small changes in elevation could be carried out while continuously firing, called "''fauchage''" or "sweeping fire". A four-gun battery firing shrapnel could deliver 17,000 ball projectiles over an area 100 metres wide by 400 metres long in a single minute, with devastating results. Because of the gun's traversing ability, the greater the distance to the enemy concentration, the wider the area that could be swept.
World War I service

Each Mle 1897 75 mm field gun battery of 4 guns consisted of 170 men led by four officers recruited among graduates of engineering schools. Enlisted men from the countryside were given charge of the six horses that pulled each gun and its first limber. Another six horses pulled each additional limber and caisson which were assigned to each gun. A battery included 160 horses, most of them pulling ammunition as well as repair and supply caissons.
The French artillery entered the war in August 1914 with more than 4,000 Mle 1897 75 mm field guns (1,000 batteries of four guns each). Over 17,500 Mle 1897 75 mm field guns were produced during World War I, over and above the 4,100 French 75s which were already deployed by the French Army in August 1914. All the essential parts, including the gun's barrel and the oleo-pneumatic recoil mechanisms were manufactured by French State arsenals: Puteaux, Bourges,
Châtellerault
Châtellerault (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Châteulrô/Chateleràud''; ) is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France. It is located in the northeast of the former province Poitou, and the residents are cal ...
and St Etienne. A truck-mounted anti-aircraft version of the French 75 was assembled by the automobile firm of
De Dion-Bouton
De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer, which operated from 1883 to 1953. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, and Bouton's brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux.
Ste ...
and adopted in 1913.
The total production of 75 mm shells during World War I exceeded 200 million rounds, mostly by private industry. In order to increase shell production from 20,000 rounds per day to 100,000 in 1915, the government turned to civilian contractors, and, as a result, shell quality deteriorated. This led to an epidemic of burst barrels which afflicted 75 mm artillery during 1915. Colonel Sainte-Claire Deville corrected the problem, which was due to microfissures in the bases of the shells, due to shortcuts in manufacturing. Shell quality was restored by September 1915, but never to the full exacting standards of pre-war manufacture.

The French 75 gave its best performances during the
Battle of the Marne in August–September 1914 and at
Verdun
Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
In 843, the Treaty of V ...
in 1916. At the time the contribution of 75 mm artillery to these military successes, and thus to the French victories that ensued, was seen as significant. In the case of Verdun, over 1,000 French 75s (250 batteries) were constantly in action, night and day, on the battlefield during a period of nearly nine months. The total consumption of 75 mm shells at Verdun during the period February 21 to September 30, 1916, is documented by the public record at the ''Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre'' to have been in excess of 16 million rounds, or nearly 70% of all shells fired by French artillery during that battle. The French 75 was a devastating anti-personnel weapon against waves of infantry attacking in the open, as at the Marne and Verdun. However, its shells were comparatively light and lacked the power to obliterate
trench
A trench is a type of digging, excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale (landform), swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or trapping ...
works, concrete bunkers and deeply buried shelters. Thus, with time, the French 75 batteries became routinely used to cut corridors with high-explosive shells, across the belts of German
barbed wire
Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...
. After 1916, the 75 batteries became the carriers of choice to deliver
toxic gas shells, including
mustard gas
Mustard gas or sulfur mustard are names commonly used for the organosulfur compound, organosulfur chemical compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, which has the chemical structure S(CH2CH2Cl)2, as well as other Chemical species, species. In the wi ...
and
phosgene
Phosgene is an organic chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic, colorless gas; in low concentrations, its musty odor resembles that of freshly cut hay or grass. It can be thought of chemically as the double acyl chloride analog of ...
.
The French Army had to wait until early 1917 to receive in numbers fast-firing heavy artillery equipped with hydraulic recoil brakes (e.g. the
155 mm Schneider howitzer and the long-range
Canon de 155 mm GPF). In the meantime it had to do with a total of about four thousand
de Bange 90 mm, 120 mm and 155 mm field and converted fortress guns, all without recoil brakes, that were effective but inferior in rate of fire to the more modern German heavy artillery.
Interwar service
During the interwar, the French army kept the Mle 1897 in service and it continued to be the main gun of the French field artillery. The surplus guns were soon sold to allied countries.
Upgrades were considered in the 1920s, such as the use of a split trail carriages. The prototypes were satisfactory but the French Army decided not to fund the improvements, choosing instead to develop a new model. That new plan was abandoned after the 1920s budget cuts.
However, a few Mle 1897 guns were modernized between the wars. The
Rif War
The Rif War (, , ) was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain (joined by France in 1924) and the Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco.
Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians at first inflicted several ...
showed the vulnerability of the crew against snipers during guerilla operations. The ''roues métalliques DAG'', solid metallic wheels, were developed in the late 1920s to offer more protection to the crew, although they were very noisy during movements. They were mostly sent to units serving in the North African colonies.
From 1928, the French Army also adopted bogies to enable transport by motor vehicles, such as the
Citroën-Kégresse P17. Mounted on the bogies, the guns could be towed at a maximum speed of 30 km/h on the road but the removal of the bogies was complicated.

A more modern version of the Mle 1897, the ''Canon de 75 Mle 1897/33'', mounted the original barrel and recoil mechanism on a new split-trail carriage. In addition to the new carriage the Mle 1897/33 had a new gun shield, pneumatic tires, sprung suspension, and the wheels "toed in" when the trails were spread. The new carriage offered higher angles of traverse and elevation than the earlier box-trail carriage.
However, the Mle 1897/33 was inferior to the new
''Canon de 105 C Mle 1935 B'' that used the same carriage, so it was only built in small numbers. A more modest upgrade to the Mle 1897 was the ''Canon de 75 Mle 1897/38'' which was a modernized field artillery variant. The original box-trail carriage was retained but the gun had a new gun shield, sprung suspension and pneumatic tires for motor transport.
The 75 Mle 1897 was also considered as a possible anti-tank gun by the French Army, who in 1936 ordered a new circular platform, the ''plateforme Arbel Mle 1935''. Mounted on that platform, the Mle 1897 gun could now quickly traverse to engage enemy tanks.
During this period a number of the guns entered Irish service, being sourced from Britain.
World War II service

Despite obsolescence brought on by new developments in artillery design, large numbers of 75s were still in use in 1939 (4,500 in the French Army alone), and they eventually found their way into a number of unlikely places. A substantial number had been delivered to Poland in 1919–20, together with infantry ordnance, in order to fight in the
Polish-Soviet War. They were known as ''75 mm armata wz.1897''. In 1939 the Polish army had 1,374 of these guns, making it by far the most numerous artillery piece in Polish service.
Many were captured by Germany during the
Fall of France
The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...
in 1940, in addition to Polish guns captured in 1939. Over 3,500 were modified with a
muzzle brake
A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral (ported barrel) to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter re ...
and mounted on a
5 cm Pak 38 carriage, now named
7.5 cm Pak 97/38 they were used by the Wehrmacht in 1942 as an emergency weapon against the Soviet Union's
T-34
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...
and
KV tanks. Its relatively low velocity and a lack of modern armor-piercing ammunition limited its effectiveness as an anti-tank weapon. When the German
7.5 cm Pak 40 became available in sufficient numbers, most remaining Pak 97/38 pieces were returned to occupied France to reinforce the
Atlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall () was an extensive system of coastal defence and fortification, coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defense (military), d ...
defenses or were supplied to Axis nations like Romania (PAK 97/38) and Hungary. Non-modified remainders were used as second-line and coastal artillery pieces under the German designation ''7.5 cm FK 231(f)'' and ''7,5 cm FK 97(p)''. The few 60 Mle 1897/33s captured by the Germans were given the designation ''7.5 cm K232(f)''.
British service

In 1915 Britain acquired a number of "autocanon de 75 mm mle 1913" anti-aircraft guns, as a stopgap measure while it developed its own anti-aircraft alternatives. They were used in the defence of Britain, usually mounted on de Dion motor lorries using the French mounting which the British referred to as the "Breech Trunnion". Britain also purchased a number of the standard 75 mm guns and adapted them for AA use using a
Coventry Ordnance Works mounting, the "Centre Trunnion". At the Armistice there were 29 guns in service in Britain.
In June 1940, with many British field guns lost in the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...
, 895 M1897 field guns and a million rounds of ammunition were purchased from the U.S. Army. For political purposes, the sale to the
British Purchasing Commission The British Purchasing Commission was a United Kingdom organisation of the Second World War. Also known at some time as the "Anglo-French Purchasing Board", it was based in New York City, where it arranged the production and purchase of armaments fr ...
was made through the
US Steel Corporation. The basic, unmodified gun was known in British service as "Ordnance, QF, 75 mm Mk 1", although many of the guns were issued to units on converted or updated mountings. They were operated by field artillery and anti-tank units. Some of the guns had their wheels and part of their carriages cut away so that they could be mounted on a pedestal called a "Mounting, 75 mm Mk 1". These weapons were employed as light
coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...
and were not declared obsolete until March 1945.
During World War II through
Lend Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), , the British received 170 American half-track
M3 gun motor carriage
The M3 Gun Motor Carriage (M3 GMC) was a United States Army tank destroyer equipped with a 75 mm M1897A4 gun, which was built by the Autocar Company during World War II.
Specifications
The M3 GMC was 20.46 feet (6.24 m) long, ...
which mounted a 75 mm; they used these in Italy and Northern Europe until the end of the war as fire-support vehicles in
armoured car regiments.
Romanian service
Romania had a considerable number of World War I guns of 75 mm and 76.2 mm. Some models were modernized at
Resita works in 1935 including French md. 1897. The upgrade was made with removable barrels. Several types of guns of close caliber were barreled to use the best ammunition available for 75 mm caliber, explosive projectile model 1917 "Schneider". The new barrel was made of steel alloy with chrome and nickel with excellent mechanical resistance to pressure which allowed, after modifying the firing brake, the recovery arch and the sighting devices an increase of the range from 8.5 km to 11.2 km and a rate of fire of 20 rounds/minute. During World War 2 these guns also used Costinescu 75 mm anti-tank round. These upgraded field guns were used in all infantry divisions in World War II.
U.S. service
World War I

The
U.S. Army adopted the French 75 mm field gun during World War I and used it extensively in battle. The U.S. designation of the basic weapon was 75 mm Gun M1897. There were 480 American 75 mm field gun batteries (over 1,900 guns) on the battlefields of France in November 1918. Manufacture of the French 75 by American industry began in the spring of 1918 and quickly built up to an accelerated pace. Carriages were built by
Willys-Overland
Willys (pronounced , "Willis")
was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II–era military jeeps (MBs), Willys ...
, the hydro-pneumatic recuperators by
Singer Manufacturing Company
Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Singer, Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward Cabot Clark, Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing mac ...
and
Rock Island Arsenal
The Rock Island Arsenal comprises 946 acres (383 ha) and is located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It is home to the United Stat ...
, the cannon itself by Symington-Anderson and Wisconsin Gun Company. American industry built 1,050 French 75s during World War I, but only 143 had been shipped to France by 11 November 1918; most American batteries used French-built 75s in action.
The first U.S. artillery shots in action in World War I were fired by Battery C, 6th Field Artillery on October 23, 1917, with a French 75 named "Bridget" which is preserved today at the
United States Army Ordnance Museum
The United States Army Ordnance Training Support Facility (formerly known as the U.S. Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center and U.S. Army Ordnance Museum) artifacts are used to train and educate logistic soldiers. It re-located to Fort Gre ...
. During his service with the
American Expeditionary Forces
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...
, Captain (and future U.S. President)
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
commanded a battery of French 75s.
Interwar and World War II

By the early 1930s, the only U.S. artillery units that remained horse-drawn were those assigned to infantry and cavalry divisions. During the 1930s, most M1897A2 and A3 (French made) and M1897A4 (American made) guns were subsequently modernized for towing behind trucks by
mounting it on the modern carriage M2A2 which featured a
split trail
A gun carriage is a frame or a mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be maneuvered and fired. These platforms often had wheels so that the artillery pieces could be moved more easily. Gun carriages are also use ...
, pneumatic rubber tires allowing towing at any speed, an elevation limit increased to 45 degrees, and traverse increased to 30 degrees left and right. Along with new ammunition, these features increased the effective range and allowed the gun to be used as an anti-tank gun, in which form it equipped the first tank destroyer battalions.
In 1941, these guns began to become surplus when they were gradually being replaced by the M2A1
105 mm M101 split-trail Howitzer; some were removed from their towed carriages and installed on the
M3 Half-Track as the
M3 gun motor carriage
The M3 Gun Motor Carriage (M3 GMC) was a United States Army tank destroyer equipped with a 75 mm M1897A4 gun, which was built by the Autocar Company during World War II.
Specifications
The M3 GMC was 20.46 feet (6.24 m) long, ...
(GMC)
tank destroyer
A tank destroyer, tank hunter or tank killer is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, predominantly intended for anti-tank duties. They are typically armed with a direct fire anti-tank gun, artillery gun, also known as a self-propelled anti-ta ...
s. However, equipment shortages led to the M1897s remaining in the inventory of U.S. Army units in the Philippine Islands as well as in artillery units of the Philippine Army as of December 1941, and they would be used in action against the Japanese before the Allied forces in the Philippines surrendered in May 1942. M3 GMCs were used in the Pacific theater during the Battle for the Philippines and by Marine Regimental Weapons Companies until 1944. The M3 GMC also formed the equipment of the early American tank destroyer battalions during operations in North Africa and Italy, and continued in use with the British in Italy and in small numbers in Northern Europe until the end of the war. Many others were used for training until 1942.
The
75 mm M2 and M3 tank guns of the
M3 Lee and
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, officially medium tank, M4, was the medium tank most widely used by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. I ...
Medium tanks, the
75 mm M6 tank gun of the
M24 Chaffee
The M24 Chaffee (officially light tank M24) was an American light tank used during the later part of World War II; it was also used in post–World War II conflicts including the Korean War, and by the French in the Algerian War, War in Algeri ...
light tank and the 75 mm gun of
the -G and -H subtypes of the B-25 Mitchell bomber all used the same ammunition as the M1897. The
75 mm Pack Howitzer M1 used the same projectiles fired from a smaller 75×272R case.
Contemporary usage
The Canon de 75 modèle 1897 is still used in France as a
saluting gun. When the French Army discarded its
105 HM2 howitzers to replace them with
MO-120-RT mortars, only 155 mm artillery pieces remained, for which no blank cartridges were available. The Army therefore recommissioned two Canon de 75 modèle 1897, then located at the Musée de l'Artillerie de Draguignan. They are used for state ceremonies.
Variants and derivatives
Naval and coastal artillery

The French Navy adopted the ''75 mm modèle 1897'' for its coastal batteries and warships
The 75 mm modèle 1897–1915 was placed on ''SMCA modèle 1925'' mountings with a vertical elevation of -10 to +70° and a 360° rotation. This allowed it to be used in an anti-aircraft role.
New 75 mm guns were developed specifically for anti-aircraft use. The 75 mm modèle 1922, 75 mm modèle 1924 and 75 mm modèle 1927 of 50 calibre were developed from the 62.5 calibre '75 mm Schneider modèle 1908' mounted on the
Danton-class battleships.
Field artillery
* canon de 75 mm mle 1897 à roues métalliques DAG Variant with solid metallic wheels to protect the crew from small arms fire.
* Canon de 75 mm mle 1897 modifié 1933 Split-trail carriage allowing 58° traverse and -6° to +50° elevation. The solid wheels turn with the trails to offer more protection to the crew.
* canon de 75 mm mle 1897 modifié 1938 Motorized artillery variant with wooden wheels replaced by metallic wheels with pneumatic tires, altered shield
Anti-tank

* Canon de 75 mm mle 1897 sur plateforme Arbel modèle 1935 A version mounted on a circular platform for quick traverse. Also called the Plateformes de campagne de canons 75 Mle 1897.
Plateformes de campagne de canons 75 Mle 1897
wikimaginot.eu
* 7.5 cm Pak 97/38 Several thousand captured French guns were modified by the Germans during World War II as makeshift anti-tank guns, by adding a Swiss-designed muzzle brake and mounting it on German-built carriages.
* 75 mm field gun M1897 on M2 carriage During the 1930s, most M1897A2, M1897A3 and M1897A4 guns were subsequently modernized for towing behind trucks by mounting it on the modern carriage M2A2 which featured a split trail, pneumatic rubber tires.
Anti-aircraft
* autocanon de 75 mm mle 1913 Self-propelled anti-aircraft variant, on De Dion-Bouton
De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer, which operated from 1883 to 1953. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, and Bouton's brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux.
Ste ...
chassis using Canon de 75 antiaérien mle 1913-1917
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western canon, th ...
.
* canon de 75 mm contre-aéroplanes sur plateforme mle 1915 Static anti-aircraft variant on rotating platform
* canon de 75 mm contre-aéroplanes mle 1917 Anti-aircraft variant on 1-axle trailer with stabilizer legs.
See also
* French 75 (cocktail)
French 75 is a cocktail made from gin, champagne, lemon juice, and sugar. It is also called a 75 cocktail, or in French simply a ('seventy five').
The drink dates to World War I, when in 1915 an early form was created at the New York Bar in Par ...
cocktail named for the gun
* QF 18-pounder gun British gun of similar abilities
Notes
References
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* etailed history. http://www.1939.pl/uzbrojenie/polskie/artyleria/a_75mm_wz97/index.html
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External links
Manual For The Battery Commander. 75-mm Gun. FROM "L'ECOLE DU COMMANDANT DU BATTERIE, I PARTIE, CANON 75", Of THE FRENCH ARTILLERY SCHOOL, OF DECEMBER, 1916, CORRECTED TO MARCH, 1917. Translated to English and republished by US Army War College 1917
Notes on the French 75-mm Gun. US Army War College. October 1917
Range tables for French 75-/mm Gun Model 1897
Firing tables
75 Millimeter Gun Material Model of 1897 M1 (French). Pages 80–93 in "Handbook of artillery : including mobile, anti-aircraft and trench matériel (1920)" United States. Army. Ordnance Dept, May 1920
United States War Department. TM 9-305 Technical Manual 75-MM Gun Matériel, M1897 and Modifications. 31 March 1941
* ttp://www.vojsko.net/index.php/pozemni-technika/47-delostrelectvo/893-canon-de-75-mod-le-1897 Canon de 75 Modèle 1897
Photos of a reproduction or restored US M1918 limber for the 75 mm gun M1897 with all accoutrements
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canon De 75 Modele 1897
World War I guns
World War I field artillery of France
World War I artillery of the United States
75 mm artillery
World War II artillery of France
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