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Canon de 19 Modele 1870/93 TAZ

1915 WORLD WAR 1 WORLD WAR 2

History

During the First World War (1914-1918), no military power invested so much in railroad artillery as France. The weapon proved to be especially important when once-smooth warfare was engulfed in what has become known as "trench warfare." To drive stubborn enemies from their bases, existing large-caliber artillery gunsoften from coastal defense positions or outbound battleshipsare paired with specially designed railcars to create "railroad guns." These artillery pieces provided some relative mobility and armor protection, and became the only means of using heavy artillery against the enemy without the need for an army, support wagons, and pack animals.

Heavy artillery was desperately needed, and the French Army Initiative launched in October 1914 called for the use of existing super-caliber (greater than 155 mm) artillery to fill the role of land-based "mobile" artillery. The French sifted through their inventory and found some suitable "Canon de 19C Modele 1870/93". Introduced as early as 1893, these guns were originally designed for coastal fortifications to protect the French coast and its interests.

Internally, the gun is drawn through a hardened steel liner reinforced by an iron "ring" for projectile stability. In addition, these guns have modern features of breech-loading (de Bange design) rather than muzzle-loading, and can fire 194mm projectiles (individually loaded bag charges) every two minutes, supplemented by a water-gravity recoil mechanism, with a range of 11.4 mile.

In 1915, the authorities designated 26 of the existing batch of 194 mm L/30 guns for conversion to railway guns. A large movable turret (covered in steel plate) was designed to house and rotate these massive weapons, all mounted on armored four-axle railway carriages made by Schneider. The end result was a complete system weighing 65 tons and measuring 48 feet long with a 19 foot barrel assembly with hastily placed recoil system for stabilization and full traversal assembly. Mounting kit allows full 360 degree rotation and -10 to +40 degree elevation range.

Capable of firing shells at a rate of two rounds per minute, these cannons fire at an initial velocity of 2,100 feet per second, and like their coastal counterparts, can have a range of more than 11 miles.

Outside the armoured rail depot is an accompanying artillery car, which is also armoured (though like the armoured parts, the protection is only against small arms fire and shrapnel). These carriages were half the length of the artillery section and had a simpler two-axle design.

Although these systems were bulky and unwieldy and limited by France's existing rail network, they were adapted to an era when aircraft and standard Army artillery couldn't carry large amounts of war at range. The first prototypes were supplied to the French Armed Forces in France in April 1915, and despite their inherent limitations were successfully converted and operated until the end of the war (1918).

In turn, they became the first dedicated, mass-produced railroad guns of the war, showing France's love of the weapon (and Britain later followed suit).

Surprisingly, these systems remained effective until the need for artillery again during World War II (1939-1945) during the French defense. However, when France was defeated in May/June 1940, the existing stockpile was now in the hands of the conquering Germans and eventually the Italians.

The former transformed the artillery into coastal defense, while the latter continued to be used as armored train artillery with some local modifications to meet battlefield needs.