Canon de 120 mm modèle 1878

PlaceoforiginFrance

Inservice1878–1945

UsedbySee Users

Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878
A Finnish mle 1878 at the Hameenlinna artillery museum.
Type	Siege gun Field gun
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1878–1945
Used by	See Users
Wars	Balkan Wars World War I Polish–Soviet War The Winter War World War II
Production history
Designer	Charles Ragon de Bange
Designed	1878
Manufacturer	Atelier de précision Paris
Produced	1878
No. built	2,500
Variants	See variants
Specifications
Mass	2,750 kg (6,060 lb)
Length	5.1 m (16 ft 9 in)
Barrel length	3.25 m (10 ft 8 in) L/27
Width	2 m (6 ft 7 in)
Crew	5

Shell	Separate loading bagged charges and projectiles
Shell weight	18–25 kg (40–55 lb)
Caliber	120 mm (4.7 in)
Breech	de Bange
Recoil	None
Carriage	Box trail
Elevation	-17° to +30°
Traverse	65°
Rate of fire	1 rpm
Muzzle velocity	525 m/s (1,720 ft/s)
Effective firing range	8–10 km (5–6 mi)

The Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 was a French piece of siege and field artillery which was widely used during the First World War and despite its obsolescence, it was still in use by some nations during the Second World War.

The Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 was one of a series of heavy artillery pieces designed by Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange. On 11 May 1874 three de Bange heavy cannons (120 mm, 155 mm, 240 mm) and two mortars (220 mm, 270 mm) were ordered by the French Army. The mle 1878 was advanced for its time due to being built completely of steel instead of a steel liner and cast iron reinforcing hoops of the previous Canon de 240 mm C mle 1870-87.

Design

The 120 mm L mle 1878 was a breech loaded gun with a de Bange obturator and used separate loading bagged charges and projectiles. It had a box trail carriage, two wooden spoked wheels with steel rims and an unsprung axle. The 120 mm L mle 1878 was lighter and more mobile than its heavier brother the Canon 155 mm L mle 1877.^[1] It had roughly the same range and rate of fire as the Canon 155 mm L mle 1877, but it fired a lighter projectile. The 120 mm L mle 1878 was classified as a siege et de place (stationary siege gun) for the defense and attack of Fortifications. In line with this mission, the carriage was tall because it was expected that its barrel would project out over a forts parapet and use its range to provide counter-battery fire against enemy artillery.^[1]

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 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.^[2]

An early drawback of the gun was that it involved considerable time to prepare a firing platform made of timbers before use. An external recoil cylinder was then bolted to the platform and connected to the bottom of the gun carriage.^[3] Without it, the gun had no recoil mechanism and when fired the gun rolled back onto a set of ramps behind the wheels and then slid back into battery. In order to traverse the carriage had to be levered into position and due to its lack of recoil mechanism, it had to be re-aimed after every shot, which limited its rate of fire. An early modification to make the guns suitable for field use was the fitting of Bonagente grousers to the wheels to improve balance and reduce ground pressure on soft ground. An added bonus was they slowed recoil and didn't require extensive site preparation to bring the guns into action.^[1]

At the outbreak of WWI, there were 2,417 in reserve or at forts.^[3] Due to its light weight, good range, and heavy shell 120 were chosen to equip horse-drawn artillery units at the outbreak of the First World war in order to give them heavy artillery and they could be towed at 4 km/h (2.5 mph). The end of the box trail could be attached to a limber for towing and each gun was provided with a caisson for ammunition. For transport, the 120 mm L mle 1878 could be transported in one piece by a horse team in comparison to the Canon 155 mm L mle 1877 which needed to have its barrel removed from the carriage and transported separately. However, the barrel could be pulled rearward and fastened to the trail for transport.^[1]

Experiments with motor traction during 1914 were successful and there was a requirement for 100 batteries to be motorized in 1915. Motorization promised speeds of 8–10 km/h (5.0–6.2 mph) and although mobile, the carriage was lightly built which negatively affected its durability when used as a field piece. During the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, 60% of the pieces never reached the front due to being damaged during transport and afterwards towing speed was restricted to 6 km/h (3.7 mph).^[1]

Second world war

At the end of the first world war, there were still 526 guns in French service.^[4] In 1939 there were 600 pieces in reserve and During the Second World War. A number equipped the forts of the Séré system of Rivières des Hauts-de-Meuse (Fort Troyon and Fort Liouville ) with another 92 in artillery regiments of the Maginot Line.^[3] A number were also still in use with Belgium, Finland, Italy, and Poland.

Variants

Affût-truck Peigné-Canet mle 1897 – Was developed by Lieutenant Colonel Peigné and engineer Gustave Canet at the turn of the century. This conversion involved mounting the guns on rail wagons which ran on narrow-gauge 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) tracks at the forts of Verdun, Toul, Épinal, and Belfort. Each fortress was supposed to have twelve 155 C and eight 120 L guns on the same carriage.^[5] These allowed the guns to be quickly re-positioned to different parts of the fort and brought up ammunition and supplies.^[6] The guns were mounted on flatbed rail-cars with folding side panels that created a circular base when unfolded, they were also stabilized with four folding outriggers. The guns were mounted on articulated center pivot gun mounts which provided high angles of elevation, 360° of traverse and an integrated hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism.^[7]
Gun Shields – In 1914 some guns were fitted with gun shields, but the protection provided was poor and they rattled excessively during transport so they were removed.^[1]
Carriage and recoil mechanism – It is believed that in addition to mounting the barrel of the Canon de 155 mm L mle 1877 on a carriage that Schneider designed for the Russian M1910 Howitzer to create the Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider, a limited number were also built with Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 barrels.^[1]
120 mm L mle 1878/16 – In order to replace losses and expand the numbers of guns in service the mle 1878 was put back into production in 1916. The resulting guns were classified as mle 1887/16 and incorporated the following changes: a simplified and strengthened carriage, the carriage didn't need to be connected to a limber for motor towing, increased 45° elevation, and the gun barrel didn't need to be withdrawn before transport. Lastly, the closing mechanism for the breech was reworked.^[1]
Armata wz. 1878/09/31 and wz. 1878/10/31 – This conversion carried out in 1931 by the Starachowice Arsenal in Poland involved removing the barrel from the original carriage and mounting them on the carriages of 152 mm howitzer M1909 and 152 mm howitzer M1910 captured during the Polish-Soviet War. The recoil mechanism, lower height and integral loading tray improved the rate of fire to three rounds per minute and an enlarged propellant chamber gave higher velocity 600 m/s (2,000 ft/s) and slightly improved range 12.2 km (7.6 mi). Approximately 48 guns were converted.^[1]

v t e French artillery of World War I
Anti-aircraft guns	Canon de 75 antiaérien mle 1913-1917
Coastal artillery	Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891 Canon de 19 C modèle 1870/93 Canon de 19 C modèle 1875 Canon de 24 C modèle 1870 Canon de 24 C modèle 1876 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889
Field artillery	Canon de 75 modèle 1897 Canon de 75 modèle 1912 Schneider Canon de 75 modèle 1914 Schneider De Bange 90 mm cannon Obusier de 120 mm C modèle 1890 Obusier de 120 mm mle 15TR
Infantry guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP
Medium and heavy artillery	Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider Canon de 155 court modèle 1904 Rimailho Canon de 120 mm modèle 1878 Canon de 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1890 Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 St. Chamond Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider Canon de 155 L Modele 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider Canon de 155 mm GPF De Bange 155 mm cannon Canon de 220 L mle 1917 Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider
Mortars	Cellerier Mortar Mortier de 58 T N°1 Mortier de 58 T N°1 bis Mortier de 58 mm type 2 Mortier de 75 modèle 1915 Schneider Mortier de 150 mm T Mle 1916 Batignolles Mortier de 150 mm T Mle 1917 Fabry Mortier de 240 mm Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1885 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889
Mountain artillery	Canon de 65 M modele 1906 75 mm Schneider-Danglis 06/09 Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider
Railway artillery	Canon de 120 L mle 1878 sur affût-truc Peigné-Canet-Schneider mle 1897 Canon de 140 sur affut-truc mle 1884 Obusier de 155 C mle 1881 sur affût-truc Peigné-Canet-Schneider mle 1897 Materiel de 155 sur affut-truc Schneider Canon de 164 modèle 1893/96 TAZ Canon de 19 C modèle 1875 Canon de 19 modèle 1870/93 TAZ Obusier de 200 "Pérou" sur affût-truck TAZ Schneider 24 cm Canon G modèle 1916 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Canon de 240 modèle 93/96 TAZ Canon de 274 modèle 93/96 Berceau Canon de 274 modèle 87/93 Glissement Canon de 305 modèle 93/96 TAZ Canon de 305 modèle 1893/96 à berceau Canon de 305 modèle 1893/96 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/81 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/84 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/93 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1893 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à berceau Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à glissement Obusier de 370 modèle 1915 à berceau Canon de 370 modèle 75/79 Glissement Obusier de 400 Modèle 1915/1916 Obusier de 520 modèle 1916
Siege artillery	Obusier de 120 mm C modèle 1890 Canon de 120 mm modèle 1878 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1890 Mortier de 220 mm modèle 1880 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Canon de 240 TR Mle 1903 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1885 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889 Mortier de 280 modèle 1914 Schneider Mortier de 293 Danois sur affut-truck modèle 1914 Mortier de 370 modèle 1914 Filloux
Self propelled artillery	Canon de 194 GPF Canon de 220mm L Mle1917 Schneider (FAHM) Mortier de 280 TR modèle 1914 Schneider sur affût-chenilles St Chamond
Armoured vehicle guns	Canon de 37 mm semi-automatique modèle 1918 Canon de 75 modèle 1897

Canon de 120 mm modèle 1878

Design

First world war

Second world war

Variants

Ammunition

Users

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References

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