Canon de 155mm GPF
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Canon de 155 GPF mle.1917 | |
|---|---|
 155 mm GPF gun at US Army Ordnance Museum in travel position |
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| Type | Field gun, Coastal artillery |
| Place of origin |  France |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1917-1945 |
| Used by | France USA Nazi Germany Philippines |
| Wars | World War I World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Colonel L.J.F. Filloux |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 13,000 kg (28,660 lbs) (travelling) |
| Barrel length | 5.915 m (19.35 ft) L/38.2 |
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| Shell | separate-loading, cased charge. 95 lb (43.1 kg) |
| Caliber | 155 mm (6.10 in) |
| Recoil | 1.8m 10° to 1.1 28° |
| Carriage | split trail |
| Elevation | 0° to +35° |
| Traverse | 60° |
| Rate of fire | 2 rpm |
| Muzzle velocity | 735 m/s (2,411 ft/s) |
| Maximum range | 19,500 m (21,325 yds) |
The Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) mle.1917 was a 155 mm cannon used by the French Army during the first half of the 20th century.
It was also manufactured in USA from 1917, after the US switched to metric artillery based on French patterns. It was used by the United States Army and United States Marine Corps as their primary heavy artillery gun under the designation 155 mm Gun M1917 or M1918 until 1942, when it was gradually replaced by the 155 mm M1A1 'Long Tom'. Associated US Army forces in the Far East (USAFFE) such as the 301st FA Regiment (Philippine Army) and the 86th FA Regiment (Philippine Scouts) also used this artillery piece in 1942. The gun was also mounted on a self-propelled mount as the M12 Gun Motor Carriage and saw action in 1944-45. These guns are famous as the type taken out by Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder's 2nd Ranger battalion near Pointe du Hoc.
During World War II US guns were taken out of storage and utilised for coast defence of US and allied territories, such as Australia, typically on "Panama" mountings - the gun swivelling on a central concrete pillar with the split trails spread out on rails around the pillar.
In 1940 France fielded 450 guns [1] many of them used by the Germans for the rest of the war. In German service it was known as the 15.5 cm K 418(f) where it served with heavy artillery battalions and on coastal defense duties.
[edit] References
- ^ Artillery of World War II, Steve Crawford and Chris Chant, p.11
[edit] Sources
- D-Day: The Greatest Invasion - A People's History Dan van der Vat, John S. D. Eisenhower, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, ISBN 1582343144
- http://www.landships.freeservers.com/new_pages/alby_155mm_gpf_kitreview.htm- Same site as below.
- Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York: Doubleday, 1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3
- Touzin, Pierre; Vauvillier, François (2006). Les Matériels de l'Armée Française: Les canons de la victoire, 1914-1918. Tome 1: L'Artillerie de Campagne. Paris: Histoire et Collections. ISBN 2-35250-022-2.
- 155-Millimeter Gun Materiel, Model of 1918 (Filloux). in "Handbook of artillery : including mobile, anti-aircraft and trench matériel (1920)" United States. Army. Ordnance Dept May 1920. Pages 229-245. provided online by University of California and www.archive.org
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Canon de 155 mm GPF |
- http://www.landships.freeservers.com/new_pages/alby_155mm_gpf_kitreview.htm - This site has excellent photographs.
- Frederick Morse Cutler, The 55th artillery (C.A.C.) in the American expeditionary forces, France, 1918 (1920)
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