The Canon de 220 L mle 1917 was a French heavy

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 ...

design which served with France, Germany and Italy during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

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

This 220 mm heavy field gun was a state-of-art design for its time, with decent traverse and capable of destroying fortifications or supporting infantry. The piece was usually split for transport across two four-wheeled wagons, carrying gun carriage and gun body (barrel and breech-block) respectively, although it was possible to tow it in one piece if a suitable tractor was available. These wagons were designed to be towed by motor vehicles. For firing, the gun body - weighing - had to be transferred to the gun carriage, which was not unusual for the artillery of this class. With the wheels raised the carriage sat directly on the ground, and it could be anchored. Unusual, however, was the double recoil system, also utilized on some earlier French pieces: the barrel assembly recoiled inside the cradle along its own axis (a pretty conventional hydropneumatic mechanism was used there by Schneider), but at the same time the cradle and the upper carriage moved back and up onto integrated incline against hydraulic brake, and then sliding back under its own weight. Traverse of 20° was implemented with most of the carriage rotating upon a low long base platform fixed underside. For larger traverses, the wheels were lowered and the entire piece re-oriented.

History

After the lack of heavy artillery for infantry support in positional warfare of

had become obvious, the design was ordered by

Frédéric-Georges Herr Frédéric-Georges Herr (7 May 1855 – 27 October 1932) was a French general. Pre-Military Career Frédéric-Georges Herr was born on May 7 in Neuf-Brisach, France to Margare Emylida and Georges Jacques. Herr entered the École polytech ...

in 1917. The gun was built around an existing 220 mm design intended originally for the naval use. The manufactured pieces were distributed in September/October 1918 to the 151st Fortress Artillery Regiment (RAP) and 166th Fortress Artillery Regiment. After the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed in a railroad car, in the Compiègne Forest near the town of Compiègne, that ended fighting on land, at sea, and in the air in World War I between the Entente and their las ...

the guns were transferred to the 172nd Artillery Regiment. In the mobilization of 1939, the 48 surviving guns were assigned to the 173rd Artillery Regiment and 174th Artillery Regiment. Forty pieces captured by Germans were taken into service as ''22-cm-Kanone 532(f)''. These guns were installed on full-traverse mounts for coastal defence. Sixteen guns were deployed on the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

with the rest deployed as part of 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 ...

. Four cannons were transferred to Italy where they were given the designation ''Cannone da 220/32 Mod. 1917''.

Self-propelled gun variant

One gun was manufactured as a prototype

self-propelled gun Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

. The ''Canon de 220mm L Mle1917 Schneider (FAHM)'' was the gun mounted on a tracked, but unarmoured, chassis with an optional armour shield. The engine allowed speed of , range of and decent cross-country performance. Although the performance was deemed satisfactory, the lack of self-propelled gun usage within the French Army lead to the prototype being put in storage, where it was captured by Germans in 1940 and scrapped after evaluation.

Image gallery

Related designs

Canon de 155mm GPF The Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) modèle 1917 was a WWI-era French-designed 155 mm gun used by the French Army and the United States Army during the first half of the 20th century in towed and self-propelled mountings. His ...

* Canon de 194 mle GPF

References

Bibliography

* Kinard, Jeff. ''Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact'', ABC-Clio, 2007. * Clerici, Carlo Alfredo. ''Le difese costiere italiane nelle due guerre mondiali'', Albertelli Edizioni Speciali, Parma 1996. * Manganoni, Carlo. ''Materiale d'artiglieria. Cenni sui materiali di alcuni stati esteri'', Accademia militare d'artiglieria e del genio, Torino, 192

* Ferrard, Stephane. ''Les matériels de l'armée Française 1940'', Edition Lavauzelle. * * {{WWIIFrenchGuns World War I artillery of France World War II artillery of France Siege artillery 220 mm artillery World War II artillery of Germany World War II artillery of Italy