Canon de 155mm GPF

Canon de 155 GPF mle.1917
Canon de 155 GPF mle.1917
	155 mm GPF gun in travel position at US Army Ordnance Museum
Type	Field gun, Coastal artillery
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1917–1945
Used by	France ; United States ; Nazi Germany ; Philippines ; Australia ; Imperial Japan ; Finland ; Free Poland ; Brazil ; Chile
Wars	World War I; World War II
Production history
Designer	Colonel Louis Filloux
Specifications
Mass	Travel: 13,000 kg (28,660 lbs)
Barrel length	5.915 m (20 ft) L/38.2
Shell	separate-loading, cased charge.; 43 kg (95 lb)
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 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	735 m/s (2,411 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	19,500 m (21,325 yds)

The Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) mle.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.

History

US gun and crew, France 1918

Coast defence gun on Panama mount, Garden Island, Western Australia, 1943

The gun was designed during the First World War by Colonel Louis Filloux to meet an urgent need for modern heavy artillery and became the standard heavy field gun of the French Army from 1917 until the Second World War. It was also adopted by the United States as the M1917 and a close derivative of it was made in and used by the US as the M1918 through the Second World War.

The gun was also manufactured in the United States 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 gun as the 155 mm Gun M1917 (French-made) or M1918 (US-made) until 1942, when it was gradually replaced by the 155 mm M1A1 Long Tom. US Army forces in the Far East (USAFFE), including the 301st FA Regiment (Philippine Army), the 86th FA Regiment (Philippine Scouts) and also US Coast Artillery units (91st and 92nd CA Regiments, Philippine Scouts), used this gun against the Japanese in the Philippines Campaign (1941–42). Some of the guns were originally emplaced in "Panama mounts" on Corregidor, Caballo and Carabao islands at the entrance of Manila Bay. Some guns were dismounted and used as roving batteries and gave effective counter-battery fire. The gun was later mounted on the M12 Gun Motor Carriage and saw action in 1944–45.

During the Second World War, some US-made guns were used for coast defense of US and Allied territories, such as Australia and Bermuda, typically on "Panama" mountings - circular concrete platforms with a raised centre section, with the carriage tires pivoting around the center section and the split trails spread out on rails at the edge of the platform.[1]

Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF)

This gun was designed by Colonel L. J. F. Filloux to fill a vital French Army requirement for a heavy artillery piece. The design proved a success and became the standard heavy field gun of the French from 1917 to the end of World War I.[2] The weapon was pressed into service quickly, to remedy the shortage of such weapons in the French inventory. This weapon became the "Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux mle 1917", named by French Army as the Canon de 155mm GPF (Model of 1917). During the First World War, the gun was eventually taken on by the American Expeditionary Force as a standard long-range artillery piece.[3] At the beginning of the Second World War the French guns were taken out of storage and 24 of these guns were operational in May–June 1940.

M1918 155 mm GPF

The US M1918 155 mm GPF was a copy of the French 1917 field gun and used by the US Army, Philippines and US Marines up to 1945.[4] The United States Army paid for and subsequently copied, the Model 1918 (M1918) gun. During the Second World War the 155 mm guns were taken out of storage and used for coast defense on American shores and in Allied territories such as the Philippines and Australia. They were also used in the Philippines, Guadalcanal and North Africa until more modern artillery was available. Ultimately, both the US Army and Marine Corps phased out their M1918 guns for the 155 mm M1A1 "Long Tom" beginning in 1942. The M1918 was also fitted to the M12 Gun Motor Carriage as a self-propelled gun (SPG) and used from 1944 to 1945.

15.5 cm K 418(f)

In 1940, France fielded 450 of these guns.[5] Many of them were captured and used by Germany for the rest of the war. In German service it was known as the 15.5 cm K 418(f); it served with heavy artillery battalions in the Afrika Korps and on coast defense duties. On D-Day in 1944, the German Army had over 50 of the 155 mm French guns in sites on the northern French beaches. A battery of six of these guns near four empty emplacements for larger guns was the cause of the actions at Pointe du Hoc in June 1944.[6][2]

Surviving examples

Many of these weapons survive as memorials. The following list is not exhaustive:[7]

One gun M1918MI (Bullard #161) on carriage M3, Presidio Army Museum, San Francisco, CA
One gun M1918MI (Unk. mfr. #906) on carriage M2 (Unk. mfr. #82), Fort Stevens State Park, Astoria, OR
One gun M1917 (Puteaux #629) on carriage M1917 (Unk. mfr. #222) with limber, Anniston Army Depot, AL (may be at Fort Sill, OK)
One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #1073) on carriage M3 (Minneapolis Steel #unk), Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay, AL
One gun M1917 on carriage M3, Fort MacArthur Military Museum, San Pedro, Los Angeles, CA
One gun M1918 (Unk. mfr. #810) on carriage M1918, Pulaski Park, Pulaski, VA
One gun M1918 (Unk. mfr. #75) on carriage M1918, Odlin County Park, Lopez Island, WA
One gun M1917 (Unk. mfr. #1263) on carriage M1917, Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park, North Aurora St., Seattle, WA
Two guns M1918MI (Bullard #314 and #209) on carriages M1918, Memorial Park, Lansdale, PA
One gun M1918MI (Bullard #149) on carriage M1918 with limber, 524 W. Hopocan Ave., Barberton, OH
One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #218) on carriage M1918, cemetery on Rte. 40, Indianapolis, IN
One gun M1917MI (Puteaux #unk) on carriage M3 (Unk. mfr. #473), Fort Sill, OK
One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #920) on carriage M1918, Lake St., Lancaster, NY
One gun M1917 (Puteaux #959) on carriage M1918 (Unk. mfr. #208), American Legion Post 566, Akron, OH
One gun M1917 on carriage M1918, Lake St., Baraboo, WI
One gun M1917 (Puteaux #unk) on carriage M1918, Camp Shelby, MS
One gun M1918MI (Bullard #376) on carriage M1918, Cemetery on David Hwy., Saranac, MI
One gun M1918, Charlotte, NC
One gun M1917A1 (Puteaux #968) on carriage M1918A1 (Rock Island #372) Fort Macon State Park, NC
One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #806), Cherryvale, KS
Two guns M1918 (Unk. mfr. #747 and #627) on carriages M1918, Edgemont, SD
One gun M1917 (Puteaux #819) on carriage M1918, Rosebud County Courthouse, Forsyth, MT
One gun M1918MI (Bullard #171) on carriage, Mechanicsville, IA
One gun M1918 (Unk. mfr. #967) on carriage, Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA
One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #976) on carriage M1918, Quincy, IL
One gun M1918, Scotland, SD
One gun M1918MI, American Legion Post, Seattle, WA
One gun M1918, St. Louis, MO
One gun M1918MI (Puteaux #964) on carriage M1918AI (Rock Island #633), Lockport, NY
Two guns M1918, American Legion Post, Walla Walla, WA
One gun M1918MI, Grand Rapids, WI
One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #943) on carriage M1918, Milligan, NE
One gun M1918 on carriage M1918, Shrine of Valor memorial, Bataan, Philippines
One GPF gun on carriage at Fort de la Pompelle near Reims, France
One GPF gun on carriage at Battery Moltke, Jersey, Channel Islands
One gun (ex-US) at Fort Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Gallery

At Fort de la Pompelle near Reims, France
At Battery Moltke, Jersey, Channel Islands

gollark: As I said, with some batteries you can run it on less.

gollark: I mean, you can run it on less if you have loads of storage while the fusion reactor starts up.

gollark: 19.2kRF/t for electromagnets on a size 1, the other 10 is just to heat it up.

gollark: Fusion takes about 30kRF/t to start up.

gollark: Neutron fluid is from FUSION reactors.

Citations

Berhow, Mark A., Ed. (2015). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide, Third Edition. McLean, Virginia: CDSG Press. pp. 200–231. ISBN 978-0-9748167-3-9.
"M1918 155 GPF 155mm Field Gun / Coastal Artillery - United States". militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
"Canon de 155 GPF mle 1917 Field Gun - France". militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
"M1918 155 GPF 155mm Field Gun / Coastal Artillery - United States". militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
Crawford, Steve; Chant, Chris. Artillery of World War II. p.11
"www.memorial-caen.fr". memorial-caen.fr. Archived from the original on 3 January 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
Berhow, pp. 237–238

Sources

van der Vat, Dan; Eisenhower, John S. D. D-Day: The Greatest Invasion—A People's History. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, ISBN 1-58234-314-4.
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) Handbook of artillery: including mobile, anti-aircraft and trench matériel (1920) US Army Ordnance Dept, May 1920. Pages 229–245.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Berhow, Mark A., Ed. (2015). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide, Third Edition. McLean, Virginia: CDSG Press. pp. 200–231. ISBN 978-0-9748167-3-9.

[militaryfactory.com-2] "M1918 155 GPF 155mm Field Gun / Coastal Artillery - United States". militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

[3] "Canon de 155 GPF mle 1917 Field Gun - France". militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

[4] "M1918 155 GPF 155mm Field Gun / Coastal Artillery - United States". militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

[5] Crawford, Steve; Chant, Chris. Artillery of World War II. p.11

[6] "www.memorial-caen.fr". memorial-caen.fr. Archived from the original on 3 January 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

[7] Berhow, pp. 237–238

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 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 19 C modèle 1870/93 Canon de 19 C modèle 1875 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 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1890 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 155mm GPF De Bange 155 mm cannon Canon de 220 L mle 1917 Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider
Mortars	Mortier de 58 mm type 2 Mortier de 75 modèle 1915 Schneider 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 Canon de 76 M modele 1909 Schneider Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider
Railway artillery	Canon de 140 sur affut-truc mle 1884 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 mle GPF Canon de 220mm L Mle1917 Schneider (FAHM) Mortier 280 mm TR de Schneider sur affût-chenilles St Chamond
Tank guns	Puteaux 37 mm SA 18 Canon de 75 modèle 1897

French artillery of World War II
Anti-aircraft guns	Mitrailleuse de 25 mm CA mle 39 Canon de 75 antiaérien mle 1913-1917 Canon de 75 CA modèle 1940 Schneider
Anti-tank guns	25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun 25 mm APX modèle 1937 AC 37 anti-tank gun AC 47 anti-tank gun 47 mm APX anti-tank gun
Coastal artillery	Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891 Canon de 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 19 C modèle 1870/93 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889
Field artillery	Canon de 75 modèle 1897
Infantry guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP
Medium and Heavy artillery	Canon de 105 court mle 1934 Schneider Canon de 105 court mle 1935 B Canon de 105 L mle 1936 Schneider Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 St. Chamond Canon de 155mm GPF Canon de 194 mle GPF Canon de 220 L mle 1917 Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider Mortier 280 mm TR de Schneider-St Chamond
Mortars	Mortier de 150 mm T Mle 1917 Fabry
Mountain artillery	Canon de 65 M modele 1906 Canon de 75 M modele 1919 Schneider Canon de 75 M modele 1928 Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider Canon Court de 105 M modèle 1919 Schneider
Railroad artillery	Canon de 164 modèle 1893/96 TAZ Canon de 19 modèle 1870/93 TAZ Canon de 240 modèle 93/96 TAZ Canon de 305 modèle 1906/10 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/84 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/93 à glissement Canon de 320 modèle 1917 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 Canon de 370 modèle 75/79 Glissement Obusier de 400 Modèle 1915/1916 Obusier de 520 modèle 1916
Siege artillery	Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 280 modèle 1914 Schneider Mortier de 293 Danois sur affut-truck modèle 1914 Mortier de 370 modèle 1914 Filloux
Tank guns	Puteaux 37 mm SA 18 47mm SA mle 1935 Canon de 75 modèle 1897

United States artillery of World War I
Tank guns	Puteaux SA 18 QF 6-pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss
Small and pack guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP 37 mm Infantry Gun Model 1917 QF 2.95-inch mountain gun
Field, medium and heavy guns	3-inch M1902 field gun 75 mm gun M1897 75 mm gun M1916 75 mm gun M1917 3.2-inch gun M1897 4.7-inch gun M1906 5-inch gun M1897 6-inch howitzer M1908 6-inch gun M1903 6-inch gun M1917 155 mm GPF M1918 155 mm howitzer M1917 BL 8-inch howitzer Mk VI – VIII BL 9.2-inch howitzer 240 mm Trench Mortar
Anti-aircraft guns	75 mm gun M1897 75 mm gun M1916 3-inch gun M1917 3-inch gun M1918
Coast artillery guns	3-inch gun M1903 4.72-inch Armstrong gun 5-inch gun M1897 6-inch Armstrong gun 6-inch gun M1897 8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 14-inch gun M1907 16-inch gun M1895 16-inch gun M1919 155 mm gun M1918MI
Railway artillery	7"/45 caliber gun 8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 12-inch gun M1895MIA1 14"/50 caliber railway gun

United States artillery of World War II
Tank guns	37 mm gun M5/M6 75 mm gun M2/M3/M6 76 mm gun M1 3 inch gun M7 90 mm gun M3 105 mm howitzer M4
Anti-tank guns	37 mm M3 57 mm M1 75 mm M1897 3 inch M5 90 mm T8 105mm T8
Field, medium and heavy guns	75 mm M1897 75 mm howitzer M1 105 mm howitzer M2 105 mm howitzer M3 4.5 inch gun M1 155 mm howitzer M1918 155 mm howitzer M1 155 mm gun M1918MI 155 mm gun M1/M2 "Long Tom" 8 inch howitzer M1/M2 8-inch gun M1 240 mm howitzer M1
Mortars	60 mm mortar M2 81 mm mortar M1 4.2 inch mortar M2 Little David
Other vehicle-mounted	75 mm howitzer M2/M3 75 mm gun M1897 105 mm howitzer M2 155 mm gun M1917MI 155 mm gun M2 8 inch howitzer M1/M2
Anti-aircraft guns	37 mm M1 40 mm M1 3-inch gun M1917 3-inch gun M1918 3-inch anti-aircraft gun M3 90 mm M1 120 mm M1
Coast artillery guns	3-inch gun M1903 90 mm M1 6-inch gun M1903 155 mm gun M1918MI 7"/45 caliber gun 8-inch Mk. VI 8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 12-inch gun M1895 14-inch gun M1907 16-inch gun M1895 16-inch gun M1919 16-inch Marks 2 and 3 16-inch howitzer M1920
Railway artillery	8-inch Mk. VI 8-inch M1888 12-inch coast defense mortar 14-inch M1920