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Canon de 155 mm GPF

January 01, 1970

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.

Canon de 155 GPF mle.1917
155 mm GPF gun in travel position at US Army Ordnance Museum
TypeField gun, Coastal artillery
Place of originFrance
Service history
In service1917–1945
Used byFrance
Australia
Brazil
Chile
Finland
Nazi Germany
Royal Italian Army
Imperial Japan
Philippines
Free Poland
United States
WarsWorld War I
World War II
Production history
DesignerColonel Louis Filloux
ManufacturerRenault
Atelier de Bourges
Atelier de Puteaux
Specifications
MassTravel: 13,000 kg (28,660 lbs)
Barrel length5.915 m (20 ft) L/38.2
Shellseparate-loading, cased charge.
43 kg (95 lb)
Caliber155 mm (6.10 in)
Recoil1.8m 10° to 1.1 28°
Carriagesplit trail
Elevation0° to +35°
Traverse60°
Rate of fire2 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity735 m/s (2,411 ft/s)
Maximum firing range19,500 m (21,325 yds)

History edit

 
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 design adopted the split trail invented by French Colonel Deport in the early 1910s (see Cannone da 75/27 modello 11), and unlike the previous pieces, which had their carriages riveted from machined and/or pressed steel parts, utilized very large steel castings.

The gun was also manufactured in the United States from 1917, after the US switched to metric artillery based on French patterns. The castings became the main technological difficulty, with the work done by the Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company.[1]

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 (1941–1942). 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.[2]

Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) edit

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.[3] 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). The guns were produced by Atelier de Puteaux (APX), Renault and Atelier de Bourges (ABS).[4]

During the First World War, the gun was eventually taken on by the American Expeditionary Force as a standard long-range artillery piece.[5] At the beginning of the Second World War the French guns were still in service and more than 450 guns were operational in May–June 1940.[6][7]

GPF-CA edit

The GPF-CA was a variant of the GPF that used a longer chamber (chambre allongée or CA). It was produced by Puteaux from 1918 to enable the firing of heavier shells.[4]

M1918 155 mm GPF edit

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.[8] 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 campaign 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 1943 to 1945.

GPF-T edit

 
GPF-T La Lionne, 1940.

In 1939, Captain Touzard, French Army, proposed a new carriage for the GPF-T. It improved the mobility but also reduced the preparation time.[4] The GPF-T was heavier (13.7 tonnes (13.5 long tons; 15.1 short tons)) but could be towed at a speed up to 36 kilometres per hour (22 mph). Around 60 guns were in service in May 1940.[6]

15,5 cm K 417(f), 418(f) and 419(f) edit

Many of the guns fielded by the French in 1940 were captured and used by Germany for the rest of the war. In German service, the standard GPF version was known as the 15,5 cm K 418(f), the GPF-CA as the 15,5 cm K 417(f) and the GPF-T as the 15,5 cm K 419(f). It served with heavy artillery battalions in the Afrika Korps and on coast defense duties.[4][9] 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.[10][3]

Surviving examples edit

Many of these weapons survive as memorials. The following list is not exhaustive:[11]

* one gun in marks Mississippi ( # 367 ) 1918-A1 Dodge Brothers

Gallery edit

See also edit

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ American guns in the war with Germany. E.P. Dutton & company. 1920.
  2. ^ Berhow, Mark A., ed. (2015). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide (Third ed.). McLean, Virginia: CDSG Press. pp. 200–231. ISBN 978-0-9748167-3-9.
  3. ^ a b . militaryfactory.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Mas, Cédric (July 2010). "155 mm Grande Puissance Filloux : un canon quasi-centenaire". Trucks & Tanks Magazine (in French). No. 20. pp. 54–67.
  5. ^ "Canon de 155 GPF mle 1917 Field Gun - France". militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  6. ^ a b Vauvillier, François; Touraine, Jean-Michel; Jeudy, Jean-Gabriel (1992). L'Automobile Sous l'Uniforme 1939–1940 [The Automobile in Uniform 1939–1940] (in French). Ch. Massin. p. 217. ISBN 2-7072-0197-9.
  7. ^ Crawford, Steve; Chant, Chris. Artillery of World War II. p.11
  8. ^ "M1918 155 GPF 155mm Field Gun / Coastal Artillery - United States". militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  9. ^ Gander, Terry; Chamberlain, Peter (2008) [1999]. Enzyklopädie deutscher Waffen : 1939-1945 : Handwaffen, Artillerie, Beutewaffen, Sonderwaffen (2nd ed.). Stuttgart: Motorbuch. pp. 219–220. ISBN 978-3-613-02481-6. OCLC 54425706.
  10. ^ . memorial-caen.fr. Archived from the original on 3 January 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  11. ^ Berhow, pp. 237–238

Sources edit

  • 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 edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Canon de 155 mm GPF.
  • Cutler, Frederick Morse. The 55th artillery (C.A.C.) in the American expeditionary forces, France, 1918 (1920)
  • List and pictures of WW1 surviving 155 mm GPF guns
  • Handbook of the 155 mm Filloux gun materiel
  • FortWiki.com, lists all US and Canadian forts
  • Complete list of US forts and batteries at the Coast Defense Study Group

January 01, 1970
canon, canon, grande, puissance, filloux, modèle, 1917, french, designed, used, french, army, united, states, army, during, first, half, 20th, century, towed, self, propelled, mountings, canon, 1917155, travel, position, army, ordnance, museumtypefield, coasta. The Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux GPF modele 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 Canon de 155 GPF mle 1917155 mm GPF gun in travel position at US Army Ordnance MuseumTypeField gun Coastal artilleryPlace of originFranceService historyIn service1917 1945Used byFrance Australia Brazil Chile Finland Nazi Germany Royal Italian Army Imperial Japan Philippines Free Poland United StatesWarsWorld War IWorld War IIProduction historyDesignerColonel Louis FillouxManufacturerRenaultAtelier de BourgesAtelier de PuteauxSpecificationsMassTravel 13 000 kg 28 660 lbs Barrel length5 915 m 20 ft L 38 2Shellseparate loading cased charge 43 kg 95 lb Caliber155 mm 6 10 in Recoil1 8m 10 to 1 1 28 Carriagesplit trailElevation0 to 35 Traverse60 Rate of fire2 rounds per minuteMuzzle velocity735 m s 2 411 ft s Maximum firing range19 500 m 21 325 yds Contents 1 History 1 1 Grande Puissance Filloux GPF 1 2 GPF CA 1 3 M1918 155 mm GPF 1 4 GPF T 1 5 15 5 cm K 417 f 418 f and 419 f 2 Surviving examples 3 Gallery 4 See also 4 1 Weapons of comparable role performance and era 5 Citations 6 Sources 7 External linksHistory edit nbsp US gun and crew France 1918 nbsp 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 design adopted the split trail invented by French Colonel Deport in the early 1910s see Cannone da 75 27 modello 11 and unlike the previous pieces which had their carriages riveted from machined and or pressed steel parts utilized very large steel castings The gun was also manufactured in the United States from 1917 after the US switched to metric artillery based on French patterns The castings became the main technological difficulty with the work done by the Minneapolis Steel amp Machinery Company 1 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 1942 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 2 Grande Puissance Filloux GPF edit 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 3 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 The guns were produced by Atelier de Puteaux APX Renault and Atelier de Bourges ABS 4 During the First World War the gun was eventually taken on by the American Expeditionary Force as a standard long range artillery piece 5 At the beginning of the Second World War the French guns were still in service and more than 450 guns were operational in May June 1940 6 7 GPF CA edit The GPF CA was a variant of the GPF that used a longer chamber chambre allongee or CA It was produced by Puteaux from 1918 to enable the firing of heavier shells 4 M1918 155 mm GPF edit 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 8 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 campaign 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 1943 to 1945 GPF T edit nbsp GPF T La Lionne 1940 In 1939 Captain Touzard French Army proposed a new carriage for the GPF T It improved the mobility but also reduced the preparation time 4 The GPF T was heavier 13 7 tonnes 13 5 long tons 15 1 short tons but could be towed at a speed up to 36 kilometres per hour 22 mph Around 60 guns were in service in May 1940 6 15 5 cm K 417 f 418 f and 419 f edit Many of the guns fielded by the French in 1940 were captured and used by Germany for the rest of the war In German service the standard GPF version was known as the 15 5 cm K 418 f the GPF CA as the 15 5 cm K 417 f and the GPF T as the 15 5 cm K 419 f It served with heavy artillery battalions in the Afrika Korps and on coast defense duties 4 9 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 10 3 Surviving examples editMany of these weapons survive as memorials The following list is not exhaustive 11 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 one gun in marks Mississippi 367 1918 A1 Dodge BrothersGallery edit nbsp nbsp nbsp At Fort de la Pompelle near Reims France nbsp At Battery Moltke Jersey Channel Islands nbsp nbsp Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux GPF on display at the North 12th Street East gate of the Illinois Veterans Home complex in Quincy IL See also editDe Bange 155 mm cannon List of field guns United States home front during World War I Weapons of comparable role performance and era edit BL 6 inch Gun Mk XIX British equivalent 15 cm Kanone 16 German equivalentCitations edit American guns in the war with Germany E P Dutton amp company 1920 Berhow Mark A ed 2015 American Seacoast Defenses A Reference Guide Third ed McLean Virginia CDSG Press pp 200 231 ISBN 978 0 9748167 3 9 a b M1918 155 GPF 155mm Field Gun Coastal Artillery United States militaryfactory com Archived from the original on 13 September 2016 Retrieved 15 April 2018 a b c d Mas Cedric July 2010 155 mm Grande Puissance Filloux un canon quasi centenaire Trucks amp Tanks Magazine in French No 20 pp 54 67 Canon de 155 GPF mle 1917 Field Gun France militaryfactory com Retrieved 15 April 2018 a b Vauvillier Francois Touraine Jean Michel Jeudy Jean Gabriel 1992 L Automobile Sous l Uniforme 1939 1940 The Automobile in Uniform 1939 1940 in French Ch Massin p 217 ISBN 2 7072 0197 9 Crawford Steve Chant Chris Artillery of World War II p 11 M1918 155 GPF 155mm Field Gun Coastal Artillery United States militaryfactory com Retrieved 15 April 2018 Gander Terry Chamberlain Peter 2008 1999 Enzyklopadie deutscher Waffen 1939 1945 Handwaffen Artillerie Beutewaffen Sonderwaffen 2nd ed Stuttgart Motorbuch pp 219 220 ISBN 978 3 613 02481 6 OCLC 54425706 www memorial caen fr memorial caen fr Archived from the original on 3 January 2016 Retrieved 15 April 2018 Berhow pp 237 238Sources editvan 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 Francois 2006 Les Materiels de l Armee Francaise 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 materiel 1920 US Army Ordnance Dept May 1920 Pages 229 245 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Canon de 155 mm GPF Cutler Frederick Morse The 55th artillery C A C in the American expeditionary forces France 1918 1920 List and pictures of WW1 surviving 155 mm GPF guns Handbook of the 155 mm Filloux gun materiel FortWiki com lists all US and Canadian forts Complete list of US forts and batteries at the Coast Defense Study Group 588th Field Artillery Battalion 155 European Tour 1944 1945 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Canon de 155 mm GPF amp oldid 1185280142, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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