The Mortier de 220 mm L mle 1880 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 1880 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.
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.[1]
Variantsedit
mle 1880edit
The mle 1880 was a breech loaded mortar with a de Bange obturator and used separate loading bagged charges and projectiles. The mle 1880 was originally built without a recoil mechanism and in order to traverse the carriage needed to be levered into position before and after each shot. For transport, the mle 1880 could be broken down for transport into two wagon loads (barrel and carriage) for towing by two horse teams.[2] The mortars could also be transferred to 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) narrow gauge rail wagons for the final leg to their firing positions. These narrow gauge tracks were also used to re-position the mortars and bring up their ammunition and supplies.[3] Site preparation included creating a firing platform made of wooden beams on soft ground. At the outbreak of the First World War, it is estimated there were 300 mle 1880s available.[2]
mle 1880/91edit
A modification program in 1891 gave the mle 1880 a carriage with a hydraulic recoil mechanism and limited traverse. The new carriage was similar to the one used on the Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1885. The 130 mortars modified were designated as the mle 1880/1891 and consisted of a U-shaped gun cradle which held the trunnioned barrel and a slightly inclined firing platform with hydraulic buffers. When the gun fired the hydro-buffer slowed the recoil of the cradle which slid up a set of inclined rails on the firing platform and then returned to position by the combined action of the buffers and gravity.[2] For transport, it could be broken down into three loads for towing by horse teams or by artillery tractor. Site preparation consisted of creating a firing platform from wooden beams. However, a downside to the carriage modernization was the combined weight had doubled, which made transport and setup more difficult.[2]
mle 1880 A.C.S.edit
The Mortier de 220 mm L modèle 1880 was a French heavy mortar employed as siege artillery during the First World War. In an effort to improve the mobility of the mle 1880, 100 mortars were given six-wheeled carriages called Affût de Circonstance Schneider. The carriages were built from steel with a two-wheeled axle at the front and a four-wheeled axle at the rear. The bed of the ACS formed the base of the mortar and it had the same recoil system as the earlier mle 1880/91. Once in position, the wheels could be retracted and the mortar sat on its base. The advantage of this system was its mobility and reduced setup time. The downside was excessive weight, it could only be towed by artillery tractors and it was unsuitable for use on soft ground.[4][5]
The 220 mle 1880 A.C.S. entered in service in June 1917 with the artillerie lourde à tracteurs (motorized heavy artillery). By August 1918, all of them had been replaced by 220 mm TR mle 1915/1916. The remaining mortars were used by the artillerie à pied (foot artillery) until November 1918.[5]
Weapons of comparable performance and eraedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mortier de 220 de Bange.
Usine du Creusot. Mortier de 220 mm A.C.S. sur affût de circonstance Schneider. En batterie.
Referencesedit
^Hogg, Ian (2004). Allied artillery of World War One. Ramsbury: Crowood. pp. 129–134. ISBN1861267126. OCLC 56655115.
^ abcd"Mortier de 220 mle 1880 De Bange - WO1Wiki". www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-06-25.
^"La voie de 60 système Pechot-Decauville - FortiffSéré". www.fortiffsere.fr. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
^"L'artillerie est-elle plus forte que la muraille ? (partie 1/3)Fortification et Mémoire". fortificationetmemoire.fr (in French). 20 December 2012. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
^ abVauvillier, François (December 2007). "Le mortier de 220 sur affût de circonstance Schneider". Guerre, Blindés et Matériel (in French). No. 80. pp. 20–23.
January 01, 1970
mortier, modèle, 1880, mortier, modèle, 1880a, 1880, being, traversed, typeheavy, mortarsiege, artilleryplace, originfranceservice, historyin, service1880, 1918used, byfrancewarsworld, iproduction, historydesignercharles, ragon, bangedesigned1880produced1880no. Mortier de 220 mm L modele 1880A mle 1880 being traversed TypeHeavy mortarSiege artilleryPlace of originFranceService historyIn service1880 1918Used byFranceWarsWorld War IProduction historyDesignerCharles Ragon de BangeDesigned1880Produced1880No builtmle 1880 330mle 1880 91 130mle 1880 ACS 100Variantsmle 1880 91mle 1880 ACSSpecificationsMassmle 1880 4 24 t 4 long tons mle 1880 91 8 5 t 8 long tons mle 1880 ACS 12 t 12 long tons Barrel length1 98 m 6 5 ft L 9ShellSeparate loading bagged charges and projectilesShell weight98 118 kg 216 260 lb Caliber240 mm 9 4 in Breechde BangeRecoilmle 1880 Nonemle 1880 1891 Hydro gravitymle 1880 ACS Hydro gravityCarriagemle 1880 Fixedmle 1880 91 Fixedmle 1880 ACS 6 wheeledElevation 5 to 60 Traversemle 1880 Manualmle 1880 1891 42 mle 1880 ACS 42 Rate of fire1 shot every three minutesMuzzle velocity300 m s 980 ft s Effective firing range7 km 4 mi Contents 1 History 2 Variants 2 1 mle 1880 2 2 mle 1880 91 2 3 mle 1880 A C S 3 Weapons of comparable performance and era 4 Photo gallery 5 ReferencesHistory editThe Mortier de 220 mm L mle 1880 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 1880 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 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 1 Variants editmle 1880 edit The mle 1880 was a breech loaded mortar with a de Bange obturator and used separate loading bagged charges and projectiles The mle 1880 was originally built without a recoil mechanism and in order to traverse the carriage needed to be levered into position before and after each shot For transport the mle 1880 could be broken down for transport into two wagon loads barrel and carriage for towing by two horse teams 2 The mortars could also be transferred to 600 mm 1 ft 11 5 8 in narrow gauge rail wagons for the final leg to their firing positions These narrow gauge tracks were also used to re position the mortars and bring up their ammunition and supplies 3 Site preparation included creating a firing platform made of wooden beams on soft ground At the outbreak of the First World War it is estimated there were 300 mle 1880s available 2 mle 1880 91 edit A modification program in 1891 gave the mle 1880 a carriage with a hydraulic recoil mechanism and limited traverse The new carriage was similar to the one used on the Mortier de 270 mm modele 1885 The 130 mortars modified were designated as the mle 1880 1891 and consisted of a U shaped gun cradle which held the trunnioned barrel and a slightly inclined firing platform with hydraulic buffers When the gun fired the hydro buffer slowed the recoil of the cradle which slid up a set of inclined rails on the firing platform and then returned to position by the combined action of the buffers and gravity 2 For transport it could be broken down into three loads for towing by horse teams or by artillery tractor Site preparation consisted of creating a firing platform from wooden beams However a downside to the carriage modernization was the combined weight had doubled which made transport and setup more difficult 2 mle 1880 A C S edit The Mortier de 220 mm L modele 1880 was a French heavy mortar employed as siege artillery during the First World War In an effort to improve the mobility of the mle 1880 100 mortars were given six wheeled carriages called Affut de Circonstance Schneider The carriages were built from steel with a two wheeled axle at the front and a four wheeled axle at the rear The bed of the ACS formed the base of the mortar and it had the same recoil system as the earlier mle 1880 91 Once in position the wheels could be retracted and the mortar sat on its base The advantage of this system was its mobility and reduced setup time The downside was excessive weight it could only be towed by artillery tractors and it was unsuitable for use on soft ground 4 5 The 220 mle 1880 A C S entered in service in June 1917 with the artillerie lourde a tracteurs motorized heavy artillery By August 1918 all of them had been replaced by 220 mm TR mle 1915 1916 The remaining mortars were used by the artillerie a pied foot artillery until November 1918 5 Weapons of comparable performance and era edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mortier de 220 de Bange Mortaio da 210 8 D S A comparable Italian mortar 21 cm Morser 10 A comparable German mortar Photo gallery edit nbsp A mle 1880 with non recoil carriage nbsp A mle 1880 broken down for transport nbsp A mle 1880 in action at the Argonnes in 1915 nbsp A mle 1880 91 with recoil carriage nbsp Usine du Creusot Mortier de 220 mm A C S sur affut de circonstance Schneider En batterie References edit Hogg Ian 2004 Allied artillery of World War One Ramsbury Crowood pp 129 134 ISBN 1861267126 OCLC 56655115 a b c d Mortier de 220 mle 1880 De Bange WO1Wiki www forumeerstewereldoorlog nl in Dutch Retrieved 2018 06 25 La voie de 60 systeme Pechot Decauville FortiffSere www fortiffsere fr Retrieved 2018 06 24 L artillerie est elle plus forte que la muraille partie 1 3 Fortification et Memoire fortificationetmemoire fr in French 20 December 2012 Retrieved 2018 06 25 a b Vauvillier Francois December 2007 Le mortier de 220 sur affut de circonstance Schneider Guerre Blindes et Materiel in French No 80 pp 20 23 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mortier de 220 mm modele 1880 amp oldid 1196154151, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
