Mobile French 340 mm guns - M 1881 / 1884 / 1893 on the railway

The French artillery of the beginning of the 20 century, gradually increasing the caliber, moved from its regular stationary places on the railway platform. Many of the guns that made such a transition were ship guns, which were replaced by more modern models. However, not only from the ships were the gun installations taken - for example, the French designers of the Schneider company were interested in coastal solutions of large caliber. Up to this point, the company's engineers have already had successful experience of installing gun mounts on a railway platform up to the caliber 274mm. The selection of the following 340mm caliber guns on the coastal defense balance was not accidental - the guns were already obsolete due to their ballistic characteristics and could not fight on equal terms with modern long-range ship guns of the enemy. Another factor is the responsibility of England for the coastal defense of the French coast during the First World War. So, with the 1916 of the year, the 340 mm guns of the 1881 / 1884 / 1893 model of the year were installed on the railway platform, which should have significantly increased the artillery power of France. The 340mm caliber gun mounts also used powerful high-explosive ammunition that could be successfully used on the front to support ground forces.

340mm M 1881 / 1884 guns were almost the same in design. The length of the 28-30 caliber guns with a rifled barrel length is approximately 22 caliber. These guns fired high-explosive ammunition weighing 432-465 kilogram for the maximum distance to 18.5 kilometers. The dead weight of the gun is no more than 52 tons, and the weight of the gun with the railway platform was about 185-190 tons. For firing guns on the railway platform, it was necessary to provide support. Compared with the caliber 274mm guns, they increased the number of supports - now they have 7 units. The combat deployment time of the rail gun remained at the same level and was no more than 35 minutes. Vertical guidance angles are up to 40 degrees, horizontal ones were provided by moving railway tools along curved solutions of railway tracks.

When installing guns M1893 caliber 340mm used the same solution. The gun was installed on a slightly upgraded carriage, also provided with 7 supports. The gun was also removed from the coastal defense, although it was still quite a long-range weapon. The M1893 had a barrel length in 36.8 calibers and used similar high-explosive ammunition. However, they didn’t have a farther firing range - for example, a high-explosive ammunition weighing 432 kilogram sent an instrument to a distance of almost 27 kilometers, a high-explosive projectile weighing 465 kilogram sent a weapon to a distance 25.4 kilometers. Vertical tool pointing angles were 3-40 degrees. Horizontal guidance angles were provided by the movement of railway guns along curved solutions of railway tracks. An interesting feature of the installation tools M1893 on the w / d-platform, the final weight w / d-guns. With a longer gun length and a slightly larger net weight in 53 tons, the weight of the rail gun was even less than that of the M1881 / 1884 rail guns and was 183 tons.

However, the railway platform developed for 274mm caliber guns, by adopting 340mm caliber guns, has almost exhausted its structural supply, and for further increasing the gauge on the railway basis, a new rail platform was needed, for which this design required significant changes.

The main characteristics of 340mm guns:
- caliber - 340 mm;
- barrel M 1881 (1884) / 1893 - 28-30 / 36.8 calibers;
- vertical pointing angles up to 40 degrees;
- weight М 1881 (1884) / 1893 - 185-190 / 183 tons;
- ammunition - high-explosive 432 / 465 kilogram;
- projectile speed M 1881 (1884) / 1893 - 600 / 740 m / s;
- firing range M 1881 (1884) / 1893 to 20 / 27 kilometers.

Information sources:
http://milday.ru/france/france-army/france-artillery/1043-340-mm-pushki-m-1881-m-1884-i-m-1893-na-zheleznodorozhnyh-transporterah.html
http://zonawar.ru/artileru/rail_guns/340-mm_M1884.html
http://www.thefullwiki.org/340mm/28_Mod%C3%A8le_1881_gun

Comments

[Brother Sarych]

These frugal Frenchmen - the coastal cannon is outdated, so they have adapted to put it on the rails! Of course, at the front, such a fool can bring a lot of "funny minutes" to the enemy, especially those who threw their chests for 27 kilometers ...

[Akim]

We also put naval guns on the chassis. The ship's gun became the basis for the 180 / mm S-23. True, this happened 40 years later. But her tractor could drag, and not a locomotive.

[Bosk]

And the 406s that were thought for the republics on the platform we put ?, the project would be something like ....

[Akim]

I didn’t know for sure. There was a 306 mm and 254 mm railway platform with ship guns
But TM-1-180- is before the war

and also the C23 gun - after the war

[Sasha 19871987]

horror of course ...

[Alex]

As for PMP, where the ball was ruled by machine guns and guns, they could say their weighty word. Although I don’t remember that they could change anything somewhere. But for WWII, this is a purely auxiliary weapon for solving private defense problems. In general, the time of artillery monsters has passed irrevocably.