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340mm/45 Modèle 1912 gun

Field	Value
name	340mm/45 Modèle 1912 gun
image	Provence-main guns.jpg
image_size	300
caption	The main guns of the battleship
origin	French Third Republic
type	Naval gun
is_ranged	YES
is_artillery	YES
is_UK	YES
service	1915 1953
used_by	French Third Republic
Nazi Germany
wars	World War I
World War II
design_date	1912
production_date	1912 1921
variants	Model 1912
Model 1912M
Type C
weight	66 t
part_length	15.4 m L/45
cartridge	Separate-loading, bagged charge and projectiles
cartridge_weight	382-575 kg
caliber	340 mm
rate	2 rpm
velocity	800 m/s
max_range	Naval: 25-29 km at +23°
Coastal: 38.7 km at +45°
breech	Welin breech block
elevation	Naval: -5° to +15°
Coastal: 0 to +50°
traverse	Fore and aft: -150° to +150°
Q turret: +30 to +150 L/R

Nazi Germany World War II Model 1912M Type C Coastal: 38.7 km at +45° Coastal: 0 to +50° Q turret: +30 to +150 L/R

The 340mm/45 Modèle 1912 gun (13.4 in) was a heavy naval gun of the French Navy. While the calibres of the naval guns of the French Navy were usually very close to those of their British counterparts, the calibre of 340 mm is specific to the French Navy.

The built-up gun was designed to be carried by the and classes in quadruple gun turrets, but no ship of these types was completed as a battleship. They were carried by the s in twin turrets. Some of these guns were used as railway guns and coastal artillery in World War I, also serving in World War II.

Railway gun

Due to the cancellation or conversion of most of the ships these guns were made for, the relatively large number of spare guns available facilitated their use as railway guns in both World Wars. Two batteries of 340 mm guns, with an authorized strength of one gun per battery, were operated by the 53rd Coast Artillery, U. S. Army, in World War I. As with most French railway guns, after the Fall of France in World War II some of these weapons were used by the German army.

Two different railway guns were produced from these surplus guns:

Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à berceau - Six were converted by the St. Chamond company and saw action during both wars.
Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à glissement - Six were converted by the Schneider company and these came too late for the First World War but participated in the Second World War.

Coast Defense Gun

During Operation Dragoon, the Free French battleship was one of the units engaged with 'Big Willie', ex-French turret battery controlling the approaches to Toulon. 'Big Willie' was armed with the guns taken from the French battleship , as a replacement for the original guns, sabotaged by its French crews, making this an unusual instance of both sides of an engagement using the 340mm/45 Modèle 1912 gun.

Gallery

File:Aciéries de Saint-Chamond - Canon de 340, monté sur truck en position de tir - Saint-Chamond - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APZ0001344.jpg|Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à berceau. File:Canon de 340 modele 1912 a glissement.jpg|Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à glissement. File:WWII, Europe, Near Toulon, France, "Weapons ^amp, Fortificcations - Long Range Naval Gun" - NARA - 195329.tif|One of prewar French armoured turrets, equipped with Provences guns.

Notes

| The 380mm is close to the British 15 inch, the 340mm to the 13.5 inch and the 305mm to the 12 inch.

Citations

Bibliography

References

DiGiulian, Tony. "France 34 cm/45 (13.4") Model 1912 and Model 1912M - NavWeaps".
Friedman, Norman. (2011). "Naval Weapons of World War Onedirectory". Seaforth Pub.
[http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacunithistories/53rd_Arty.html 53rd Coast Artillery in World War I]

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

naval-guns-of-france world-war-ii-naval-weapons 340-mm-artillery coastal-artillery railway-guns

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