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| 120 mm De Bange canon mod. 1878 | |
|---|---|
 120 mm De Bange Canon in Finnish Military Museum | |
| Type | gun |
| Place of origin |  FRA |
| Service history | |
| Wars | I World War, Continuation War |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1878 |
| Specifications | |
| Caliber | 120 mm |
| Barrels | 3250 mm |
| Recoil | none |
| Carriage | horse |
| Rate of fire | 1-2 shots/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 265–613 m/s |
| Effective firing range | 7.000-8.000 m |
| Maximum firing range | 12.400 m |
The De Bange 120 mm cannon (Mle 1878) was a type of siege artillery piece developed in France by Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange, and used by the French Army during I world war. Although superseded by more modern guns, it was used by several other countries, including Poland and Serbia, and Finnish Army used them effectively even during the II world war.
The piece was one of the series of guns constructed by Charles Ragon de Bange, all being rifled breech loaders with obturator he devised, which allowed strong powder charges to be safely used, without using the case. These guns were not equipped with recoil mechanism, therefore they moved back after every shot, which lowered both the rate of fire and accuracy. For these reasons De Bange's guns were superseded by Schneider's famous 75s. However the high losses in the beginning of the I World War and too small destructive power of 75 mm shells, forced the French to use the guns, which had been stored as obsolete[1].
Although obsolete, canons Mle 1878 had their merits: they could shot eight kinds of shells (HE, incendiary, gas, shrapnel, etc.) weighting 18–20 kg, with good explosive power, at a distance of 8–10 km (max. over 12 km); they had simple construction; obturated breech allowed the use of powder charges without a case, which saved precious metals, especially copper[1].
To diminish the force of recoil, the guns were mounted on special platforms with hydropneumatic recoil system, or gun chocks, often combined with "Wooden Feet" (i.e. wooden pallets mounted on the wheels). The guns were pulled by teams of six horses (another such team pulled the ammunition caisson) or by trucks (together with the caisson). They were grouped in batteries, which functioned as heavy gun units at the army level[1].
After World War I, Polish Blue Army took 48 of these guns to Poland, where they served in 1 Heavy Artillery Regiment (1 Pułk Artylerii Ciężkiej) until superseded by 220 mm Škoda mortars M 1932. In 1931–1934 their barrels were combined with carriages from Russian M1910/37 and M1909/30 howitzers, creating quite functional guns M 1878/09/31. Other users included Romania (National Military Museum has a preserved piece in its collection), Serbia and Finland, which used them during Continuation War[2].
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Mle 1878 gun with wooden flaps on the wheels -
Mle 1878, front view -
De Bange 220 mm mortar and 120 mm gun Mle 1878, pre-WW I postcard -
A diagram of French HE shell
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Peter Kempf. "French 120mm Cannon Model 1878". Landships. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
- ^ PATHE. "120 mm armata wz.1878/09/31". Wielka Encyklopedia Uzbrojenia Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych 1939–1945 (in Polish). Retrieved 2012-04-01.