75 mm Schneider-Danglis 06/09

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The Schneider-Danglis mountain gun (also written as Schneider-Dagli, or, in Greek, Schneider-Δαγκλή or Σνάιντερ-Δαγκλή) was Greek by design - an invention and design by the renowned in Greece Gen. Panagiotis Danglis (Παναγιώτης Δαγκλής) - and French by manufacture (all manufacture, including test construction, was made by the French Schneider company).

The invention of a mountain gun that could easily be broken down to pieces for transport, and reassembled into a still highly efficient unit is claimed by two Greek army engineers, (then) Engineering Corps Major P. Lykoudis who made such a design in 1891, and (then) Artillery Major P. Danglis who made his own design in 1893. Danglis' proposal to the Greek Ministry of Defence caused immediate reaction by Lykoudis, who claimed that his designs had been copied. Surprisingly, at the time no particular interest was shown, neither by the Greek Military, nor by foreign Defence companies; the rivalry between the two men would continue, though, for several years.

Danglis devoted personal effort into developing his design, and eventually convinced French Schneider Armaments company to construct and test the gun he created. Prototype development, construction and testing were completed between November, 1905 and June, 1906. Meanwhile, Lykoudis had arranged with the German manufacturer Krupp to develop his design. The final "victory" for Danglis came in 1907. In that year, after testing, the Greek Army determined that the Schneider-Danglis weapon was superior to the Krupp-Lykoudis and placed an order for the gun to the French manufacturer. Other nations followed with orders, and this mountain gun proved its merits in action (it was used by Greece in the Balkan Wars, World War I and World War II), while Schneider developed the technology further in later models. Danglis' efforts came to a successful conclusion altogether, when a fair financial settlement was made with the French manufacturer concerning the rights to use his design.

[edit] References

  • Gen. P. Danglis, Memoirs-Archive, Vayionakis ed., Athens (1965)