Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider

Canon de 105 mle 1913
Canon de 105 mle 1913 with rubber tires, in Batey ha-Osef Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Type	Field gun
Place of origin	France
Production history
Designer	Schneider
Manufacturer	Schneider
Number built	~1,600 carriages ~2,000 barrels^[1]
Specifications
Weight	Combat: 2,300 kg (5,071 lb) Travel: 2,650 kg (5,843 lb)
Barrel length	2.987 m (9 ft 10 in)

Caliber	105 mm (4.134 in)
Breech	interrupted screw
Carriage	fixed trail
Elevation	-5° to 37°
Traverse	6°
Muzzle velocity	550 m/s (1,805 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	12 km (7.45 mi)

The Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider was a French artillery piece used in World War I and World War II by many European countries.

History

In the early 1900s, the French company Schneider began a collaboration with the Russian company Putilov. For this collaboration, it had developed a gun using the Russian 107 mm round, which was ordered by the Russian Army to be produced in Russia (though the initial batch of guns was made in France). Schneider then decided to modify the design for the French 105 mm (4.134 inches) round and offer it to France as well. Initially the French army were not interested in this weapon as they already had plenty of 75 mm field guns. However in 1913 the French army purchased a small number under the designation Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider; it was also known by the service designation L 13 S.

The lighter 75 mm guns were of limited use against trenches, so once the western front in World War I had settled down to trench warfare, the French army ordered large numbers of the L 13 S, which with its larger 15.74 kg (34.7 lb) shell was more effective against fortified positions and a range of 12,000 metres (7.5 mi).

After the end of World War I, France sold or gave many Schneider 105 mm guns to various other countries, including Belgium, Italy, Poland, and Yugoslavia. In Italy the 105 mm was re-designated the Cannone da 105/28 and saw service until 1943. Guns were also produced under license in Italy by Ansaldo.^[2] Poland also used new model of Schneider's gun with a split trail, called the wz. 29; both were in service at the beginning of WW II in 1939.

The German conquests of Poland, Belgium, France, and Yugoslavia during World War II gave them large numbers of captured 105 mm Schneider guns. 854 L 13 S's were in service in France and a large number were captured. Many of these were installed in the Atlantic Wall system of coastal defenses.^[3]

Finland was able to buy 12 of these guns from France during the Winter War, plus rebarrel 6 Russian 107mm Schnieders (4 1910 and 2 1913 models) to 105mm. In addition they were able to purchase 54 captured Polish Armata 105 mm wz. 29 Schneider guns from Germany.^[4]

Designations

Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider, also with rubber tires, in Hämeenlinna Artillery Museum, Finland.

Cannone da 105/28.

Because the gun was used by a large number of countries, it had a large number of official designations.

Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider - French designation
105 L - designation by French army during World War I
The Italian designation was Cannone da 105/28 modello 1913, often shortened to Cannone da 105/28
Armata 105 mm wz. 13 Schneider and Armata 105 mm wz. 29 Schneider were Polish designations for the original gun and a modernised version respectively
German designations include:
- 10.5 cm K 331(f) for guns captured from France
- 10.5 cm K 333(b) for guns captured from Belgium
- 10.5 cm K 338(i) for guns captured from Italy
- 10.5 cm K 338(j) for guns captured from Yugoslavia
- 10.5 cm K 13(p) and 10.5 cm K 29(p) for guns captured from Poland
105 K/13, 105 K/10 and 105 K/29 were the Finnish designations for the guns. 105 K/13 was the original French Gun, 105 K/10 was the 107mm Russian Gun rebarrelled to 105mm, while 105 K/29 were modernised Polish Armata 105 mm wz. 29 Schneider guns (These were captured guns which had been sold to Finland by Germany).^[5]

References

↑ Guy François, "Le 105 L modèle 1913, l'élégant du Creusot", Histoire de Guerre, Bildés & Materiél, no. 103, January 2013, pp. 27-37, Paris: Histoire & Collection (in French) toc
↑ 105mm_mle1913- Retrieved 2012-03-01
↑ 105/28 mm cannon- Retrieved 2012-03-01
↑ http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/ARTILLERY4.htm
↑ http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/ARTILLERY4.htm

Artillery by Chris Chant, ISBN 1-84509-248-1, pages 31, 50-51.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Canon de 105 modèle 1913 Schneider.

French artillery of World War II

Anti-tank guns	25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun AC 37 anti-tank gun AC 47 anti-tank gun 47 mm APX anti-tank gun

Infantry and Mountain guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP Canon de 65 M (montagne) modele 1906 Canon de 75 M(montagne) modele 1919 Schneider Canon de 75 M(montagne) modele 1928 Canon Court de 105 M(montagne) modele 1909 Schneider Canon Court de 105 M(montagne) modèle 1919 Schneider

Heavy mortars	Mortier de 280 modèle 1914 Schneider

Field, Medium and Heavy guns	Canon de 75 modèle 1897 Canon de 105 court mle 1934 Schneider Canon de 105 court mle 1935 B Canon de 105 L mle 1936 Schneider Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 St. Chamond Canon de 155mm GPF Canon de 194 mle GPF

Italian artillery of World War II

Tank guns	Breda Model 35 Cannone da 37/40 Cannone da 47/32 M35 Cannone da 47/40 Cannone da 75/34

Anti-tank guns	Solothurn S-18/1000 Cannone da 47/32 M35 Obice da 75/18 modello 35 Cannone da 75/32 modello 37 Cannone da 75/34 Cannone da 75/46 C.A. modello 34 Cannone da 90/53 Cannone da 105/25

Infantry and Mountain guns	Cannone da 47/32 M35 Cannone da 65/17 modello 13 Cannone da 70/15 Obice da 75/18 modello 34

Field, Medium and Heavy guns	Cannone da 75/27 modello 06 Cannone da 75/27 modello 12 Cannone da 75/27 modello 11 Obice da 75/18 modello 35 Cannone da 105/28 Cannone da 105/32 Cannone da 149/35 A Cannone da 149/40 modello 35 Obice da 149/19 modello 37 Obice da 210/22

Railroad artillery	Cannone navale da 381/40

Anti-aircraft guns	Cannone-Mitragliera da 20/77 (Scotti) Breda Model 35 Cannone da 75/46 C.A. modello 34 Cannone da 90/53