Schneider-Canet 120mm field howitzer M. 1909

 

 

 

 

Bulgarian designation :

120-мм скорострелна полска гаубица

Schneider designation :

Obusier de campagne à tir rapide de 120mm, type O.C. 120 N° 2

French designation :

Obusier de 120 mm modèle Schneider

Calibre :

120mm L/13

Weight of the barrel :

417 kg

Weight of the breech-block :

32 kg

Weight of the carriage :

633 kg

Weight in action :

1370 kg

Weight of the limber :

468 kg (empty) – 780 kg (loaded)

Weight in marching order :

2150 kg

Weight of the ammo wagon :

1925 kg (with H.E. shell)

1895 kg (with shrapnel)

Barrel length :

1.560 m

Number of barrel grooves :

36

Height of the line of fire :

1160 mm

Shield

weight :

90 kg

thickness :

3.2 mm

French ammunition

Cartridge

weight :

2.1 kg

charges :

1st charge : 195 g French pyroxylin powder B.M.

2nd charge : 330 g French pyroxylin powder B.M.²

3rd charge : 465 g French pyroxylin powder B.M.²

4th charge : 600 g French pyroxylin powder B.M.²

5th charge : 700 g French pyroxylin powder B.M.²

Mine Shell weight :

20.5 kg - charge: 4.72 kg Schneiderite

Shrapnel weight :

20.5 kg - 565 lead bullets x 15 g

charge : 320 g black powder

German ammunition

Cartridge

weight :

2.1 kg

charges :

123 x 1 W.A.S. nitroglycerine powder

1st charge : 195 g

2nd charge : 330 g

3rd charge : 465 g

4th charge : 600 g

5th charge : 700 g

Mine Shell weight :

20.65 kg - charge: 4.1 kg Trotyl

Shrapnel weight :

20.65 kg – 550 lead bullets x 15 g

charge : 270 g black powder

20.16 kg – 592 lead bullets x 15 g

charge : 270 g black powder

H.E. Shrapnel weight :

20.65 kg – charge: 2 kg Trotyl

545 bullets x 15 g

charge : 270 g black powder

H.E. Shell weight :

20.5 kg – 2 kg of Füllpulver 60/40

Muzzle velocity :

330 m/s (full charge)

300 m/s (4th charge)

250 m/s (3rd charge)

200 m/s (2nd charge)

150 m/s (1st charge)

Max. range :

6939 m (afterwards increased to 8000 m )

Quadrant angle at max. range :

45°

Height of the line of sight :

1195 mm

Elevation :

+ 43° / - 5°

Traversing angle :

6°

Wheels

weight :

160 kg

height :

1330 mm

width of tires :

80 mm

track :

1524 mm

Transport :

drawn by six horses

Ammunition :

gun limber - 10, wagon limber - 10, wagon body - 24

12 ammunition wagons for every battery

Remarks :

Quick firing field howitzer, with hydro-pneumatic recoil system, swinging block breech mechanism, traverse on axle. It was equipped with panorama telescope “Goerz-Schneider” and fitted for an independent line of sight. In 1912 it was considered an howitzer “de grande mobilité, très stable au tir”, able to carry out both the direct and the indirect fire (description).

The shield was made of hardened Nickel steel and was composed by three parts. The upper part, attached to the carriage, was fixed. The mid part was composed by two plates attached right and left at the axle; they had to replace the upper shield when the howitzer was firing at extreme traversing angles. The lower part, attached at the carriage, was mobile and could be folded up backwards for travelling. An armoured observatory weighting 36 kg was carried on one of the ammunition wagons.

After the Balkan Wars Bulgarian Army ordered further 11 batteries of this howitzers, but at the outbreak of World War I French Army canceled the contract and in 1915 seized the howitzers that later were assigned to the Armée d’Orient. The data of the French howitzer are slightly different, but it seems that it is the same howitzer, the difference coming only from a different way of determining the main features of it.

 

 

 

0S120mmHbQF_1

0S120mmHbQF

 

0S120mmHbQF_7

0S120mmHbQF_6

 

Drawings of 120 mm Schneider howitzer