The canon de 75 modèle 1897 was a 75mm field gun employed by the French Army and the American Expeditionary Forces during the First World War. When it entered service by the end of the 19th century, it was the first artillery piece fitted with a hydropneumatic recoil system, which gave the gun a much higher rate of fire than other guns. It was due to the fact that it did not get out of its aiming position each time it was fired as it remained emplaced. However, since it was a cannon and not a howitzer, it had a low angle of elevation (+18°); this is the reason, it was used for direct fire (in a straight direction) against advancing troops on the field. To use it in indirect fire mode, its carriage had to be put on sloping ground or be propped up.
Under the official designation of Materiel de 75mm Mle 1897, it was massively produced and it was exported to Mexico and Spain, where it was used very effectively during the Mexican Revolution and the Spanish Civil War respectively. In World War I, it was fielded by every artillery unit of the French, American, and Australian armies. It had such a high rate of fire and it was so effective in the direct fire mode, it was the number one piece of artillery responsible for putting the enemy cavalry out of the battlefield, rendering it obsolete as a fighting force.
The 1897 75mm gun would be used again by the Polish Army during the German Invasion of Poland, and by the French Army in the Battle of France in 1940, World War II. In the French-Indochina War, it was fielded by the Vietminh. In WW1, it was horse-drawn, but in WW2 it was towed by trucks to the battlefield. However, for this latter armed conflict, it had a short range. This French gun was also manufactured in the United States as the 75-mm M1897-A2 and in Poland as the wz 1897/17.
Specifications
Type: field gun
Origin: France
Caliber: 75 mm
Weight: 1,970 kg
Barrel Length: 2.7 m
Breech: eccentric screw
Recoil: hydropneumatic
Transverse: 6°
Elevation: -11º to +18°
Muzzle Velocity: 575 m/s
Range: 11.12 km (about 8 miles)
Shell: 6.195 kg
Below, the canon de 75 modele 1897 being hauled by horses to the Somme area in May 1916.
The French 75mm being towed to the battlefield in Europe by a tractor.
Below, the canon de 75 in the Mexican Revolution
The French 75mm gun in action in WW1
